Filed under: Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Creative Brief, Creative Development, Creativity, Cunning, Marketing
I survived my first July 4th.
To be honest, it wasn’t that difficult given it was basically spending the day eating hamburgers wrapped in stars and stripes napkins.
In fact, I’m quite looking forward to next years already.
Anyway, when I lived in Sydney, there was this myth about someone called ‘trough boy’.
The legend goes that during the Mardi Gras festival, he would wrap himself in clingfilm, lie in the trough of pub urinal and beg people to piss all over him.
I never found out if it was true, but I bring this up because recently – while seeing George at Google – I saw this in their toilets. [Sorry, I mean ‘bathrooms’]
Now you might be wondering what I’m talking about – and I accept it’s not nearly as cool as the million other posts I’ve written about toilets – but what struck me was the high level of branding on this anti-splash toilet aid.
OK, so it works on a similar principal to the ‘fly’ that a Swedish airport painted on their urinals so men would aim their piss at it rather than let it fly all over the place [which was costing them a fortune in cleaning bills] but I must admit seeing their brand name proudly embossed on their product feels strange.
Actually scrap that, what feels weird is their name/logo looks like it suits a tech company more than a hygiene company … which says more about my prejudices than it does about them.
And so I decided to look into them and found out AirWorks is a product, not a brand and it’s made by a company called Hospeco who – if you look at their website – have an image much more in keeping with what I would imagine them to be.
And where am I going with all this?
Well, as normal, nowhere except to say in a world where brands are absolutely petrified of incurring any negative commentary from society, imagine being a brand where your objective is to literally have society piss on you.
If that wouldn’t lead to the greatest creative work ever, I don’t know what would.
20 Comments
That is quite the return Robert. I sincerely hope troughboy is an urban legend.
Comment by Lee Hill July 5, 2017 @ 6:25 amA quick google reveals troughman was an Australian.
Comment by John July 5, 2017 @ 6:32 amof course he was an aussie, campbell says that in his bollocks. though i like the way you are doubting every word he says. smart fucking move.
Comment by andy@cynic July 5, 2017 @ 6:33 amI could be pedantic here, but that would be out of character.
Comment by John July 5, 2017 @ 7:02 amwhy the fuck didnt some antiseptic brand sponsor the perv? no fucking vision in marketing these days.
Comment by andy@cynic July 5, 2017 @ 6:32 amYou’ve still got it.
Comment by DH July 5, 2017 @ 6:42 amWebsite says they’re available in “our most popular scents” – could you tell?
Comment by John July 5, 2017 @ 6:31 amthe scent of stale piss seems to be their best fucking seller then.
Comment by andy@cynic July 5, 2017 @ 6:33 amthe issue is did america survive your first 4th july. judging by the state of the city i woke up too, the answer is no.
Comment by andy@cynic July 5, 2017 @ 6:34 amyoure more dangerous to the world than a tinpot dictator sat in north korea with his finger on the button of a fisher price rocket.
It was a massive beer pong party for my block yesterday. The spirit of American freedom.
Comment by DH July 5, 2017 @ 6:43 amUSA
Comment by Billy Whizz July 5, 2017 @ 7:10 amUSA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
fucktard.
Comment by andy@cynic July 5, 2017 @ 7:23 amDon’t worry, I basically spent the day working. Yes, WORKING! I know … who am I. On the bright side, why would I want to celebrate a day where my home nation had its arse kicked. Though the neighbors were very friendly in their victory.
Comment by Rob July 5, 2017 @ 8:17 amYour version of work is not the same as everyone else’s version of work.
Comment by DH July 5, 2017 @ 8:36 amJudging by the amount of people I saw drinking last night, Hospeco are going to have a great sales month.
Comment by Pete July 5, 2017 @ 7:58 amYes … we walked down to the beach in the evening and the smell of drunk people was incredible.
Comment by Rob July 5, 2017 @ 8:18 amDid it make you homesick?
Comment by DH July 5, 2017 @ 8:36 amI am traumatized by trough man.
Comment by George July 5, 2017 @ 10:46 amYou could be trough man for tech nerds. Think about it.
Comment by Billy Whizz July 5, 2017 @ 12:09 pmBaz would be better for that. He’s trough sized.
Comment by DH July 5, 2017 @ 12:43 pm