On the face of it, baked beans and condoms have little in common. Which is handy, because a mix-up plays havoc with your bedsheets, believe me. However, a couple of weeks ago, I expressed my enthusiasm for the Heinz ‘Jack and the Magic Beans TV work, thoroughly expecting to wait years for another ad so alive with creative ideas.
Happily, I was wrong.
Back in November 2010, Euro RSCG London won the Durex business and this week their first campaign broke. It’s been worth the wait. The television execution is soundtracked by the mighty Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ – a choice so trite, it seems impossible it could be deployed in condom marketing without the entire world rolling their eyes, rather than rolling in the hay. But creative team, Fabio Abram, Braulio Kuwubara, Mick Mahoney and Brendon Wilkins are smart enough to take a cliché and make it a virtue.
Of course, a brief for a contraceptive is a poisoned chalice. The initial reaction is probably one of excitement (ahem). After all, this isn’t a low-budget, online bingo or car loan task, this is – quite literally – sexy work. But then the problems begin. The ASA won’t stand for any overt, fleshy action, so that’s out of the question. There’s also the fact that prophylactics are generally viewed as a hindrance to romance, their only benefit being birth control. Oh dear, suddenly not so sexy.
For overcoming this last drawback, credit should go to the product development gang at Durex. Performax (okay, the brand name is the weak link here) boasts unique properties. Using contrasting substances inside and outside the latex, this condom … and this is getting tricky on a family website … is able to slow everything down for the gentleman and liven everything up for the lady. So at least the creatives have a USP to … er … hang the concept on. Still, none of this can be displayed on screen. Not in any explicit format anyway.
The only real solution is a healthy dose of metaphor and a heap of lateral thinking. Fortunately, in this instance, the brilliance of both approaches leap off the screen.
Greeted by a DJ’s double deck set up, the campaign shows both playing the aforementioned ‘Let’s Get it On’ at different speeds, which slowly become in-sync with each other to the play the track as Marvin intended. The magic only really happens when one watches the clip, so here it is:
Watch the Performax ad here (opens in new window)
Wonderful isn’t it? The images in your eyes are innocent and funny, the images in your head are selling the benefits of the product in a way that is unforgettably compelling. It’s psychological trick that many other campaigns have tried, but very few have managed.
Apparently, there is also a Facebook game (inevitable, I guess) which was launched on Valentine’s Day. I haven’t played it because I don’t really understand the subtleties of Facebook and I fear the devastating impact of losing on my aged ego. This does nothing to detract from one of the sharpest, intuitive and entertaining ads we’ll see all year. It was certainly the most amusing thing about the episode of Ten O Clock Live I watched last night.
Another asset is this work’s ability to deliver the brand’s message internationally and I’m sure this global campaign will win gongs and plaudits in many, many countries. So, had I been lucky enough to be involved, would I have changed anything? Only this: copyright allowing, I’d have ensured the decks were playing ‘Come Together’.
Happily, I was wrong.
Back in November 2010, Euro RSCG London won the Durex business and this week their first campaign broke. It’s been worth the wait. The television execution is soundtracked by the mighty Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ – a choice so trite, it seems impossible it could be deployed in condom marketing without the entire world rolling their eyes, rather than rolling in the hay. But creative team, Fabio Abram, Braulio Kuwubara, Mick Mahoney and Brendon Wilkins are smart enough to take a cliché and make it a virtue.
Of course, a brief for a contraceptive is a poisoned chalice. The initial reaction is probably one of excitement (ahem). After all, this isn’t a low-budget, online bingo or car loan task, this is – quite literally – sexy work. But then the problems begin. The ASA won’t stand for any overt, fleshy action, so that’s out of the question. There’s also the fact that prophylactics are generally viewed as a hindrance to romance, their only benefit being birth control. Oh dear, suddenly not so sexy.
For overcoming this last drawback, credit should go to the product development gang at Durex. Performax (okay, the brand name is the weak link here) boasts unique properties. Using contrasting substances inside and outside the latex, this condom … and this is getting tricky on a family website … is able to slow everything down for the gentleman and liven everything up for the lady. So at least the creatives have a USP to … er … hang the concept on. Still, none of this can be displayed on screen. Not in any explicit format anyway.
The only real solution is a healthy dose of metaphor and a heap of lateral thinking. Fortunately, in this instance, the brilliance of both approaches leap off the screen.
Greeted by a DJ’s double deck set up, the campaign shows both playing the aforementioned ‘Let’s Get it On’ at different speeds, which slowly become in-sync with each other to the play the track as Marvin intended. The magic only really happens when one watches the clip, so here it is:
Watch the Performax ad here (opens in new window)
Wonderful isn’t it? The images in your eyes are innocent and funny, the images in your head are selling the benefits of the product in a way that is unforgettably compelling. It’s psychological trick that many other campaigns have tried, but very few have managed.
Apparently, there is also a Facebook game (inevitable, I guess) which was launched on Valentine’s Day. I haven’t played it because I don’t really understand the subtleties of Facebook and I fear the devastating impact of losing on my aged ego. This does nothing to detract from one of the sharpest, intuitive and entertaining ads we’ll see all year. It was certainly the most amusing thing about the episode of Ten O Clock Live I watched last night.
Another asset is this work’s ability to deliver the brand’s message internationally and I’m sure this global campaign will win gongs and plaudits in many, many countries. So, had I been lucky enough to be involved, would I have changed anything? Only this: copyright allowing, I’d have ensured the decks were playing ‘Come Together’.
