Cosmetics ad tries to objectify men, still makes women look shallow

On the surface, this campaign by Benefit Cosmetics seems to turn the tables on the sexual objectification of women by featuring men with "big packages":



In the end, however, it just goes back to the tired old stereotype of women being obsessive shoppers who derive more pleasure from products (in this case, mascara) than anything else. You've come a long way... baby?

Directed by Adam Patch. The music is  'Riding Low' From the album "Palatial" by Dirt Nasty. Tip via AdRants.

Sexual disgust as a marketing strategy

I saw two ads this week that managed to turn the whole "sex in advertising" thing completely around, with an attempt to elicit not arousal but rather disgust.

The first, via Adrants, is an online ad for singles phone line QuestChat:

Coincidentally, it was just announced that an app has been developed to help legendarily homogeneous Icelanders not hook up with not-so-distant relatives. So the timing was perfect to play on the cultural taboo of cousin incest.

(I don't want to get all Shelbyvillian about it, but I knew a guy whose parents were first cousins. The whole family were actually quite brilliant.)

The second ad, via Copyranter, is more than a little more disturbing:

No, I wasn't disturbed by the idea of an elderly person having sex (although that was certainly the intent). I'm more bothered by the cheap shot at seniors taken by this ad. It doesn't even communicate a true product benefit, as not even the most modest claims of cosmetics are necessarily honest. Bah!

Anti-cellulite jeans? Yeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt!

Via Brit + Co

We're all used to sketchy beauty claims by lotions, potions and pills, but this is a new one. Wrangler is apparently releasing a line of "Denim Spa" jeans for women that have been impregnated with extracts that "soothe" or "moisturize" skin. One pair, "Smooth Legs," even claims to reduce the appearance of cellulite.

According to the Telegraph:

Infused with algae extracts, retinol and caffeine, the style was clinically tested by the Institut Adriant in France, where after four weeks of wearing the jeans for eight hours a day, five days a week over six weeks, 69 per cent of the panel claimed that the appearance of their thighs had improved. 

The Smooth Legs style reportedly lasts for 15 days' wear (or four to six washes), after which a reload spray can be applied after each wash to continue to reap the jeans' beauty benefits. In total the jeans can retain their cosmetic effects for around 67-95 wears, according to Wrangler.

Yeah, about that. First of all, the cellulite cream industry is a great big fraud. There's no medical proof that any chemical can actually reduce cellulite, especially when applied topically. Retinol, which is part of the "Smooth Legs" jeans, can thicken the skin when applied therapeutically, so it may reduce the outer dimples by making legs... plumper.

All that aside, the idea that a pair of cosmetic-soaked jeans could do anything meaningful is absurd. But this is fashion advertising. When have fashion's promises ever been based in reality? Plus, Wrangler has just signed Lizzy Jagger as the "face" of their new line:

I despise this kind of marketing, promising impossible results to gullible consumers. Interestingly, in the UK, the notoriously twitchy ASA has already started cracking down on anti-cellulite advertising. This month, they banned an ad featuring Mila Kunis that claimed its cream could help anyone "Get Mila Kunis' Esquire look" — beside a sexy underpants shot of the "Sexiest Woman Alive" from the magazine in question.

Thanks to Adland.TV for the tip.

Skin whitening ad in Senegal provokes anger

Via France 24

According to France 24, "The wolof expression 'Khess Petch' means 'all white.' It is also the name of a brand new skin whitening cream that has been advertised throughout Dakar in the past few days."

"All-white"? In Africa?

The writer continues:

Skin depigmentation is common in Africa, where the sale of skin whitening products is legal in many countries. People resort to using the creams out of aesthetic concerns based on the idea that fairer skin leads to greater social and economic success. Most of these cheap skin whitening products are made using corticosteroids and hydroquinone (illegal in the European Union), which are harmful and carcinogenic when applied in significant doses on skin. The regular use of these products leads to itching, varicose veins, and stains, but also to a strong dependence due to the product’s penetration into the bloodstream.

People aren't standing for it. A petition at Change.org to the Senegal Ministry of Health and Social Action states (in French), "we believe that the authorities health must seize the faster the issue of skin bleaching which is a public health problem in the same way as tobacco."

It has just over 1300 signatures.

Thanks to Osocio colleague Tatjana Vukic for the tip.

Related: Skin whitening ads from Hong Kong and vulva-bleaching campaign from India.

The changing face of tanning

20th Century (via Found in Mom's Basement)

21st Century (via skincancer.org)

Internet creates the "nude" Natalie Portman ad fans were hoping for

It's fake, according to Fashionista, even though the Daily Mail was completely taken in by it.

Every time a famous woman gets "nude" for a campaign, it makes headlines. Even if the only skin you end up seeing wouldn't make you look twice at the beach.

Here's the real ad:

There's also this:

Via mostlysunnybunny

Look, she's a stunning woman. And she has done this kind of posing for Dior before. It's not really big news — it's just the more sophisticated end of sex in advertising. 

Perhaps that's why some photoshopper felt the need to make it more lurid.

Ms. Portman didn't do it all for money and vanity, however. As part of her modelling deal she chose one of Dior's eight new lip colours, "Grege #169", for a CSR program in which all proceeds will go to Free the Children. She's their face too.

More weird skin whitening ads from Asia

While the Western world tries desperately to convince its pale citizens to keep out of the sun and tanning booths, the East continues to baffle us with its obsession with skin whitening products.

In this case, a hand cream promises to make your skin so blindingly pallid, it will cast a white shadow. (Hmmm... that reminds me of a TV show I used to watch.)

The exaggeration is too obvious to accuse TBWA Hong Kong of false advertising in the concept itself, but these products can run the gamut from useless to downright dangerous. It's a shame people can't learn to love diverse beauty ideas, rather than being preyed on by snake oil ads.

Via I Believe in Advertising

"Fotoshop by Adobé" merges the world of cosmetics and retouching

Jesse Rosten says, "I was watching TV one sleepless night and stumbled upon an infomercial for some beauty product. The commercial showed before and after portraits, that to my eye, looked like the same photo just photoshopped. I laughed to myself. Then I made this video."


Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.


And there it is. A little long, maybe, but pretty bang on.

Via Viral Videos

F'd Ad Fridays: What's under the makeup?

Via Illegal Advertising:



This ad for Dermablend is actually pretty effective at selling its product. After all, if you can make Zombie Boy  pass for having virgin skin, this stuff will probably do a great job of hiding your '90s tramp stamp from your parents-in-law, or a hickey from your coworkers.

Rico Genest is a Canadian guy who has been covering himself in tattoos since he was 16. His look caught the eye of Lady Gaga, who featured him (and imitated his tatts) in her "Born This Way" video.

Which is interesting, because he was born more the way he looked after the makeup, even though it is twice removed from nature:

I don't know how durable this stuff is, but you could almost make a fashion out of changing your skin tone to match your mood or the crowd you're with. Or disguise yourself just for fun.

Anyway, here's a making of:



Happy Weekend.

Casting without seeing

Here's an interesting marketing stunt: BareEscentuals, a premium cosmetics company, cast its latest campaign by evaluating models from an open call based first on their written words, then by their voices and interview responses. The client and agency never saw a face until they made their final selections.



Here are the winners:

What, you expected them not to be this beautiful? Perhaps a little older, in some cases, than the average cosmetics models. Perhaps brainer. (Andrea is an environmental scientist and entrepreneur, Melanie has an engineering degree, and all are very accomplished.) But wouldn't you have expected a "blind" casting call to have at least turned up someone more average looking? Or older? Or larger?

Only the client, or perhaps TBWA\Chiat\Day, LA can answer those questions.

Nevertheless, a good marketing tactic. I'll bet Dove wishes they had thought of it first.

Via IBIA