I cannot believe this ad and social media campaign. I think a lot of comments to the post on Jezebel – Bacardi Ad Uses Misogyny To Sell Alcohol To Women – Bacardi get an ugly girlfriend are very interesting, especially those which I will categorise as the “beauty is not the be-all and end-all” comments.
The mind boggles! Did the advertising team working for Bacardi think that women would admire the honesty of Bacardi, telling it like it is? Not featuring half naked women on beaches as per usual? Do they really think I am going to buy Bacardi because they understand my motivations for having friends? They bloody well do not! When I think of my female friends (and anyone will tell you that most of my friends are female, it’s just the way I am wired) how they look does not feature among the reasons I am friendly with them. Naturally I am happy for them when they get an outfit/ haircut/ shoes that makes them feel and look great. Naturally I listen to their concerns about their body issues and they listen to my occasional moans. We try to think of things to help each other improve but ultimately it doesn’t matter. If a friend lost or put on weight or other dramatic changes occurred in their body I would be concerned about them because it’s rare that such changes are merely physiological. I would expect my friends to have the same concern for me.
Anyone with half a brain knows that advertising is manipulative. It occurs to me that Bacardi may not care that most women will revile them, and possibly revile them publicly online, for this stunt. Maybe it’s part of the brand awareness raising. Personally I would prefer to be manipulated by a witty campaign* or even by a glamorous, escapist campaign (see above, semi-naked, beaches comment) rather than a flipping alcoholic beverage company saying to me, “You are totally shallow. Have some Bacardi!” I mean what the **** sort of brand is that? Your life is so vacuous, you will need alcohol such as Bacardi to give it meaning? I actually bought some white rum at the weekend to make mojitos and I am very glad I did not but this brand.
Maybe there will be comments here and elsewhere along the lines of “Oh girl where is your sense of humour?” and I always feel perplexed by such comments. No-one can tell me something is funny if I don’t find it so. Even if you explain to me and especially if you have to explain to me why it is funny, the moment has passed. Plainly I am not the only person who thinks this campaign has completely missed the mark. Even if I was, there would still be no point in asking me the whereabouts of my sense of humour.
Is it not bad enough that women are constantly bombarded with unreal, airbrushed images of unattainable beauty but now we are being given a catalogue of what amounts to being ugly according to Bacardi? Cross-eyed? Yuck! Cellulite? You minger! Red hair? God help us!
Okay maybe I am an unwitting pawn in their social media campaign and they intended to rustle up some online notice with this campaign but generally it’s better to try for a positive reaction. This campaign is so, so, deeply wrong and misconceived. I hate to say this in the current economic environment but I hope Bacardi are firing their ad execs asses right now.
I thought a quick poll might help those ad execs understand why their asses are getting fired. Of course I might be wrong and you all might think it’s hilarious!