The seven deadly sins are more than
guidelines of behaviors to avoid. They're also very effective
marketing communications tools.
In
fact, before there was an official deadly sin list, one of them,
lust, was the subject of the oldest advertisement still in
existence. An ad for a bordello was uncovered on a sidewalk in
Pompeii
after more than sixteen centuries under ash from the eruption of
Mount Vesuvius.
Original post date: 6/23/2008
From that date – and probably long before – to the
present, the seven deadly sins have played key roles in
turning prospects into customers. Not surprising, since
none of these peccadilloes would have made it to the top
seven if they weren't really popular.
The deadly seven have gone through some changes in their
climb to the all-star team of bad behavior. Four of them
– lust, greed, anger and pride – appeared on Evagrius of
Pontus' list of eight evil thoughts in the fourth
century. In the sixth century Pope Gregory (the first
one) cut the list to seven and made some substitutions.
Extravagance replaced lust in the lineup, and gluttony,
sloth and envy joined the team. Eventually, lust won its
place back from extravagance, and the big seven were
firmly established for more than a millennium – and
still counting.
This week's article looks at the first three sins and
some of their appearances in advertising:
Lust:
Lust is, of course, used to sell lust-related products.
It was a prominent feature of Victoria's Secret TV commercials. Though it
does seem a little odd that the spots seem designed to
kindle lust in men, while women are the brand's
principal purchasers.
Any number of jeans spots seem to base their appeal on
lust. The then teenaged Brooke Shields' line "Want
to know what gets
between me and
my Calvins?
Nothing,"
in a Calvin
Klein jeans commercial caused a minor scandal in 1981. (Watch
the spot.) Donna Rice caused some buzz as
spokesperson for No Excuses jeans from 1984 to 1988.
(Remember the photo of Ms. Rice and Gary Hart on the
good ship Monkey Business that sunk the senator's run
for the presidential nomination?) Marla Maples followed
Ms. Rice, and the titillation trend has continued
unabated ever since.There was a recent flurry of salacious
tongue-wagging over the Bartle Bogle Hegarty commercial
for Levi's 501 jeans that was edited two ways, one for
straight and one for gay male audiences. The guy gets
the girl – or the other guy – because he wears
snug-fitting Levi's.
Presumable the only purpose of aftershave and men's
cologne is to trigger an immediate sexual encounter. The
Black spot now airing is a throwback to the '60s in its
"Splash on some of this and get lucky immediately,"
appeal. There may just be a legal requirement that
aftershave and men's cologne commercials must center on
prurient interest. At any rate we've never seen one that
didn't.
But lust doesn't have to be a product benefit to be part
of a commercial. The Paris Hilton "Carwash" spot for
Carl's Jr. approached (some say arrived at) soft porn to
sell hamburgers. (Watch
the spot.) A spot featuring two early-adolescent
boys ogling – the audience assumed – Cindy Crawford was
a blockbuster for Pepsi. It was, of course, Pepsi's new
can which had captured the boys' attention. And, of
course there's a whole genre of beer commercials – from
the Old Milwaukee Swedish Bikini Team to Miller Lite's
"Catfight" spot – built on the premise that an
association, no matter how tenuous, with babes will sell
suds.
The Michelin calendar's "tasteful" eroticism (if they're
top photographers, supermodels and arty shots it can't
just be dirty pictures, right?) is almost as closely
associated with the brand as the travel guides and the
Michelin Man. And what trade pub would be complete
without at least one ad for a multi-ton piece of
industrial equipment with a completely gratuitous – and
less than completely clad – hottie standing in front of
the machine?
Gluttony:
Subway seems to be selling against their basic weight
loss position with their "Five-dollar foot-long"
campaign. Perhaps the spots are in response to the
Quiznos campaign comparing the humongous pile of meat on
their sandwiches to Subway's more modest (saner?)
portions. From "It takes two hands to handle a Whopper"
to IHOP's "Come hungry, leave happy," Pizza Hut's
Pizzone offering "over one pound of pizza goodness" and
the classic Dancer Fitzgerald Sample spot for Wendy's in
which Carla Peller asked "Where's the beef?" (Watch
the spot.), fast food advertising seems to focus on
gargantuan servings. It's as if the Albert Finney/Diane
Cilento eating scene from "Tom Jones" is being replayed
in America's living rooms every night.
Our favorite use of gluttony in a commercial was as a
spot for an antidote to the aftereffects of pigging out.
Doyle Dane Bernbach's famous 1972 spot for Alka-Seltzer,
"I can't believe I ate the whole thing" was a
beautifully-conceived and produced piece of television
art. BBDO's 2006 remake with Peter Boyle and Doris
Roberts (playing their characters from "Everybody Loves
Raymond") was also an artistic triumph. (Watch
the spot.) Unfortunately, neither the original nor
the remake matched the performance of the animated
Speedy Alka-Seltzer character.
Greed:
Half the ads in
The Wall Street Journal focus squarely and
unabashedly on greed. Makes sense for companies
marketing financial services. After all, one of their
most powerful potential appeals is maximized – or at
least increased – return. And as recent events in the
credit market have proven conclusively, Gordon Gekko was
not so much a fictional character as a composite of Wall
Street mover-and-shaker types. His maxim "Greed is
good," definitely applies to marketing communications.
A
BrainPosse principal used greed effectively in a
magazine campaign for trust services (See
it here). The target audience was successful
mid-career professionals who were still in the process
of accumulating wealth. The premise was that these
fledging rich folk were too busy making money to have
the time to manage it for maximum return. The approach
was a light, sophisticated take on greed. The headline
was direct, but the visual was a
New Yorker
style cartoon illustrating the point in a
tongue-in-cheek way. The campaign met its first year's
response objective in just three months. Sales aids we
developed helped the bank close 80% of prospects.
Overall, the campaign quadrupled the program's target
goals. Yep, as Gekko said, "Greed is good."
We're not advocating the seven deadly sins as lifestyle
choices. But even a marketer who practices the Seven
Virtues which are the sins' opposite numbers (chastity,
temperance, charity, diligence, kindness, patience and
humility) would be derelict to ignore the persuasive
power of seven of humanity's favorite foibles.
To
learn more about principles and best practices of
marketing communications click
here or call BrainPosse at 865-330-0033.
Next week Part 2 – the final four: Sloth, Wrath Envy and
Pride.
