Marketing To People’s Emotions

What is this marketing advertisement really about?  The obvious answer would be to sell more Virginia Slims cigarettes, but at what cost?  Sell more cigarettes while sticking it to the man?  That can certainly be one approach.  Perhaps this advertisement was meant to focus in on a very specific audience.  Women……who are also feminists.  After all, who doesn’t like to have a Virginia Slims cigarette while doing some good old fashioned gender bashing? 

The humor in this advertisement is that it spent very little time talking about the actual product, but there was a great deal of effort in bashing men.  I’m also a huge fan of irony.  The advertisement mentions that some experts consider the Y chromosome to be the inferior chromosome.  What do some experts say about smoking?  Perhaps we should choose to ignore those experts because it doesn’t reinforce the product’s bottom line……sales.

Some of these comparisons almost seemed unnecessary as well.  I’m all for competition between ANY two groups because it encourages people to strive forward, but some of these comments just seemed harsh to say the least.  I’m sure the marketers were just trying to drive a point home.  I wonder how an advertisement with the roles reversed would have fared in today’s market.  Probably not very well given that some groups are protected more than others but that’s just a part of the game. 

In my opinion, times have changed.  I believe that today’s customers would see right through an advertisement like this.  I’m sure it would catch on with some as their emotions enable such manipulation to take hold of their purchasing choices.  That’s the power of marketing campaigns.  They can play to any group’s emotions which allows manipulation to take place.  However, marketing campaigns today, seem too cautious to make such a bold advertisement that bashes either side.  The target audience would be too narrow and specific and the brand would have to consider which customers it would lose in the process.

The power of marketing campaigns, regardless how ethical, can be a very useful tool when used “correctly.” Even if it means belittling a particular group of people in the process.  This industry can be cutthroat at times and this is a perfect example of one.  I’m sure there are many others out there as well.