Hey, Let's Talk About Shit!

Pardon the headline.
But it is quite appropriate.
I'm not going to describe the idea.
I'm not going to even begin to dissect how utterly and completely, unbelievably moronic this is (Vice have already done a cracking (sorry) job of that).
I'll just say this:
For many years, Andrex have deftly, cleverly, managed to build a strong brand that expertly sidestepped the very unappealing reality of what their product is for.
It has been an object lesson in advertising really.
Whether you 'like' the kind of cheesy nature of the advertising or not, Andrex has been engineered to mean fluffy puppies - with their associated niceness, softness, happiness, comfort.
It has helped them become a household name, one of the most, if not, the most recognised name in the category.
Well until now, that is.
This is the unhappy consequence of when those idiotic conversations prompted when someone says they want something “More interactive, you know, that engages the audience?” are allowed to actually become reality.
And to top it off, there is no part of it that isn't awful.
Even the execution is horrifically bad in every way that it is possible to be bad.
What must the original architects of Andrex's success be thinking?
Surely, with all of the meetings and presentations that advertising has to go through these days, someone, at some point, must have pointed out how bat-shit-crazy this is?
Have a look at it (and read Vice's superb write-up) here.
Oh well.
I just wish I could wipe it from my memory.

5 comments:

  1. The easier way to do this is just have spots where people do completely malign and evil things and then walk into a store and buy the product. Then the tagline is:

    "Andrex. The choice of arseholes everywhere."

    It would be easier to watch.

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  2. It's not even the most pertinent question about toilet habits - surely are you a 'tilter' or 'stander-upper' would spark much greater debate

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  3. They should have scrunched this "shit idea" and threw it in the bin as soon as it emerged. It's not fit to wipe the Andrex puppy's arse with.

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  4. I'm aware of insight based advertising, like doing a funny dance while waiting around for a guinness to settle and that...but this is a whole new genre. Inshite based advertising (pronounce like Schteeve McClaren and you get it). Def: A form of advertising based purely on the throw away, tired remark of Maureen from Bridlington, a 52 year old research group respondent who felt like she should say something for getting her £50 pin money. 'Well sometimes i scrunch'. Seized on by a junior planner and a naive client watching behind the glass, refined over bad chilean wine on the train journey back to London then wrapped into a brief used to beat sceptical creative teams with until they surrendered this. Oooo it's very spots v stripes - very digital, very inclusive....very viral cooed the account people to the remedial client....oh it's so easy to mock...i've just lost 10minutes of my life.

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  5. http://www.b3tards.com/u/037e58b9e054b3c8dd7b/andrex.gif

    Weirdly enough, I don't think it's that bad..

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