Recently, I have noticed that brands have changed their ways of targeting their audiences and grabbing their attention. The adverts such as “Are You Beach Body Ready” or “Axe’s Fallen Angel” are out of date and known as an advertising common practise from the past.
What consumers witness these days are brands associated with charities or supporting and tackling the society’s issues in order to make the world a better place. For example, Starbucks has decided to hire 10,000 refugees or Oxfam and M&S collaboration on recycling your unwanted clothes. These and many more examples prove that “Sex does not sell anymore, activism does” as Alex Holder writes it in The Guardian article.
On the one hand, I am very pleased to see such a positive change in advertising. Quite often women used to be objectified by brands in order to sell or promote their products. It seems like such ads are no longer that successful as they used to be in the past. On the other hand, activism has become a new way of targeting and selling products. The companies still make money; the only difference is how they sell their products and services. However, it makes me wonder, why the brands have started this new trend of activism. From my point of view, it is not their ‘genuine’ interest of supporting and improving the humankind. But it is mainly because consumers have become more critical and more sensitive towards advertisements, which somehow upset them. What is more, they have a platform to raise their concerns. Social media sites such as Twitter has created a space for “hashtag wars” (e.g. #deleteUber), which are very common practise by angry consumers.
Although, I believe that it is a good thing that sex does not sell anymore, it also raises a question whether or not the activism is better way to sell products. Does it make me a better person, if I buy coffee from Starbucks and not from Costa? Does my Starbucks latte help refugees? Or if I start buying Kenco coffee, will I stop gang culture in Honduras?
References
Cresci, E. (2017). #DeleteUber: how social media turned on Uber. The Guardian, 30 January. Available from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/30/deleteuber-how-social-media-turned-on-uber [Accessed 23 May 2017].
Hackman, R. (2015). Are you beach body ready? Controversial weight loss ad sparks varied reactions. The Guardian, 27 June. Available from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/27/beach-body-ready-america-weight-loss-ad-instagram [Accessed 23 May 2017].
Holder, A. (2017). Sex doesn’t sell any more, activism does. And don’t the big brands know it. The Guardian, 3 February. Available from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/03/activism-sells-brands-social-conscience-advertising [Accessed 23 May 2017].
Kemp, N. (2014). Why Kenco is taking on gang culture. Campaign Live, 14 August. Available from http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/why-kenco-taking-gang-culture/1307805 [Accessed 23 May 2017].
Marks & Spencer (2015). Oxfam. Marks and Spencer. Available from https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/plan-a/our-stories/partnerships/oxfam [Accessed 23 May 2017].
The Fallen Succubus (2012). The Fallen Angel (Axe). YouTube. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bGQMKYw4SM [Accessed 23 May 2017].
Rushe, D. and Vaughan, A. (2017). Starbucks vows to hire 10,000 refugees as US companies condemn Trump travel ban. The Guardian, 30 January. Available from https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/30/trump-travel-ban-starbucks-hire-10000-refugees [Accessed 23 May 2017].
Nikola Do Anh 