Lavazza Coffee's new run of print ads are bewildering at best, and at worse, can be easily confused with Target's branding. It took me awhile to spot what was being advertised, and even then, was thoroughly confused by the concept.
Bad branding aside, I'm also put off by the use of the scantily clad women. Wasn't that the domain of the alcohol industry? Since when did coffee rely on the "sex sells" position? Just to prove awards don't mean anything in this biz, the campaign's photography won an Epica award this year...
Via Adpunch.
3 comments:
This is really interesting--coffee has typically been the "wholesome" addiction--Folger's commercials have been family/marriage oriented for some time now, and Starbucks is about choice inside conformity. That said, I'd never confuse this with Target's campaign--the shapes aren't clean enough, and the whole thing with the Target campaign is redefining one shade of red, so their ads rarely feature a variety of hues. They've done an amazing job with it, too. Anytime I see that particular red, I immediately think Target.
Totally agree with Folgers/Starbucks and their imagery. That's one of the first things I thought of when I looked at these ads. (and Dunkin Donuts coffee...man, too many competiting slogans in my head!)
Some of Target's newest ads (I think I saw them at Altantic Terminal in Brooklyn) definitely resemble these though. Yeah, you're right about the shades of red differing, but the surrealist feel is very similar, as is the rest of the color palette. If you've seen their holiday commercials, the reds are expanded from a singular shade to incorporate a number of ruby hues. Even if the resemblance isn't dead-on, I'd be worried about possible confusion and brand identity anyhow...Just my thoughts.
(Not to mention, scantily clad women with little coffee cups, WTF?)
Well, one thing you need to remember also.. that althoughhhhh it is being advertised here in the US. These were inspired by marketing people out in Europe where commercials at times have nudity. So yes.. although it might be appalling to some. This practice is normal out there and mostly piss off people who are too conservative and feel that women are always being exploited.
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