Monday, May 7, 2012

Advertising campaigns that wouldn't suck

The product: Men's body wash/cologne/deodorant/etc.
The tagline: "You won't smell awful."
The pitch: I consider myself a mostly reasonable man, at least when I'm not in the vicinity of a Chipotle or Five Guys. So already I know that I'm not in the target demographic for Axe body spray and similar products. I, like many similarly sane consumers, know that no matter what sort of scent I apply to myself I'm not going to make women drop what they are doing and chase after me. All I want is to not smell awful. I don't want to smell like body odor, but I also don't want to smell like a douchebag who doused himself with cologne because it think it will help him "score some pussy" or whatever. I'd enjoy a bland, mildly pleasant scent that will allow people's first impressions of me not involve the olfactory sense.
Odds of it happening: Pretty good. I believe there's a fairly sizable chunk of people who are similarly annoyed by the cloying scents on the market today, so it's not unreasonable that some manufacturer might court that demographic with such a campaign.

 The product: Junk food
The tagline: "Worth the impending bypass surgery."
The pitch: Products like Doritos and Cheetos and Hot Pockets would like to focus on anything except the nutritional content of their stuff--a fuzzy mascot, their innate appeal to the intoxicated, the convenience with which they can be imbibed. And this is all for good reason, since that shit will kill you faster than a vacation to Iraq. But if there is anything that Sarah Palin has proved, it's that middle America will tolerate any level of idiocy as long as it comes out of a mouth it would collectively like to fuck. If there's a second thing that Sarah Palin has proved--specifically, with the level of offense she takes at Michelle Obama's measures to curb childhood obesity, and the positive reception it subsequently gathers--it's that as a country we love our junk food more than we love our health. If Hostess, for instance, were to run out a campaign that said, subtly, something along the lines of "All those hippies say this shit will kill you, but we think these cupcakes are fucking delicious and you should eat 'em if they taste good to you," you think that wouldn't strike a chord with some red-state residents? Enough to make it worth Hostess' while? Shit, I think it would be worth it just to watch the furious reaction from health groups.
Odds of it happening: Somewhere between 0 and never.

The product: Mid-range beer/liquor/wine
The tagline: "It'll do, for the price!"
The pitch: This sort of pitch would work even better with the Keystones and Natty Lights of the world, but those brands don't really produce advertising because they don't need to. College kids are going to buy their shit no matter what the companies say. High-end booze can't reasonably say it's worth the money when the average consumer can't appreciate the fineness of what they're drinking, especially after they've mixed it with Coke and chugged it on a dare. A $30 handle of Smirnoff will be a similar amount of fun as a $60 handle of Grey Goose, so why not point that out? It seems like the moderately-good brands like Smirnoff or Cuervo would attack the good stuff with this line of thought, and see if they can't grab a little market share with honesty instead of the usual bullshit.
Odds of it happening: Next to nil. Companies, as a rule, don't like to admit that their product is inferior, even if it very obviously is. They'll keep trying to sell us on how hip and fun they are and how beautiful women will have sex with you if they drink their product.

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