And the Feuds Continue...

Tampons. I start with that just to give my guy readers a fair warning. You might want to stop reading after this sentence, cause this product doesn’t apply to you. Ladies, do you actively think about what brand of tampons you buy? I didn’t. In fact for a long time, I thought Playtex and Tampax were the same thing and didn't know which one I bought (why do they both end in “x”? There’s Kotex, too. Wait seriously, does anyone know why?). Then I saw these commercials, and everything changed.

Being a sociology major, I loved this one:

But more of my focus will be on this one:

Next time I was at the store, I bought them. Partially because of the commercials, and partially because of the black box with neon colors. Neon's in right now. Recently I was asked why I like these commercials so much, and I thought a long time about my answer. Of course, by the time I was done thinking, my friends didn’t care about my response any more, so I decided to write about it here.

I love it because it references the strategic, purposeful choices advertisers make to reach their target audience. They’ve (and by “they” I mean ad agency, JWT) realized that advertisements are everywhere and they can no longer pretend like they aren’t marketing to us. They need to admit it. And that’s why I love this. It’s like Dorothy going behind the curtain to see the Wizard of Oz. They’re pulling back the curtain to let us see exactly who they’re targeting, and why they’ve made the choices they’ve made (I love the line “You can relate to me because I’m racially ambiguous”).

But, wait a minute, I like it because they’re admitting to unabashed advertising choices. But…they aren’t admitting to it. They’re actually saying, “Buy Kotex because we don’t have ridiculous commercials!” So who are they accusing? Competitors! AND HEREIN LIES THE FEUD!

But it didn’t become a true feud until this ad campaign aired:

 

 I tried as hard as I could to find the TV commercial with the girl diving, but to no avail (put it on Youtube, P&G! Work that social media savvy you demonstrated with the Old Spice commercials).  This print ad is similar though. It features the phrase, “At a moment like this, I don’t care if my tampons came in a little black box”, and at the bottom it even makes a claim about being better than U by Kotex. Thems fightin’ words, and I love it. 

According to a psychology article I recently read, “whenever you showcase your brand, you also activate your competitors' brands in the minds of your target audience.” If that’s true, why not play up the feud in your commercials? You can’t ignore your competitors, because your consumers definitely aren’t. So take the opportunity to acknowledge, to entertain and to get the public on your side.

*Note: the picture came from another blog. I read the post and it seems we have similar opinions on the tampon commercials! Check it out: http://advertisinginthecity.wordpress.com/

Recipe for Disaster

2 tbs cuteness

1 tsp cartoon animals

2 cups gross imagery

pinch of euphemisms

If you like this recipe, you can make it over and over and over again. Which is exactly what P&G has been doing for the past few years with their cartoon bear Charmin toilet paper (oh, I’m sorry, “bath tissue”) commercials. For those of you that haven’t seen it, here’s the most recent one:

I would love to know the thought process behind this concept. I imagine it went something like this:

Team member 1: I have this great idea. It’s cutting edge. Ahead of the times. Innovative. (cut to team members' approving expressions, already convinced by these buzzwords) We’re going to forgo euphemisms, be gross, and talk about the issues people REALLY have with toilet paper. Forget that “Be Kind to Your Behind” stuff our competitors are doing. It’s about to get real.

Team member 2: That’s a little too real for my liking, and we’d alienate customers. No one wants edgy toilet paper. (sidenote: I disagree. I do want edgy toilet paper, and if your commercial tells me your product is edgy, chances are I’ll buy it). Make it more wholesome. (Team member 2 must not have heard the buzzwords)

From there, I imagine someone decided that if it were bears instead of people, it would be cute, instead of gross. Charmin could still “get real”, while maintaining their wholesome, family friendly image. They were wrong. It's still gross. I want to know how this concept was approved by an entire advertising team. More importantly, I want to know why P&G is STILL making these. P&G, Charmin, I may not be your target customer, and I’m sure normal consumers don’t make so many of their purchasing decisions based on commercial quality (at least not consciously), but you may be the only brand that I will not buy because of a bad commercial.

In researching this blog post, I realized that Charmin can do better, and they have. Here’s a different ad that most of you probably haven’t seen.

I have my qualms with this clip, but it comes from what was almost a good idea. It's definitely relatable. As a college student, living in the dorms and using the cheap, standard issue toilet paper I imagine they have in every dorm, and probably most jails, I enjoyed going home to the luxury of good toilet paper. And I don’t hate the references to common culture (coffee, curry). In fact, I usually love when commercials take a piece of shared American culture and play with it. But if you’re going to do this, commit to it. Add a little more humor, a little less cute (because cute went out the window when you mentioned Curry in an ad about toilet paper), and PLEASE get rid of that bear running across the bottom.

I realize this was a…unique commercial campaign to start with, but it’s been bothering me for years. I’d even go so far as to say it was the inspiration for this blog, so it was time to put my thoughts on (digital) paper. Have you been watching these commercials thinking the same thing? Or, and please, I hope you’re out there cause I’m dying to hear your thoughts, do you love these commercials and think they’re cute and hilarious?