The marketing world has seen nudity. Creative minds have, at least once in their careers, launched some solution that, in some strange way (remember the ad for car tires featuring an almost naked woman who ‘sticks’ to all surfaces), connects a certain product with voluptuous female breasts or long, slender legs. Advertisers, justifying themselves with the thesis that sex/beauty sells, have long objectified women, and there is nothing new in that, but it is interesting that many companies have (finally) noticed that they could do the same with men.
If a seductive female gaze from an ad can attract the attention of both men and women, why couldn’t a perfect torso, a chiseled ‘six-pack’, or strong biceps do the same? AdWeek, a marketing magazine with an impeccable nose for trends, introduced ‘hunkvertising’ last week, a new movement in the world of marketing that uses male physical attributes to sell products that, in many cases, you wouldn’t initially associate with anything sexual (salad dressings, air fresheners…). Interestingly, such objectification does not bother men; none of them complain that the male body is used in a very mundane way for commercial purposes. They even find it amusing. I say ‘they’, because some women seem to have decided to veto this trend as well. ‘Hunkvertising’, they will tell you, does not glorify the male physique but mocks women who are supposedly supposed to drool over such sights. Are they right? Is ‘hunkvertising’ a joke or a tasteless play with stereotypes?
Choose Them All
‘Presenting men as sexual objects who sell products does not upset anyone. In fact, it seems that white people are not offended by anything,’ believes Steve O’Connell, co-owner of the agency Red Tettemer O’Connell + Partners, which Adweek names as one of the pioneers of ‘hunkvertising’. They have introduced a significant novelty in advertising an apparently uninteresting category of products – air fresheners/home scents. Instead of depicting housewives enjoying a new aroma for the home in a very generic and safe way, they created a series of ads for the brand Renuzit featuring beautiful guys bare to the waist. The ads, just like all in that category, are supposed to attract the attention of the female audience, and they do so in a very humorous and interesting way. The ad copy states: ‘Look at this wonderful air freshener standing next to this beautiful man.’ Last month, Renuzit refreshed its campaign and introduced eight new scents with the message ‘Choose Them All’. The men appearing in the ads are meant to personify each of those scents, and the company states that women should have a handsome man in every room. To further strengthen their brand, Renuzit also decided to connect with the reality show of Joan Rivers, the American comedian known for her bluntness, and they claim that their digital campaign with the guys is more successful than any before, with a 25 percent increase in ‘clicks’ on banners featuring sexy protagonists.
Seksi Zesty
At Renuzit, they believe that ‘hunkvertising’ should be seen as a joke, as yet another benign tool for attracting attention. However, not everyone would agree with that. Especially not the ladies who are terribly annoyed by the portrayal of men or women as pieces of (sexy) meat just to sell a product or service. Media and marketing critic Dabitch Wäppling told Adweek reporters that she does not understand how long creatives will be inspired by stereotypes, as there has already been too much of that in marketing history.
‘When will the product return as the hero of the campaign? When will you stop offending people?’ Wäppling is sharp. On her blog on Adland, Wäppling targeted male model Anderson Davis, the protagonist of several ‘hunkvertising’ campaigns. Davis became popular through the Zesty campaign, where he plays a chef who, with a piercing gaze at the camera, slowly pours sauce onto a hot pan. And while he asks the viewers, ‘How Zesty do you want it to be? Want more? Is this good?’, the flame on the pan rises until it catches his white, tight shirt and he remains naked to the waist. The result of the campaign, measured in digital terms, was impressive. That video was viewed by 2.5 million YouTube users shortly after its launch. The team from TBWA Beinga, the agency behind Kraft’s campaign, told Adweek that they wanted to create the character of the ‘ultimate kitchen chef’ who would appeal to fans of ‘Sex and the City’ or ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’. In their opinion, those ladies do not want to be addressed with generic, functional ads; they want a little ‘fire’, a little spirit.
‘Zesty is essentially a very playful campaign. It shouldn’t be taken too seriously,’ the authors told Adweek, probably thinking of the American organization One Million Mums (OMM), which raised a fuss over the entire series of ads.
