Noticing a surge in men’s facial hair lately? Relax, this apparent fad of moustaches is only temporary – and, its for a good cause too!
From an idea originating over a few beers in Australia, “Movember” has since grown to be a global campaign thats raised over $50 million dollars for prostate cancer research. Participation in Movember isn’t just limited to men either – woman, or “Mo sisters” play an integral part of this campaign by helping fundraise and supporting men (Mo Bros) in their lives in their moustache-growing efforts.
I think this campaign is interesting for a number of reasons. It fully embraces the ridiculousness and quirkiness of all things “mo” related. At the end of the month, Gala partes are held to recognize all those who supported Movember where all Mo bros are encouraged to dress up in a costume that best suits the style of their moustache.
I recently came across this Snickers ad that makes reference to movember. I think its brilliant for a number of reasons. It’s carefully worded “grow some nuts” slogan infuses the same innuendo seen in most male-targeted ads (i.e. Axe’s “clean your balls”) and thus reaches out very specifically to a target segment of youngish, (13-25) males. It holds a lot of the same elements that are used in an Axe ad – in addition to its slogan, it preys on the seeming insecurities of some men who are concerned about seeming more “manly” (in this case, the ability to grow a MO).
Secondly, it shows that Snickers is very much in-tune to current trends that are affecting its target segments – in this case, Movember. Its honing in on certain lifestyle aspects of certain men that are within its target market and ensuring that it changes its marketing ads in accordance to its consumers (and thus, adding value).
Though personally not a fan of the moustache, I think how this simple idea has grown so exponentially and across so many different countries is amazing. They’ve started to integrate social media into the campaign, Iphone apps, apparel, posters, jewelry, the list goes on. Its great to see how creative some people have gone with this concept of the moustache.