Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Dubai, UAE
Creative Director: Ed Jones
Copywriter: Kalpana Chary
Art Director & Typographer: Carma Andraos
Via: MediaME.com
We now reach a very difficult area of advertising, one that involves far more ethical issues with me and others that it really should: the cosmetics business.
See, the main gist of cosmetics will always and forever be the same: Buy Me and I’ll Make You Look Better. Some would argue that that statement should rather end in ‘Younger’, but that’s just one of many subsets of ‘Better’. ‘Less Oily’, ‘Smoother’, ‘Brighter’, the list goes on; they all imply that when this effect takes place, you’ll be a better looking person.
I’m not gonna go into all these ‘beautification symptoms’ so I’ll just focus on the ‘Younger’ aspect. I don’t think, for a moment, that looking your age makes you look bad, no matter who you are. A 50-year old woman who looks 50 is nothing to be ashamed of – a 50-year old who drowns herself in blush and mascara in an attempt to look 30 is far worse. The problem is, so many people get that insecurity problem when they reach a certain age and begin to forget that looking younger than you are may indeed be a bonus, but it’s by no means a necessity.
Only problem there is, we in the ad biz can’t really go along those lines – unless it’s done in some satirical way, which in a sense is still avoiding being serious about cosmetics not really being that vital. So I guess if we must play along with the Cosmetic Mantra I mentioned earlier, then we might as well do it with a minimal amount of that ultra-perky giggly celebrity “Honest as sin I didn’t get this done at a hair salon” bullshit. And I have to admit, very very grudgingly, that this Olay campaign does that very well. Not too much fuss, just a clever idea with minimal effects and ‘whoopie’ visuals and yet gets its point across very well indeed.
So yeah I realise my verdict is a microscopic portion of this post but still, I needed to make my point. So I’ll sum this up to the boys at Saatchi: Bravo, you evil bastards you, bravo.