Friday, March 31, 2006

Bring back the real women



We’ve all seen it or heard of it. Ogilvy and Mathers Campaign for Dove has boldly redefined beauty in a category where quintessential was essential. No one needs to look at the sales figures to establish the campaigns success.
So was it true that women do indeed relate and aspire to these women a lot more than the Cindy’s and Gisele’s?
The campaign is about accepting yourself as you are. However, I can’t help but think that it’s also about being real in a product category that revolves around escaping reality.Take the women second from the right; are not 9 out of 10 women that size on a diet, will women that size actually aspire to stay that size anytime in the near future?The dove campaign is riding hard on the buzz of women’s negative sentiments toward their portrayal in the media and their feelings of inadequacy as a result of it.
The question is…do women actually identify and aspire to be like these women?
Or is the success purely based on the decades of the medias unattainable catwalk representation of women?If the later part is correct and doves success is dependant on a history of archetypal imagery will it work in places that have not been exposed to such heavy bombardment of the supermodel image?So will the campaign for real beauty work in the GGC?
If indeed the crux of the campaign is its ‘relatability’, for lack of a word, then the answer should be yes.

My moneys on Olay

Thursday, March 30, 2006

A tribute to the entertainer...


All agencies have one... all agency juniors have been traumatized by one... all agency management sees the need to defend one, all agency colleagues dread working with one...

The 'Agency As*hole' is perhaps as integral to any agency as the common telephone. An agency without an As*hole can automatically be spotted by the empty smile on a juniors face during a night out when he boasts that"Evweyone at work is weal nice".

Yes the Agency As&hole is a source of laughs, tears, agency stories, even social education but most importantly entertainment.

Now seriously pondor how boring your agency would be if you were surrounded by Happy Harrys and Smily Susans. Not that I am suggesting that both Harry and Susan don't add value to the agency... just not as much entertainment as your Agency As*hole.

So the next time you see your local Agency As*hole in the corridor, thank him for being such an a*shole and making your life that much more interesting.

This post is a tribute to all Agency As*holes around the world without which no agency would be complete...thanks guys...thanks.