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Holtz Communications + Technology

Shel Holtz
Communicating at the Intersection of Business and Technology
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A naked conversation

If you’re looking for an example of how to take a marketing campaign viral, Elave may or may not be something you’d want to show to management. The British skin care company has launched a new campaign to spotlight the fact that its products contain no chemicals and therefore they “have nothing to hide.” To drive the point home, the models in the campaign videos are completely nude.

On the brilliant side, the campaign website features embed and share codes. The embed code means this risque video is going to appear on thousands of blogs as the word spreads like wildfire. On the negative side, the models in the videos are unrealistically gorgeous, the flip side of Dove’s campaign for real beauty, and can do nothing but reinforce the notion—particularly among young girls—that you have to look like this to be considered attractive.

Another problem: The campaign has a dedicated website that is Flash-driven. I have a new Intel quad-core PC and a very fast cable Net connection, and it still took forever for the video to start.

None of which will matter. Millions of people will watch this video. Controversy will ensue. Undoubtedly, though, product sales will surge.

Hat tip to C.C. Chapman.

05/17/07 | 5 Comments | A naked conversation

Comments

  • 1.Shel, I'm not sure about the "unrealistically gorgeous" epithet. These young men and women haven't been photoshopped.

    True, they may not represent the majority of the population, but there is always a sub-set of 'gorgeous' people in most offices; they are 'real' as in the sense of not digitally enhanced. I reckon it takes a bit of guts to be so unself-conscious as to walk around and talk to your audience completely stark-bollock naked.

    Lee Hopkins | May 2007 | Adelaide Hills

  • 2.But Lee, they're not represented in this ad as a subset, but the norm. There's no one frumpy person among the lot. That's a misrepresentation as egregious, in my opinion, as the fashion magazines restricting its use of models to those who probably choke down no more than half a radish each day, creating those unrealistic expectations that lead young girls to acquire eating disorders.

    Shel Holtz | May 2007 | Concord, CA

  • 3.This was quite a story in the UK last weekend.

    A feature in the Mail on Sunday has some great quotations from the company's CEO on why she did this. Btw, she's also in the video.

    http://tinyurl.com/34eww7

    The Mail story also has a link to the video - but a censored version. Safe for work, at least :)

    Neville Hobson | May 2007 | UK

  • 4."There?s no one frumpy person among the lot."

    I don't know what the mileage is like where you are, but here in Australia there ARE no frumpy people, mate! We are ALL drop-dead gorgeous, firm of stomach and wise of mind. It's the wine and the weather that makes us what we are! {grin}

    Lee Hopkins | May 2007 | the glorious Adelaide Hills

  • 5.I must say I was very happy to see the ad - the main presenter is both womanly and beautiful. She has hips, boobs and looks fantastic without being a size zero! I think the ad shows a group of people who are very comfortable in their own bodies (all shapes and sizes) which is a positive thing for all of us.

    I think it would have been foolish to add a token, fat, lanky, frunmpy etc person just to be PC. I welcome the ad and think it is very brave especially with the MD in the video!

    GinaGee | May 2007 | London

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