Marketing

Look at this picture.

This is an ad for Calvin Klein jeans. It has been recently forbidden in Australia. Indeed, the agency of normes in advertising of Australia judged it as describing a scence referring to “violence and rape”.

I have to admit that I don’t feel confortable with it. The very first time I saw it, I didn’t really find it  particularly chocking. And now, I realized that it was actually what make me feel weird. When you watch it carefully, you realize exactly what it means. But the fact that I didn’t feel anything special the very first time means that I’m used to see and this kind of violence almost everyday. We all know that our generation (generation Y) is more and more passive in front of certain forms of violence (video games, tv,cinema,…) because of the high exposure rate to it. But it doesn’t mean that we can not be aware of what goes beyond certain limits. But which limits? Mine? Yours?The society’s in general? It is very difficult to answer this fundamental question since the system of values vary from one culture to another. But still, I do believe that some common patterns remain. Rape for example. If we refer to anthropology, rape is an act that has been systematically drastically prohibited by every societies since the beginning of mankind or, at least, what we know about mankind. It’s true that rape has been used in movies to depict cruelty, horror,…But what’s the point of using it to sell jeans?

Do Calvin Klein wants to make people associate jeans with sexual offense? I don’t think so. But then, why using it? To make people remember of the brand, as a mere tool of provocation? Fair enough (since we are speaking about advertising and positionning). But is it the only best way?

I think that the creators of this ad lack of creativity because it is easy to make people remember something thanks to shocking or hurting provocation. My point is not to say that provocation shouldn’t be used in advertising. I’m open-minded enough to appreciate some provocative visual effects but in certain situations. For me, Calvin Klein misses the point here.

If I were the marketer of Calvin Klein, I would feel a postpurchase dissonnance toward this ad right now…