Filed under: Brand Suicide, Crap Campaigns In History, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!
Look at this ad for Dior.
WHAT THE FUCK WERE THEY THINKING!
Yes … I get held in a certain way a lipstick can look like a cigarette.
Yes … I get cigarette’s are addictive so it ties in with the name of the product.
But I’ll say it again, WHAT THE FUCK WERE THEY THINKING?
Maybe long ago smoking was regarded as glamourous. But now, it is pretty much universally seen as being ugly and certainly not good for your health or your looks.
And let’s be honest, being associated with a product that can kill you is hardly the smartest move for any brand.
Which all means that the person who approved this should be fired and the people who pulled it together should be shot.
Seriously, when marketing is this fucking stupid, is it any surprise business leaders thinks our discipline is a crock of shit?
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Hmmm – that’s quite a literal interpretation and if that was their thinking then I agree with you, but I took it as playing with the imagery of cool and not making the direct comparison.
Comment by john April 6, 2016 @ 6:29 amare you fucking mad doddsy, of course that was what they were fucking thinking. what else is it trying to represent, a fucking drinking straw?
Comment by andy@cynic April 6, 2016 @ 6:32 amI suppose I’m wondering if you can argue that it’s displacing rather than substituting for the cigarette – pastiche as opposed to homage i.e. this is what cool looks like now without suggesting that cigarettes are or ever were cool.
You’ll say no I imagine and that’s fine.
Comment by john April 6, 2016 @ 6:41 amBut I do think that the product name is terrible.
Comment by john April 6, 2016 @ 6:42 amYou can argue that John. But you would be advised not to.
Comment by George April 6, 2016 @ 6:44 amI believe this is the image they are trying to recapture. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/172896073166077535/
Comment by George April 6, 2016 @ 6:43 amThough it may also be this.
http://m.favim.com/image/188331/
But the one constant is the cigarette.
Even if you are right John, the choice of product name and style of shot makes this a badly thought through piece of communication.
To be honest, I’m shocked you think it is anything other than a proxy for a cigarette. Everything about it – from pose to name – reflects it. Even your reference to it being ‘cool’ originates from the cigarette poses of the 50’s and 60’s. You never stop continuing to surprise me …
Comment by Rob April 6, 2016 @ 9:26 amI have much to learn.
Comment by john April 6, 2016 @ 4:22 pmI’m not going to give you more ammunition against yourself Mr D. Ha.
Comment by Rob April 6, 2016 @ 5:09 pmpile. of. fucking. shite.
Comment by andy@cynic April 6, 2016 @ 6:33 amHey chicks, remember smoking lipstick is safer than smoking crack.
Comment by Billy Whizz April 6, 2016 @ 6:51 amYou sound like Nancy Reagan.
Comment by Rob April 6, 2016 @ 9:38 amThis article talks about the campaign. There is no reference to smoking, which isn’t surprising, but every photo shows the lipstick in a pose more commonly associated with cigarettes. Intentional or not, it’s not very smart. http://tinyurl.com/gplsrlj
Comment by Pete April 6, 2016 @ 6:59 ambut shes wearing pink so thats alfuckingright beauty cliche fans.
Comment by andy@cynic April 6, 2016 @ 7:08 amIt reminds me of the way candy cigarettes were sold when I was a child. They claimed it was harmless but they were clearly saying to adolescent children that smoking makes you look older and cool. The beauty industry has long been associated with unhealthy practices, including smoking, so this does not surprise me.
Comment by Mary Bryant April 6, 2016 @ 7:29 ami should have gone into business with you, not your fucking husband.
Comment by andy@cynic April 6, 2016 @ 7:42 amI do as well Andrew.
Comment by George April 6, 2016 @ 7:45 amIt looks like a monkeys cock. Maybe there’s a beastiality trend.
Comment by Billy Whizz April 6, 2016 @ 9:50 amYou’ve spent the last hour coming up with that comment haven’t you Billy?
Comment by DH April 6, 2016 @ 9:52 amJealous.
Comment by Billy Whizz April 6, 2016 @ 10:28 amI’m kind of freaked that I agree with you.
Comment by Rob April 6, 2016 @ 5:10 pmWorth pointing out that women who obsess about cosmetics and the way they look are often interested in this kind of dominant, unfeeling, materialist imagery.
Comment by Charles Frith April 6, 2016 @ 6:07 pmA plump red lippy doesn’t half cover up those bloody emphysema dribbles nicely. Seems kind of apt though: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/6819210/Jennifer-Lawrence-admits-to-smoking-cannabis-before-the-Oscars.html
Comment by Sid April 6, 2016 @ 7:05 pmbetakate – i found them at uwajimaya, a grocery store in seattle. Click https://twitter.com/moooker1
Comment by lararoy94036 April 8, 2016 @ 9:40 pm[…] So a few weeks ago I wrote about a Dior advertising campaign that makes their new lipstick, resemble a cigarette. […]
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