She who is a damn sight smarter than me is a great fan of Harvey Nichols, so this postcard came to her yesterday.
It made me laugh out loud.
The line runs “Try to contain your excitement”. Very clever.
I imagine it was put together by some young thing just dying to be creative and win an award from people who give each other awards for just that.
I then had a brief discussion with the radiant Chloe. “Do you think this is in extremely bad taste – or very good?”
We agreed that it is probably both, but she didn’t have the benefit of actually seeing it.
When the aforementioned She who is a damn sight smarter saw it she said this, more or less:
“Harvey Nichols have a lot of older customers maybe in their 40’s who want to be on trend but are really quite conventional. They will hate this.”
I’d add to that something just as important: the older customers are the ones with the money.
Chloe is only 23, and not rich (stick with me, kid) and it is almost impossible to shock me, so we don’t really represent the audience.
The model is dreadfully thin, poor thing. And where has her derrière slipped to, I wonder?
Nevertheless I would be quite pleased to have come up with the joke. But wiser people than me – like John Caples – have commented on the dangers of humour.
What is really interesting is that no paper would run this ad, and the hypocrites who make millions from porn on the internet would never run it.
But that’s another subject.
This really is piss poor (couldn't resisit it!) As you know we both agree that a lot of Agencies suffer from 'WestOne-itis' as I think Steve Harrrison put it and this is a classic example. Not only are Harvey Nicks customers with all the money older and a tad more conservative, from mid forties bladder probelms are fairly widespread amongst women and therefore they really must be thinking “are they taking the piss” – Tragic!
I had the same thought as Martin: If their audience is older, they will most certainly be turned off since some of them will be having problems with urinary incontinence.
If this winds up in the hands of a woman who indeed suffers from a weak bladder, I wouldn't be surprised if she never shops at Harvey Nichols again!
Since I am part of Harvey Nichols' demographic, I'll take a crack at this.
The postcard would have gotten a “meh” from me, perhaps a groan. Toilet humor, as you noted, isn't shared by all. Now, if the caption had been paired with a more appropriate picture this ad may have worked.
Bad taste? Not so much bad taste as poor judgement. Moreover, because I'm not built like a stick insect, I'm unlikely to shop there anyway if the model's clothes are an indicator of what the store carries.
Why would you risk offending any of your customers… existing or potential?
How much free publicity did they generate with a small postcard.
And my 40 year old girlfriend said, 'Oh, just get a sense of humour.'
What do I know?
Middle England seems to be wetting its pants about this:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2156324/Harvey-Nichols-spark-outrage-disgusting-advertising-campaign-showing-women-wetting-themselves.html
Can I buy you dinner at the restaurant of your choice (in London)?I think it's classic – middle england are far too sensitive and take life too seriously… I would love to see HNs revenue for this month in comparison to last and this time last year…
Being on the fence isn't newsworthy or noticeable. If 50% of your world think it's wonderful, and 50% think it's awful, then you're there. Think Marmite. However, I suspect that a lot more than 50% of their likely buying customers would not want to go buy something from them as a result of running this. Therefore money down the drain…
This ad is miserable on several levels. First, it's crass. High-end fashion generally is associated with class, or at the very least, a “damn-the-torpedoes” flavor of rebellion. But this? This is the stuff of hormonal thirteen-year olds, snickering at some sexting message they just got.
Second, it emphasizes a stereotypical behavior many women resent: namely, that women are emotional tornadoes who couldn't restrain themselves if their life depended upon it. (The secondary message is that great fashion trumps common sense.)
Third, other than the shock value, there is absolutely nothing that connects the clothing with anything worth wanting. No gorgeous scenery, no exotic car, no blindingly handsome escort.
Where is the emotional appeal? Is embarrassment now the new motivator? Humiliation? Who the hell are they trying to reach? The S&M crowd?
They left out the whip.
The restaurant sounds a good idea, Toby. London or Bristol? I must warn you that the last person to suggest this has ended up in business with me. I am not sure you're right about the revenue.
Drayton I think I could manage being in business with you 😉
I'm London based so if you're here too that would be perfect, otherwise I'll happily jump on a train to Bristol.
Can you write to me, Drayton@Draytonbird.com, please Toby.
D
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To be honest I din’t even notice the ‘patch’ to start with (just saw the little shot at the top here). I thought the joke was just the look on her face. I just think it ain’t that funny – or clever – and it all seems a little grubby to me. But people will definitely know there is a sale on. So is it job done or a blot on the brand? For me it’s just not that good. I actually think the client must have come up with the idea and the agency had to execute it!!