So the overarching message is twofold:
Men shouldn’t choose overly masculine or stereotypically masculine or toxically masculine products. Do those even still exist? Not in the shaving category to my knowledge. Duke Cannon? Nope. Axe? They’re now partnering with Lil Baby to rap about the smell of their products, so maybe that’s a bad thing? Edge Shave Gel just posts product photos on its Facebook page. Old school brands like Barbasol’s “Can of Can-Do” touts the benefits of giving you a close shave. Other youth-oriented brands like Dr. Squatch sometimes veers into juvenile territory since it resonates with their demographic. But for every “don’t smell like the soap your mom picked for you”, commercial they post tons more content that touts their organic ingredients, unboxing videos, collabs with Star Wars and the like. Their influencer game is strong and everyone in their ads seems happy.
What really strikes me is that no one is happy in this Eos campaign. I get that the bogeyman character is supposed to be a dick. But the hero guy just looks sad and wants to be left alone. In this sense, he represents consumers in general. Even the woman who hands him the product and reads from the brief sounds like she pities him.
Also, what does 24-hour hydration mean? They don’t explain of course, but at least they only left us with one benefit rather than three. I am unaware of any shaving cream that doesn’t moisturize one’s face.
Then again, this is grocery store shaving cream. Since there is no difference between Eos and any other brand on the shelf, it’s a parity product.
And now that there are so-called right-leaning products like Jeremy’s Razors carving out a “woke” alternative (whatever that means) the landscape is getting even more crowded.
The only thing all brands care about is getting your money. And they’ll do whatever it takes to get it. Including manipulating your feelings, shaming you, telling you you aren’t a real man if you don’t buy our products, or telling you that real men don’t buy our competitor’s products.
In other words, advertising gonna advertise.
It’s cynical. It’s formulaic. And it smells.
from Digital Marketing Education https://ift.tt/X502teM
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