Yesterday I got on a crosstown bus and noticed the most insipid advertising I've seen in quite a long time. Yes. There are degrees of insipidness (or is it insipidosity or insipidity?) The Lincoln work I spoke about earlier this week is bad and over-blown and in-credible, but this work is just flat-out nauseatingly, cloyingly dumb.
I'm talking about work for the toilet paper Cottonelle. Oh! There's a little puppy in the ad, that's sooooooooo cute. Their ass-wipes must be soft and cuddly. There's a border around the ad that flares out in the lower right hand corner like the cheeks of a cute little keister! Oh how cute. Then there are the headlines, or are they ass lines, or butt cracks? "It shines where the sun don't" is the only one I remember. But the tagline is the culmination of crass, the apotheosis of awful: "Be kind to your behind."
Maybe this sort of Hallmark/Reader's Digest/Grandma needle-pointing a sampler plays in some ad-guy's fantasy of what Kansas is like. But New York ain't Kansas. I'm not sure Kansas is either anymore. This is scrapping (or wiping) the bottom.
2 comments:
Just for you GT:
http://www.prweekus.com/Cottonelle-takes-a-bus-to-up-brand-awareness/article/108161/
Cottonelle takes a bus to up brand awareness
NEW YORK: Cottonelle has launched "Be Kind to Your Behind," a national campaign to build brand awareness and position the product as a luxury lifestyle choice.
The effort, which was scheduled to launched in New York on March 20, features the experiential Cottonelle Comfort Haven, a bus outfitted to look like the Cottonelle mascot, a yellow Labrador Retriever, with comfort and product stations.
The Comfort Haven will be promoted in New York by new brand spokeswoman, actress Judy Greer; the six-week-old Cottonelle puppy; and fitness expert Ary Nunez, who will demonstrate exercises and relaxation techniques, along with a team of massage therapists.
On its mobile tour, the Comfort Haven is projected to provide targeted, regional experts for Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco, in addition to an undisclosed Canadian location, over the upcoming year.
Ketchum, which has worked with Cottonelle for its past three campaigns and Cottonelle parent company Kimberly-Clark for five- plus years, jointly developed Comfort Haven with live marketing firm GMR. Ketchum is overseeing PR on the campaign.
In addition to a national media relations initiative, the team launched a sweepstakes at www.cottonelle.com/sweepstakes.aspx. Consumers who visit the site can pledge to "be kind to their behinds," and be entered to win a resort retreat, along with other assorted prizes.
The effort is derived from internal research that found that 47% of Americans don't focus on the comfort of their posterior.
"This campaign is about challenging consumers to think in a new way," said Mark Worden, Cottonelle brand manager, whose target demographic is generally women 25 and older. "We want to talk about an area that's been overlooked for too long."
From the March 24, 2008 Issue of PRWeek
I still hate it.
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