Monday, September 10, 2007
Kohler
Here's one that I find irritating on a couple different levels. I hadn't seen it for a while, but there it was early this morning, waving the 'stupid' flag. I would think men would be insulted by this ad. Maybe not.
First, we have a married (or at least involved with someone) guy who is so desperate to impress the gorgeous lady plumber that he starts flushing everything he can put his hands on. He must have flushed his brain earlier, before filming commenced. Are men really this stupid? I know of at least one who would stoop to this, but he is a vapid lying waste of oxygen, unlike most of the men I've known. I really want to believe he is an anomaly.
Second, if a woman looked like that, what are the odds she'd be a plumber instead of a model? Somewhere between zero and none? But it's a *guy* fantasy that any man can get the hottest chick in the room, if he manipulates her just right.
Third, "can't help it can't help it can't help it"? WTF? More excusing the poor guy for being stupid, thoughtless and selfish, because he can't control himself?
Crap like this could really radicalize me if I could take it seriously. At this point, though, I'd never buy anything branded Kohler.
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5 comments:
I had a good giggle at this one.
I'm thinking Kohler switched it up wonderfully.. They could have depicted a woman version of the public's sterotyped plumber -refridgerator guy (asscrack, overweight) etc. But no.... they went a fun route, and don't discount that so called "pretty ladies" don't do those jobs! OR that all good looking women want to be models.
Tisk Tisk me thinks you strayed from your thoughts for a minute....
My thoughts: Manufacturer hires consultant to run new ad campaign who hires on ad agency. Ad agency is populated by recent college grads, sports and chicks their primary orientation. Over drinks and on the squash courts they goof with their peers and Eureka! give birth to a Really Great Idea, ie the dumb shit and the lady plumber. They get their boss - a guy with two years' more experience (and years on earth) than they do. He approves their idea (over drinks). They produce the ad; the agency hired on to do the shooting doesn't give a crap about the contents, just the money they're going to get when the shooting's done. The consultant for the client now also hires on market consultants to see how the new ad flies. Of course it flies. They test it using twenty- to thirty-year-old guys: It's a winner! The system works. Kohler sells oodles of plumbing. All the sourpusses are offended and all twelve of them boycott Kohler. So it goes...
A fun route? I don't agree. I think it would have been far funnier to have a woman trying to get the gorgeous male plumber's attention, instead of using the stereotypical fat hairy asscrack guy. Of course, the housefrau would have to be on the plain side, but that at least would have been going against the "the man cheats because he can't help it." I'm SO sick of that.
And it has nothing to do with whether or not gorgeous women want to do "real" work. It's simply observation. No way would that particular woman ever be a plumber. Not a chance in hell. The hyperbole kills whatever humor there might have been available in this ad.
ymmv, of course.
Sincerely,
Queen Sourpuss
Well... my final thoughts on this one are that due to growing up with "Mr. Clean" and his transformation into "Mr. Brawney" and those ridiculous ads... I was just happy to see a woman with the tool belt I guess.
Problem still is that as viewers... we need to get over this SEXY SELLS crap, I am so over it, and this Kohler ad shows companies still abide by it. Although not by putting a beautiful woman sitting naked on the throne, that is the message I get. The target audience is the person buying the product.... and sad thing is, that if plumbers really looked like her... Kohler WOULD be out of business..
ooooowahhhh.... those young drunken writers in the bar are trying reverse Psychology on us!!! Dumb Dumb ad... I give it less than 1/2 a star.
I SOOO disagree with the criticisms. I have written ad copy for tv, radio, ad agencies, dot coms, politicians - i would KILL to have written this ad. Hilarious.
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