"Going Gay" in advertising

As a massive craft-beer enthusiast and a passionate advocate of gay rights I was quite shocked to read that Mexican brewery Minerva has just released what they are labeling “Queer Beer”. Apparently the citrus flavours appeal specifically to lesbian, gay and transgender people. Now I have yet to fully order my emotions on this. As a South African I can have the tendency to be overly politically correct so I could be getting offended over nothing, but purple bottles of beer just seems like a bit of an old stereotype to me? It is great that a country with a large gay community is openly recognising and accepting the community but it also shows the old fashioned view that people hold. I mean, “Queer Beer” are you frikkin’ kidding me? What? “Can’t have a becks, too straight, get me some of that gay beer”?

This reminded me quite a bit of an old Virgin ad that was shown on SABC around 10 years ago. It showed two men, neither attractive, engaging in typical romantic activities: molding clay, running in fields- the usual, while serenading each other with “how deep is your love”. This was before Virgin was viewed LGBT friendly and this advert came off with extremely homophobic undertones. Nationwide in South Africa we have come far since this was the norm, as has the rest of the world.

The LGBT market is seen as one of the hardest to gain, you have to show that you’re supporting the culture and community without making your flag look like a marketing scam (which let’s be honest, it often is).  Last year the gay community cheered over the progress made in America, finally. From a marketing perspective it was fascinating, with technology advancing daily brands became even more personal. Cheerios, Spec Savers and Ray Bans were amongst the many brands that were vocal in their support of gay marriage and gained a lot of respect internationally. Doritos and Millers Draft are still struggling after their perceived disregard and disrespect of the gay community.

The best support ads of last year were definitely done by United Colours of Benetton, awesome company that they are. The award winning campaign showed photoshopped images of world leaders kissing to support their Unhate campaign. The minimal copy and headline “Unhate” focused the image further. They weren’t cheesy or fashionable it was just honest and with a clear message. They didn’t use words like “love” or “care”, it wasn’t even specific to LGBT community. It just called for a general shift in attitude towards tolerance and violence.

The adverts in themselves are well executed; the surprising visuals of rival leaders draw you in straight away, grabbing the viewers attention. No-nonsense strong fonts showed the seriousness of the issue, there was no giant logo, just the UCB’s usual green tag. They weren’t obviously styled or gimmicky. A clever, eye-catching and courageous campaign that deserved all the attention and respect it received.

Four Seasons: Sweating and Grunting

Wow, new level of crazy unhealthy- I just had to Google what a health club is. Was slightly embarrassed until I realised it’s a fancy gym, now I feel nothing but pride within myself. Gyms are the devils work, just like jeggings, you go into them with so much hope and excitement and leave broken, sweaty and feeling slightly judged. Destroy them, please. I will not be associated with these evil establishments.

Super fancy hotel chain, the Four Seasons, has decided to advertise their health clubs and they’re not doing it too badly. Not great either; just a bit meh.  To be honest I’m a bit sick of these kinds of ads with this kind of font, and this kind of style, it just seems to be everywhere right now and it’s become a bit generic. Need to make something look fun and expensive? Make sure your font is curly! The more expensive, the curlier! This shit is barely legible; it’s curling and swirling all over the place.

I genuinely find this concept cool. Most people enjoy the idea of being gross, and doing it in fancy places is even better- probably why every hotel lobby smells like covered up fart. It’s a nice concept and it’s just the art direction that has me a bit confused. I don’t understand why the words seem to be on steel, why do you want me to think of metal? Is it just for aesthetic appeal? Am I supposed to be linking it with gym machinery? I have no idea. It makes me feel like there’s a joke I’m just not getting, which is not an enjoyable feeling at all.

If you can get away from the visual, the concept and the tagline are quite funny. I think the tagline is great “everything’s nicer in our health clubs” and it links up with the headline well, it gave me a bit of a giggle. I am also extremely grateful that I don’t have to look at another really perky woman standing with towels behind her neck[1]. I can see that they are trying to do something different and that is great, I just wish they could’ve taken the idea further; sweating and grunting are not even close to the grossest things that go on at gyms- have you ever been in a change room? Or a yoga class? Or swim-aerobics? Gross, hilarious places.

Admittedly these are probably the best Four Seasons adverts out there, an intense Google search reveals nothing (went all the way to page four, crazy!), so the client must have quite a reign of terror over the ad agencies “ONLY SHOW PALM TREES! MORE SMILES! NOW!!!”. What a horrible thing to do, there’s nothing worse than seeing a great product- something that could become a fantastic brand being decimated by an old fashioned attitude towards advertising. I completely agree with having to keep your style and company ethos relevant in your advertising but there are so many interesting things you could do while respecting your companies philosophy.

I feel like the team that came up with this advert was made up of a really funky, strange copywriter and a prudish boring art-director. The two styles don’t mesh well, and they’re not creating interesting contrast as much as an uncomfortable clash. All in all, fun concept bad execution.

Israir "A vacation is longer.."

If I see another picture of a palm tree beach anywhere I will start crazily massacring people. In my personal opinion they don’t make you want to go there, it’s like watching food channel on a diet. You’re just making me angry and resentful. Israir have managed to come up with an awesome campaign for their airline and they’ve done it in a cool, interesting way.

I am a serious victim of the amazing gap yah. That’s a bunch of annoying people that went traveling and now can’t shut up about how much it’s changed their life- yeeeah that’s me. This ad is just showing a small version of that, it’s showing how a tiny amount of time away can spill out into your back-to-work life, whether it’s your post-holiday tantight skin or your beautiful experience with that Indian villager/shaman that totally just like really showed you perspective. The experiences stay with you.

Many people think that when they only have a week off, going abroad is too much of a mission; I get that. Israir is trying to say that when you’re traveling, a week isn’t just a week. “A vacation is longer than just the time off”, great headline. Smart folks. They aren’t looking at other airlines as competition; they’re looking at people’s mentality towards travel. They know the “why bother” mindset we all get in after months of mind-numbing, soul-destroying work and they’re trying to draw us back, “remember how fun it was, that one time…” They’re taking the cheesy overdone “memories are moments” and making it less mushy.

I must admit understated ads appeal to me, in a giant pile of LOOK HERE NOW, BUYBUYBUY they stand out and I think this might be why I enjoyed this set of print ads so much. It’s an amazingly simple concept, based on one great insight with fantastic art direction. I love how they’ve illustrated the concept by putting it on a calendar- it simplifies the entire image while explaining the idea even further. The white border angles yours eyes making the actual reading experience more interesting, inside to out rather than left to right. It’s the little things like this that make this a great print ad.

I’m not saying these ads are faultless; there are certain things I don’t like. I feel that the hotel ad is just filling space. It’s not executed as well as the others and I mean comeon-it’sahotel, where’s the experience in that? I’m just not sure if the idea is as strong as the others but that is definitely personal opinion. I’m a backpacker’s girl. Hotel holidays don’t appeal on any level.

I really appreciate the fact that these ads aren’t pushing deals on everyone. They’re saying, “Hey, you look knackered, wanna talk about it?” They’re inviting you to investigate further rather than laying all the cards out on the table. Smart move on their side, as a brand. I’ve just finished “Hey, Whipple, Squeeze this” and a point that the author, Luke Sullivan, makes over and over again is that brands should treat meeting new consumers as if they were going to a party and making new friends. Basic rules: don’t be obnoxious, don’t talk too much about yourself and definitely don’t try to start selling stuff to them. Suggest, yeah- that’s OK- but no one invited a salesman to the party.

This isn’t the first time Israir has had a cool campaign. For a small(ish) airline, they sure are doing some fun stuff. Last year they had an outdoor campaign where they took the “You are here” on city maps and added “Too bad” with a tiny bit more writing about their plane fares.  Again, not pushy, just a little “waddup, life could be better”. I love it when I feel like I could befriend an advert or a brand (I definitely think about this a dangerous amount). Israir has left me thinking about them as the straight laced, suited guy, who loves shamrock hip-hop and has sweet moves on the dance floor. Fun, clever, quirky, trustworthy. That right there is the definition of doing a good job- making suckers like me believe in your brand.