Ads gone bad: Poland gets controversial

Brilliant piece in this week's Stylist magazine -- apparently advertisers in Poland have had a tricky month. Imagine you were responsible for creating a hospital's breast cancer awareness poster. What sort of angle might you go for? What kind of message would you want to portray? No matter how tequila slammers or stupidity pills you'd consumed, I'm fairly certain this slogan wouldn't have made your top 5:

"I check the breasts of my workers"

Feminist groups in Poland are demanding it be changed, whilst the team responsible for creating it defend the ad by arguing that the controversy is designed to draw attention to the important issue. "It may be provocative, but that is what we wanted", says Wieslaw Kaczmarek, head of the cancer prevention programme (quoted by the New Poland Express website).

But it seems Poland's creatives are on a bit of a roll. Allow me to present Extremely Inappropriate Ad number two. A pro-abortion campaign has ripped off the famous MasterCard ads to advise Polish women that they can get a free abortion in the UK. 

"Plane ticket to England at special offer: 300 zloty. Accommodation: 240 zloty. Abortion in a public clinic: 0 zloty. 

"Relief after a procedure carried out in decent conditions? Priceless."

Abortion is illegal in Poland, unless the woman's health is at risk, the pregnancy is the result of a rape, or the fetes is seriously malformed. The result is that many women are forced to pay for back-street abortions at home, which the ad clearly is aiming to prevent, by highlighting the "bargain" of travelling to the UK for a free abortion as a member of the EU. 

This extremely serious situation aligned with a "spoof" style ad seems distinctly appropriate (Equating a credit card transaction with an abortion?!) however Stylist also reveals the content isn't even strictly accurate: "The UK's department of Health...claims this is a misleading ad, as non-emergency procedures are not available to non-British citizens". 

Distasteful and factually inaccurate?  Pretty sure they won't be winning any awards for that one, then. 

Cathay Pacific - more than just an airline, by the looks!

Waiting at a jam-packed Moorgate station the other day, I become transfixed by this bizarre advert on the tube.

This is apparently an advert for Cathay Pacific airlines. Call me crazy, but nothing in the images make me think of airlines. Or holidays. Or travel, or surely ANYTHING I should be thinking when I look at an ad for an airline?!

There's some text on the other side - Great Service. Great People. Great Fares. But to be honest I'm kind of ignoring that and instead spend a good 2 minutes considering why an airline would promote its service by picturing a member of staff in a blonde wig. I double check - alas, not a single mention of a free wig with every flight.


I just don't get it! Am I supposed to think that these Cathay Pacific girls would be fun on a night out? The childish looking girl in the pic on the far left looks like she would be better suited to a Disney ad, and the wig is just making me think of Lost In Translation (surely Bill Murray is not renowned for his flight-selling skills). Equally not sure how to interpret the other lady, who looks pretty much the same in or out of her uniform.

Left with no real clues, except a vague notion that perhaps the idea is that the staff are great as are the people that live in the destinations, my brain starts warping and I'm thinking that if I was a bloke I might be hoping the "Great service" would be a little more than a hot meal and a packet of peanuts (I am blaming this notion on the wig, finger pout and low-cut top, not my own sick mind... i don't think...).

Any interpretations welcome - I'm lost on this one!

The V word makes its advertising debut!

So there I was, trekking to work, dragging myself up the tube escalator when I see an advert I hadn't noticed before. Some squiggly writing. Hmm what's that say? Vajay... jay?!?! Vajayjay!??  But wait, isn't that... doesn't that mean..?! I'm getting a bit closer to the ad now, squinting in disbelief and YES! Definitely says vajayjay. Maybe I got confused. Is vajayjay a new rapper? I kind of start chuckling at myself, some silly sausage hasn't realised that vajayjay clearrrrly can only be used in a lady garden context! I start to wonder if vajayjay will be touring with Lady Gaga sometime but soon but -No! No there's something else on the ad... little script at the bottom....

loveyourvagina.com

[loveyourvagina.com ad, Moorgate station. Sorry for distant photo... felt like a bit of a pervy weirdo]

Ohhh it's just outrageous isn't it! Just when you thought that the 'v word' would never feature in any ad ever in the history of the world, there it is right in your face (i say) on your daily commute. There are a series of ads featuring slang words for one's... vajayjay... including frufru and bajingo, the words forming a V shape (more subtle that it sounds, actually!).  

So what's it advertising, you may well ask? I initially assumed it must be some sort of government health campaign, as it wasn't too dissimilar to the STI awareness ads (they included a pic of a man in boxers with GONORRHOEA written where you'd expect 'Calvin Klein' to be), but intriguingly the loveyourvagina.com link takes you to a new website created on behalf of Mooncup.

For the uninitiated, the 'Mooncup' is hailed as a ecological new form of female sanitary protection. Up to now, the only way the Mooncup ever seemed to promote itself, was through stickers on the back of toilet doors. They also usually featured a felt-tip scrawled EWWW SOUNDS GROSS (that's the censored version) over the top of them. The website mostly serves as a platform to the main Mooncup site, but it's worth a visit alone for the page 'tell us what you call yours'. In case you're wondering, here a few examples of what to call your / your lady's 'special place':::

• 
  
  
  • 
    
    Faloola
  • 
    
    My netherlands
  • 
    
    Jaxy
  • 
    
    Figa
  • 
    
    Kunt
  • 
    
    Lady cave
  • 
    
    Pik pik
  • 
    
    Harriet
  • 
    
    Perlimpimpin le magicien
  • 
    
    Penis flytrap
  • 
    
    Lady star
  • 
    
    Penny spender
  • 
    
    Mossy cleft
  • 
    
    Falula
  • 
    
    Money slot
  • 
    
    Ninny
  • 
    
    Peep peeps
  • 
    
    Mooie
  • 
    
    Mu cha cha My thatcher Ms. tiggywinkle
    
    
    www.loveyourvagina.com

WERTHER'S CHOCOLATE - from grandpas to crazy ladies

The latest ad campaign to drive me up the wall has to be the new Werther's ads.

When I think of Werther's, I think of a warm and fuzzy camera shot of a cosy living room, with a flat-capped grandpa offering a gold-wrapped toffee to a little blond grandson who looks so tooth-achingly sweet in the first place that you start to wonder if the Werther's will tip him over the edge into diabetes.

Werther's have ditched this angle (probably partly due to the fact that you can't put an old man with a young person on TV anymore as we'll only think it's a "Watch out for paedos on the internet" warning) and have moved into the trend of marketing confectionery to women, which has previously worked for many brands.

My only concern is that after watching the new series of ads, filmed as cheesy "testimonials" from women trying the Werther's Chocolate product, I'm wondering if the new sweet has brain zapping power. You want proof?? Listen to Mika's terrifying testimony! ::

(click here if you want to see the shocking proof http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a83tTN64qV4&feature=related)

I love Werther's.. and I love chocolate. (yeah, chocolate's good, we hear you)

I wonder if it's more chocolate... or more Werther's (not really that bothered...)

[tries a sweet]

Well it's interesting.. cos first of all you get the milk chocolate, but then immediately the Werther's! (well that's probably why it's called Werther's Chocolate?)

THAT'S QUITE MAD! (Christ, Mika... bit OTT)

It's really good actually! (Err Mika?.. are you alright?!)

Mm it's delicious! (MIKA! EARTH TO MIKA!)

ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!! (STEP AWAAAY FROM THE SWEETS, LADY!)

Scary... Think I almost preferred the paedo grandpa.