So I have been AWOL for a month, completing my Undergrad studies, now I am a grad. None the less here I am researching agencies and trying to find the ONE agency that is in alignment with my vision and I come across an advert that has sparked so much controversy in 2010 its actually shocking. Frankly some of the forums that have been started by people against this advert are shocking and have people pretty frustrated, but then again it made me aware that there are still people out there who pretend to be ok with the world's interracial relationships and mixing yet deep inside they are against it. It then made me wonder... what about this advert is wrong?
Made and created in New Zealand for primarily New Zealand and America. I'm not sure if they have launched it into any other country yet. Think in terms of product, the brand, target audience, is there anything wrong??? Then again think of who are the primary viewers, how much influence do they have towards your brand? Is there anything wrong with the advert???
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii I have my heart not settle with t6his ad, i am a chocolate lover, i love chocolate, but this is not my idea of advertising. Besides nude, like total nudity, the actual ad itself is not capturing its weak, the george of the jungle concept would have worked better, with these two dressed! wats with the cross licking from each other's bodies?
ReplyDeletei wouldnt let my son this ad, i will not even make comments on the interracial conotations, taking into cognisense that its Ghana peppermint! arrgggggghhhhh! i am in agreement with those that protested against it!
Well, you are right abt nudity, but I think the ebony and ivory concept is abt the peppermint being white and the chocolate being... well chocolate (brown). The cross licking is as all people would know, "Sex Sells" and also about chocolate being a large part of people's aphrodisiac or somewhat linked to sex. But I totally hear you abt target audience.... but is it a brand for children or is it an adults' chocolate brand. The people against it were in disgust of a black male sexually involved with a white woman. In horror and disgust of even the suggestion.... lets hear what others think.
ReplyDeleteOh my, I think i might be thrown out of the cafe if i watch anymore!
ReplyDeleteOh also if you listen to the voice over..."..a match made in heaven." So its rolling off from the Original sin concept of Adam and Eve hence the garden etc.
ReplyDeletePersonally the advert really disturbed me. I do not find the logic of being nude when you are advertising chocolate. What has chocolate got to do with one being naked. I really did not find it to be captivating at all. Creativity should go beyond presenting people naked. What is being marketed is the chocolate not the bodies, so it would make more sense to market that instead. I agree with Tendai, i would not even want my son or daughter to watch it, you know how it is with kids, they will always make inferences (nudity and chocolates).
ReplyDeleteOk, flak jacket on, shields at maximum power! After watching the whole advert, I found it a little shocking at first but mostly inoffensive (a result of my arts training and years in advertising? Maybe). To me, the tone was more playful than suggestive. I saw a metaphor symbolizing the casting away of the inhibitions/prejudices/preconceptions (disrobing) that separate/define our societies to enjoy what we have in common (love for chocolate) and at the same time, try something new. In this case an exclusive yet obscure chocolate brand (at least in this neck of the woods) and in so doing, finding a bit of our lost innocence (Eden). It’s that inferred experience they are trying to sell, not the sex. Of course, this isn’t the kind of thing you would put in the middle of Ben 10 or Takalami Sesame, the product just isn’t aimed at children. The flipside to all this is a very deliberate attempt to provoke controversy and therefore free publicity around Whittakers Chocolate, and it worked! A quick search on the net shows everyone from neo nazis to clergymen were talking about and spreading the word (positive and negative), all at no extra cost to Whitakers!
ReplyDeleteCloser to home, does anyone remember the lotion advert that used to show ages ago on ZBC? I think it was for Dawn or Lanoline Milk. It generated a similar controversy for its less overt nudity and to date, no one has come close to crossing that line in Zim.
@ Tineyi. Professionally and well criticized. The advert did play on all those senses and guess what? The brand has gone a fair distance as a result of the controversial blogs started about the advert. It certainly found its way here.
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