Play Lacrosse?
"Coed, naked Lacrosse! It's rough, it's tough, and it's played in the buff!"
Mark
Posted on 06/10/2006 3:57:16 PM PDT by Yossarian
Jeans that look even better on the floor
Sex sells. We get it. But Shaï is taking that adage to a whole new level. JASON FEIFER finds a catalog that makes Abercrombie look tame.
For a clothing company, Shaï's models don't stay dressed very long.
Instead, the French company's online summer catalog displays the clothing in action, and inaction. In three videos, shirts are quickly peeled off, pants are yanked down, and the models do what naked people do best.
No question about it, this is porn -- slick, graphic and heavy on close-ups. But don't fret, shoppers: The videos easily pause to display product information.
Clothing companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch and American Apparel have taken heat for sexy advertising, but they look downright G-Rated next to the Paris-based Shaï. In an attempt to boost its name, the four-year-old urban apparel business took a trend to the extreme, making explicit what is often so implicit in fashion advertising.
Its catalog has become a predictable Internet success, with about 1.5 million visitors since it was launched on March 20. Its message boards are filled with viewers' praise and scorn.
But according to the advertising agency behind it, the catalogs and the company were never really about sex.
"What we're trying to do is to communicate to people that porn is not a taboo anymore, and porn is entertaining," said Damon Crépin-Burr, creative director for the Paris-based advertising agency agence7seven. "So, we entertain them. And we say, when you look at porn, there's clothes everywhere."
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HERE WE ARE NOW, ENTERTAIN US
Clothing catalogs traditionally relied on consumer desires, said Crépin-Burr: A person saw an attractive model wearing a certain outfit, and would buy it in hopes of looking like the model.
But today's consumers don't think like that, he said. They want to be engaged, not lured.
That's a common attitude among marketers, particularly in an increasingly cluttered media landscape, according to Abbey Klaassen, media reporter for the industry publication Advertising Age. Some of the most successful ads now are greatly entertaining but have little or nothing to do with the product they promote, she said.
"We are in this age where we're bombarded with lots of commercial messages," she said, "so you see a lot of advertisers to try to break out and stand out with something that is so unusual or controversial that people will seek it out."
On the Internet, marketers have become more willing to take those risks, she said. Their reward can be great: a viral campaign that consumers pass along to each other, resulting in cheap, self-perpetuating exposure.
Burger King accomplished that in 2004 with subservientchicken.com, a Web site featuring an interactive actor in a chicken outfit. More recently, clothing designer Mark Ecko did it with a video that appeared to show him graffiti-tagging Air Force One.
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WHO'S BUYING IT?
In using sex so explicitly, Shaï is hoping for the same thing: more bang for their buck, so to speak.
But Shaï's catalog isn't indicative of the fashion world, which is still far from using sex so overtly, according to Loretta Volpe, professor of marketing communications at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. That's especially true in America, because the country is less tolerant of risqué content that's common in Europe, she said.
Even at American Apparel, a Los Angeles-based clothing company known for raw, sexual ads, Shaï's approach is too much. Senior content advisor Alexandra Spunt said her company's ads try to convey a sense of intimacy, and that's not possible with slick pornography.
Not to mention, she said, there's value in keeping the models clothed -- and not just because the company is trying to sell product.
"I think anyone will admit that there's something exciting to leaving part of it up to your imagination, just in everyday life and attraction," she said. "So there's something very different between seeing someone completely revealed and seeing someone clothed or partially clothed. In a way, that can be sexier."
American advertising may not always be so different from Europe's, though. Volpe said that as the Internet gives advertising a worldwide reach, European attitudes will become more influential.
But by then, Shai will likely be out of the sex business. The summer catalog was only the opening salvo in what Crépin-Burr said will be a long, diverse campaign to win customers through provocative entertainment.
Crépin-Burr wouldn't hint at what's ahead. But next time, he said, the clothes are staying on.
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asap contributor Jason Feifer is a freelance writer.
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Want to comment? Sound off at soundoffasap@ap.org .
The European attitude - being so blasé about sex - has gotten them to this point where their sex (at least as shown in the web-catalog) is as exciting as arranging mannequins in a store display window. No, I'd rather stick to the American way: showing an upright and - to some - uptight face to the world, but behind closed doors sporting a devilish grin, and getting deep down & dirty.
(And no, I'm not going to post the URL to the on-line catalog. If you're so inclined to see what the fuss is about, I'm sure you know how to google up the site.)
Europeans are a joke.
few things are less attractive than a slut.
Ever enjoy a commercial a lot, but can't remember the product? I'm dubious this will actually help sell merchandise.
Yeah, the web catalog is implented using flash, so in the midst of the human plumbing happening on the spinning bed, you can click on a green dot tracking along with the clothes lying wrinkled on the ground to get price, size, and color choices. It's like somthing out of a Kubric movie.
Of course, the point of the website isn't to sell clothes - no one is going to look at porn and stop to ask "Gee what colors does that hooded sweatshirt come in?" - but rather to sell how "outrageous and progressive" Shai is.
A&F was a languishing brand name until it was sold and they hired Bruce Weber to photograph the catalog.
Might help sell hand soap.
And the leftists wonder why islamofascists hate the west.
They hate us for our blue jeans?
I thought the woman was wearing too much facial make-up, like she had a bad case of acne.
Yes, sex sells. And yet, with Shai taking viral marketing to a new, literal level, the Europeans are facing (native) population implosions. I guess we're seeing nature's way of dealing with the problem.
Did you forget your sarcasm tag??
Or do you not realize that one of the main reasons given by the wacked out terrorists for their hatred of the west is the decadence seen every day on TV, in print, etc.
Not all sex sells. And it doesn't sell all products.
Actually, I did forget the sarcasm tag. Apologies.
I also refuse to suggest that we change our lifestyle based on what offends these people. I will debate with an American Christian the merits or damage over-sexualization does to society, but not with anyone who wishes to impose Sharia in my country. I don't see this as a fine distinction.
Well, at the basic grunt level, sex works as a sales tool because it implies, that by using the product depicted, you'll be more attractive to a healthy person of the opposite gender and therefore be more likely to pass your genetics on to a next generation.
You have a counter-example to that?
I don't watch television that much, but I believe the Paris Hilton burger commercials were something of a flop.
It only sells certain types of products, but does not work at all with others. Products that are less "frivolous" and more "serious" are not helped by using sex in the advertising.
I don't know, sex could help with these products --
http://www.pemed.com/dialysis/cobec3/cobec3.htm
You do the same ad, with more subtley, with both healthy men and women in it, and make it for healthy food, I guarantee that it would work.
Seems like a poor marketing strategy, as the last thing viewers will be paying attention to are the clothes.
Thats very nice!
Their style is "K-mart-ish" at best. Without a controversial ad they'd never be noticed.
Are you telling me this company wouldn't benefit from a sexy spokesperson, such as Heather Locklear?
http://pediatric.um-surgery.org/new_070198/new/Library/Broviac%20Catheters.htm
I've always been attracted to women that come across as limited edition hardcovers (collectibles) vs. those that resemble mass marketing paperbacks (10 for a buck). Everytime another Monet or Picasso is found the others lose value.
Another analogy would be my Bill Parcells Theory. Parcells, that hard-boiled football coach, would rarely offer kudos to his players. But when he did it was like winning a gold medal. He didn't hand it out like candy.
I think the sex aspect has to be combined with the whole "lifestyle" thing that has to mesh with the product itself. That is to say, it's just one piece of the puzzle.
Play Lacrosse?
"Coed, naked Lacrosse! It's rough, it's tough, and it's played in the buff!"
Mark
Shower?
Here in the Silicon Valley, the Monets and Picassos price themselves like they're actual Monets and Picassos, and beyond that I have just a few overpriced Kinkades to choose from.
(Not that I'm bitter living here in Man Jose....)
Agreed.
Also, that magic 18 to 35 demographic sees so many commercials and ads that they've learned how to filter them out. It must take a herculean effort to break through to them...
The Victoria's Secrets commercials always seem to do well. Now if their models started demonstrating how easily their product comes off, I'd have to watch closely several times to form an opinion.
They hate us for our genes.
Care to revise that?
He said few, not none.
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