The task of executing successful
advertising campaigns for
products made exclusively
for women is understatedly
tempestuous. Any Average Joe
consumer would relay the message
that feminine product commercials
put him under a great deal
of stress and discomfort.
Any Average Joe Consumer dreads
the Vagisils, Cotex's, Summer's
Eves, and Monistats of the
world. There is just something
about that viscous blue fluid
dripping onto a Maxi Pad that
gives us all that tingly feeling
right before we want to be
sick. However, there is another
product that creates the same
feeling in a more subtle,
increasingly malignant fashion.
Diamond retailers advertise,
advertise, and advertise.
Expensive jewelry stores seem
to be in every mall, strip
mall, and shopping center,
and we wonder how it is that
these stores thrive. The answer
is this: Venus and Mars, love
and hate, and women and men.
The diamond industry plays
on the tensions between men
and women like Beethoven's
fingers on keys. "Every
kiss begins with Kay?"
Come on. If the only reason
to kiss your husband is because
he bought you something, then
the issue of your relationship
is even larger than the rock
on your finger. Diamonds are
forever saying 'I'm sorry.'
If the only way a woman can
be shown that you would "marry
her all over again" is
to give her an even bigger
diamond in some market square
in Paris, then your wife needs
to be shown the front door.
Men hate diamonds. Men buy
jewelry when they are apologizing
or when they have no other
option for a anniversary,
birthday, Mother's Day, Christmas
(fill in any occasion here)
gift. Jewelry is when flowers
are not enough, and every
single diamond retailer knows
it, and thus knows that men
will pay.
How does this make the female
consumer appear?
The advertising for feminine
hygiene is a necessary evil
that reveals a vulnerability
in all consumers, women and
men, but advertising for the
diamond industry maliciously
creates fools of us all.
Men appear to be desperate
and women appear to be demonic.
What can be done to improve
this dynamic?
What can be done to convey
a more honest and meaningful
brand face for diamonds? Well,
perhaps it is time to consider
more so why men and women
love each other as opposed
to why they need to buy each
other gifts.
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