DEBBIE DOES… CARLOANS?!
James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine
Not so long ago, I was visiting a fairly mainstream website (owned by one of Australia’s larger media companies) when a banner ad popped up with an unexpected proposition… “Would I like a Hummer?”
Despite my moderate take on most things, I was surprised.
We’ve all been made lurid offers at one time or another while trawling the never-ending abyss of expressive freedom that is the World Wide Web. But I never expected this from one of the mainstream players.
Until I realised that the puerile part of my brain (that bit that makes me giggle when I hear the word ‘Titmouse’ and has me work in ever creative ways to get my friends from New Zealand to say the word ‘Six’) had led me astray.
Of course, this is exactly what the advertisement had intended.
Because, despite the sexual double-entrendre, the advertisement was, in fact, for something less exciting. It was for a service as dull and completely asexual as financial lending.
Yup, a Hummer is a very large American Four-Wheel-Drive and the business behind the advertisement is called, I kid you not, Debbie Does Carloans, fronted by a website reminiscent of that staple of yesteryear, the old auto-shop calendar (women draped over cars, holding various odd mechanical apparatus, with expressions suggesting that life could never be better).
I’ve included the link above because I’m sure that you’re mature enough to decide whether you want to click through or not.
Plus…
I’m conflicted.
Despite my initial surprise (and obvious curiosity) and even though I was honestly amazed that this sort of blatantly sex-centric advertising still exists (I thought John Singleton had retired?), I can also see the merits of the marketing angle.
The brains behind Debbie Does Carloans clearly knew what they were doing.
In short, they identified a demographic (young, male rev-heads), then created a product specifically designed to appeal to that demographic. Further, the entire concept is based on a history of sexual marketing that brings another dimension to the campaign.
It reeks of parody, with a touch of retro (two powerful tools strong enough to soften even the hardest of cynics).
And, of course, that makes me want to write about it (despite the possible inference that I am cheapening the Anthill brand by leading this blog and our weekly email newsletter with the risqué headline above).
More than one Anthill author has already made the observation that the sex industry is one of the most powerful litmus tests of where technology and business is heading.
We’ve all heard that Gutenberg’s printing press was quickly pressed into service by pornographers, after he failed to make a commercial go of it, assisting massive widespread adoption of the device.
It’s also been suggested that the battle between Betamax and VHS was won as a result of the porn industry’s wide adoption of the cheaper format, VHS.
And finally, the decision by Toshiba to cease production of HD-DVD earlier this year was apparently partly influenced by the fact that Sony’s Blu-Ray alternative has greater disc capacity and, therefore, allows more camera angles, which is of greater appeal to a certain high-volume category of viewing customer.
Yet, the question remains…
Was my initial reaction prudish or justified? While this sort of advertising is blatantly sexual, is it gratuitous? Or more to the point, is this the sort of information Anthill should be writing about?
Tags: advertising, Marketing, porn, sex, technology
May 13th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Some years ago, I created an ad for a distributor of electronic components.
I started with a very classy photograph showing the back view of a very shapely woman sitting on a pristine white beach staring at an azure blue sea with a clear blue sky. The model was wearing a very classy yellow one-piece bathing suit.
This ad reeked with class but below the surface was a certain implied sexualiity, not least because of the type of company applying the image (They sold semiconductors and other electronic components.) and the headline:
“She is sitting on an asset worth millions.”
The message was that semiconductors are made from Silicon. She was sitting on enough Silicon Dioxide to cover the planet in integrated circuits.
So how was it accepted?
Women loved it. Some men thought it was too sexist.
Go figure!
That was about 10-12 years ago. With the benefit of hindsight I have to say that it is still one of the best ads I have ever produced. It had very strong brand recognition and retention. It was targeted at young engineers who made the decision about which chips to include in their designs.
The company sold lots of product. The brochures, ads and posters covered the walls of engineering offices all over the country.
I think that advertising needs to push boundaries or it all looks the same. But it has to be done with some class.
The Beaver TV ad is very clever and goes far enough without going over the edge. I guess my advice is: Know how far you can go but don’t forget to stop before you go off the edge.
May 14th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Personally, I think there’s a very fine line between being cheeky and being sleazy. If there’s a subtlety or a clever joke involved, then I’m all for it. If it’s simply blatant sex-centric advertising and nothing more, then it just comes across as crass. It doesn’t particularly offend me, but it’s not going to make me click on a link or remember a url either.
I also wanted to point out that in this day and age - even the “cheeky” option is not an avenue for everyone. Our company’s field is in education (we promote services and products tio Australian school teachers), and given our implied (even if not physical) association with children and students, such advertising can be such a legal and politically correct minefield that we just stay away from such themes altogether.
In some circles controversy about a marketing campaign can be even more successful than the initial campaign itself, but in ours such controversy would sink a company’s reputation forever.
May 14th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
James Tuckerman (Editor-In-Chief):
Thanks for your comments.
It’s not often that we leave our own comments in the blog.
But in the interests of ‘radical transparency’ (the exposure of a company’s inner machinations in order to improve customer relations) and the simple fact that I know you guys are a curious lot, I thought it would be helpful for us to elaborate on this ‘test’.
If you haven’t already noticed, we’ve trialled all sorts email topics and headlines over the last few months — from the topical to the absurd. Sooner or later, we had to bite the bullet and test the most taboo… ’sex’.
Debbie does carloans gave us the angle we needed.
So, does sex sell?
What we discovered was that the response to open our email was very, very slow… until 5:30pm. At this point, the email generated roughly the same volume of ‘opens’ (maybe a little more) than any of our other weekly emails.
However, the most interesting result was a very visible decline in ‘click-through’ rates.
In short, the percentage of people who ‘clicked-through’ to online content was much lower than what we’d normally get.
So, what’s the sum result of today’s lesson?
Sex does sell, but only if you’re selling sex.