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Taking a Risk : An Examination into the Use of Provocation and Its Effects in the Advertising Message

Autor:   •  December 20, 2017  •  2,881 Words (12 Pages)  •  626 Views

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from its competitors.

i) Remaining current and relevant: Calvin Klein case study

In 2003, Dahl stated that it is the norm violation aspect of the shocking appeal that is assumed to underlie its ability to manage to break through the advertising clutter. The target audience will then listen and act on the related message once their attention has been captured.

Calvin Klein is also noted to have been at the forefront of using provocation in the form of sexual appeal in advertising. Its first controversial jeans campaigned launched in 1980. It was a commercial showing a 15-year-old- Brooke Shields in Calvin Klein Jeans, saying, “Want to know what gets between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” (Refer to appendix B Fig 1.1) Though it was a short one liner, it was one that would become legendary and controversial. The jeans wear industry was revolutionized due to the groundbreaking imagery and irresistible sexual appeal of the campaign, and burned the company name and image into the world’s consciousness. In an interview with the New York Post, Shields stated, “The pants came above my belly button – even the one with my shirt open, you didn’t see anything. Compared to the things I’d done before, this was like being in winter gear.” Being fully clothed could create a huge impact in the past, though the underlying issues was more of the fact that Calvin Klein was using young models and sending out sexual messages behind their seemingly harmless advertisements. According to a Vogue article, they referred to Shields in the ads as “Lolita-esque” and the pulled spot as “one of the most memorable commercials ever.” (Vogue, 2011)

No matter how the audience felt about the commercials, it did what it was intended to do. It got people talking about Calvin Klein and put the brand into the American consciousness. It has been over 20 years after the original sexy jeans ads also featured Mark Wahlberg donning his tight-fit Calvin Klein boxers (Refer to appendix B Fig 1.2) that sent fan girls screaming and the boys running to pick up a pair. Until today, Calvin Klein is still keeping people talking, especially with Justin Bieber being the new face of the brand in early 2015 for their spring campaign (Refer to appendix B Fig 1.3).

Taking into consideration of the fact that Justin Bieber has almost 40 million followers on Instagram and 59 million on Twitter, it is no surprise that in the first 48 hours after the launch, the hashtag #mycalvins generated 1.6 million Twitter mentions. Since its campaign debut, Bieber was no doubt the main attraction of the brand with Calvin Klein’s social channels gaining 3.6 million followers within a month. Melisa Goldie, Chief Marketing Officer of Calvin Klein said the reason for choosing Justin Bieber as their new face was because his global recognition, expressed affinity for the brand, and powerful persona brought a compelling energy to their jeans and underwear brands. Despite many critics comparing his ad to Mark Wahlberg’s iconic one, it is no doubt that Calvin Klein achieved what it was after.

Consumers started lusting after a pair of Calvin Klein underwear, to post on Instagram while lying on their white sheets in nothing but their CK underwear, along with the caption #mycalvins. (Refer to appendix B Fig 1.4) To date, it has garnered almost 173,000 posts. It is the norm violation aspect of the shock appeal that is assumed to underlie its ability to break through the advertising clutter and gain the attention of a target audience who then listens and acts on the related message. Whether or not the advertisement or provocation is accepted, the moment the consumer engages or participates in the advertising message, the brand has ultimately succeeded. As people interact with social groups, they are influenced by others and re-evaluate the rules of what is accept and unacceptable (Baron and Byrne, 1977). The range of acceptable behaviors defined by the majority is then used to evaluate objects, persons, actions, and ideas (Sherif and Sherif, 1969). In this case, Instagram has become a social media platform that has redefined the digital culture. Comparing themselves to peers and celebrities through social media, the young consumers are easily influenced by the way others dress and portray their lives whether accurately or exaggeratedly.

Fast forward to Calvin Klein’s spring Advertising campaign, it sees the brand incorporating the latest element of youth culture — sexting. “Our past campaigns have been more image-drive and this one was about starting a conversation through provocation. We saw a behavior happening out there, and not just with the younger generation. It’s really dating via digital. It’s authentic and true to how this consumer communicates,” CK’s Chief Marketing Officer, Goldie continued. “We’re highlighting the truth about dating – the meet up, the hookup and the freedom that you have through the digital dating landscape and how instantaneous it is.” (Glamour Magazine, 2015) What CK wanted to achieve was to start a dialogue about how real youths approach dating in the current digital world. All images in the campaign, (Refer to appendix B Fig 1.5) shot by Mario Sorrenti, contain a box featuring a text message conversation that led to each intimate image — that comes along with the tag line “raw texts, real stories” that are “inspired by actual events and people.”

iii) Provocation in other forms

Not all brands use provocation to increase revenues as their main goal in mind. Provocation is also used to gain awareness for non-profit issues such as political or religious to name a few. Public health campaigns have also been the object of public scrutiny (Eisner, 2001). An organization called The Breast Cancer Fund recently employed a poster campaign that mimics sexy lingerie advertisements, featuring attractive models in brassiere and panties, but with one difference - these women reveal mastectomy scars instead of breasts (Associated Press, 2000). It was not surprising that the media criticized the advertisements due to the shocking nature, to the extent that one media company refused to place them. The Breast Cancer Fund’s founder, Andrea Ravinett Martin, took a stand and defended the advertisements, arguing that without the shock element, people would "lapse into acceptance" of breast cancer.

On another note, the Breast Cancer Foundation in Singapore had a quirky take on the serious topic; the campaign “Are you obsessed with the right thing?” was deemed clever and edgy. (The Sunday Times, 2010) Instead of using ineffective gory images that has lost their shock appeal, the creative team from DDB Singapore brought about breast cancer awareness with the

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