Yes, I know there is a blog post and all that, but I’m actually not here … I’m in a land far, far away … however in a moment of complete stupidity, I wrote this [and every other post appearing this week] in advance.
Now you could ask the question ‘Why’ … and that would be a good question … but as I already pointed out previously, I’m a sad and stupid little bugger.
Anyway, what this means is I have all your evil comments to look forward to reading when I’m back … and given my life now revolves around a cat … it’s something to look forward to. [cue: Violins]
OK, lets get on with it …
Below you will see an ad for ECOVERVE – a Singaporean cleaning company.
In the ad, they talk about how they only use environmentally friendly cleaning products because they want their customers to be able to spend time with their loved ones rather than
[1] worry about the cleaning
[2] worry about harmful chemicals entering their homes.
OK so the ad is one of those shitty ‘family happiness’ shots and the ‘spend more time doing what you really want to do’ has been done to death …, but it’s a fair proposition which probably has massive appeal to young professional families.
Just one problem.
This ad appeared in FHM Singapore … a magazine John Dodd’s referred to as ‘sleazy’
Now I appreciate the ‘disruption’ theory in media planning … however just like promoting ‘Meat’ in a Vegetarian magazine would be abit daft, so is spending a heap of cash advertising a cleaning service [using happy, caring, loving families as the underlying message] in a magazine that is almost entirely focused on the denial of family responsibilities and the celebration of gratuitous female flesh.
Right product. Wrong execution.
And is it just me or does the ad feel like it’s been written more towards women than men? If that’s the case, why the hell would you run it in bloody FHM???
[Alright, there’s no evidence whatsoever that’s the case – and while I could try and write about ‘traditional roles’ in Asian culture, I know I’d be talking complete bollocks]
So to the nice people at Ecoverve … may I suggest you kick the person who sold you that media placement really hard in the nuts and to the person who did the selling, pick up your Salesmen/Con Artist ‘Award Of The Year’ at reception!