Victoria’s Secret & Reebok: Gleeful Primetime Mismatch?
Posted on 22. Sep, 2010 by The Relationship Era in Blog, Brand Stories
Interesting juxtaposition last night during the season premier of my oldest daughter’s favorite show (OK, I like it too), Glee. If you haven’t seen the show, it relentlessly skewers the superficial myopia of our high school culture–ostensibly making a case for accepting people as they are…as long as they have great pipes. You typically get a pretty uplifting message watching the self-proclaimed losers battle the predominant prom queen/team captain popularity power culture that extends well beyond the locker-lined hallways and sterile classrooms where most of us wiled away four hormone-fueled teenage years.
The show, among several other themes, playfully eviscerates the shallow idealized beauty standards that proliferate our culture and media. So it felt a little strange to cut from the feel good drama and biting humor and go directly into back-to-back Victoria’s Secret and Reebok Tone commercials–both upholding a proud advertising tradition that puts some amazingly well-formed body parts on full, high definition display. You can have this butt and these breasts if you buy our stuff.
Now I don’t have an issue with either of these messages or brands–as a happily married, but still breathing regular guy, there are worse things to ponder on a Tuesday night–but it seemed out of place in this TV neighborhood.
Aside from pure entertainment, I think of the show as a primetime sanctuary for kids experiencing a similar trajectory as the cast of Glee, and therapy for adults who were on either side of the popularity coin when they were younger. I don’t think there is a right/wrong here, but am I alone in thinking that the media buy was an interesting choice for the brands? Sure, you have the demo you’re looking for (Glee is the equivalent of a TV SUV, with soccer moms, pre-teens and teens piled up all the way back to the the third-row, fold-flat seat) but it seems like the show’s values and those suggested by the brand messages are a bit out of sync.
Paul Drew
27. Sep, 2010
I don’t watch Glee and I didn’t see these commercials, but if sounds like they were throwing their normal spots after the audience because it fit their demo. They weren’t respective of the mood of the show which was the flaw. Perhaps if they had more appropriately angled media that complimented the show they would have been better received. Do you agree?
If so, do think we will start to see custom targeted messaging based on their placement or would that get too expensive and time consuming?
Greg Flory
14. Oct, 2010
Having viewed last night’s episode, complete with high-powered sexual references and some racy contact between two of the cheerleaders, I might have to reconsider the inappropriateness of the brand messaging. But to your point, Paul, I do think that something more playful and self-deprecating might have been a better message for the content.
If brands can’t get it completely right with the limited lineup on broadcast TV, I wonder about the odd relationships we’ll see as they expand into YouTube’s infinite content machine.