Bacardi says the hot accessory this summer is an "Ugly Girlfriend"
Update: both sites have been taken down by the agency/Bacardi.
(click images) HA? Bacardi, through Tel Aviv ad agency McCann Digital, has launched a promotional minisite (here's the actual site in Hebrew) for their fruit-flavored Breezer drinks with four "ugly girlfriends" for you to choose from, depending on the activity. Upgrade your trips to the beach with Sally (right)." She's "97 kilograms of femininity, strength, and double chins." There's also Lucy (left), who's "rubbing thighs...and drooping breasts will turn any trip to the mall into an unforgettable experience." Looking for any saving irony here...finding none (via). Previously in: misogynistic alcohol advertising.
posted by copyranter @ 11:15 AM
37 Comments:
Terrible!! Just terrible!!
Wow. Utterly speechless. How did that ever get past a person's internal censor, let alone through a department without someone saying "Holy crap, no!"
I'm appalled. What about this is funny?
I guy at my office said that while he was at a club, and ugly girl asked him to dance. He evidently agreed only because he wanted the hot chicks to think he was a nice, sensitive guy who didn't judge a girl by her looks...and it fucking worked. After the shame dance, he spent the rest of the night with an assortment of the more purty variety. If that's the point of this shitbag campaign...weak.
That is so horrible- where do we complain?
Wow, this is shamelessly bad. And as a matter of fact, while she's obviously quite heavy, the first girl pictured is rather beautiful. This may be the worst ad campaign I've ever seen.
Who the hell thought using misogyny to market to women was a good idea? Just how shallow and hateful do Bacardi think we are?
(Tongue firmly in cheek)
'HAPPINESS' I suppose is the subliminal message Bacardi is trying to convey.
Those of us that still remember this ditty by Jimmy Soul might NOT be as offended:
If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life
Never make a pretty women your wife
Go for my personal point of view
Get an ugly girl to marry you
Disgusting. I will never drink that crap - or any of the company's products, ever again. Bacardi owes women an apology. Bastards.
@ Pomegranate:
http://www.bacardilimited.com/contact_us.aspx has a form you can use to contact them. I strongly urge people to complain to the company so they'll yank this campaign.
so funny and so true
plus they get the shock value
please complain if you're PC.
Best part is, you'll just add to the buzz around the product (any publicity is good publicity)
Go Bacardi!!!!
btw this is discreetly getting passed around between guys (got this multiple times from friends already)
I enjoy adbusting sexist campaigns, despite a not-very-professional ability with Photoshop. I made my own Beach Stroll With Sally campaign, I hope you enjoy it. Good job on bringing this disgusting campaign to light! Feel free to submit your own ad!
Anon, this isn't about being "politically correct" you fucking moron. The campaign is directed at women, not men. And, as you can read here:
http://jezebel.com/5296935/bacardi-ad-uses-misogyny-to-sell-alcohol-to-women
it's insulting to the very people they're targeting.
@ copyranter: what he's trying to say is:
"I am superior becuz I am one of teh menz and I say it's great and tru and so do other doods I know - so that makes it tru - so you better bow down and get shamed right now, becuz otherwise you will not get a menz ever. And if yer hot maybe I'll look at you, if yer lucky, and no fat chix, cuz I have all the power."
Better be afraid ladies, because other men are secretly passing this around and liking it. Conform up quick or you could be left without one of these specimens!
We should thank Bacardi for their unintended asshat test.
HEY COPYRANTER,
what's with the name calling???
CHILL!!! (BUT NOT with a BACARDI)
GO to the following 'urban dictionary' site(s),
some sociological insight might be had re:attractive girl/ugly friend pairings:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wingman
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wingwoman
Wingman
Often, when an attractive girl is out with an ugly friend, she often feels restricted to not leave that ugly friend alone, thus making the hot girl, un-touchable.
When the wingman technique is used, both girls are approached by the men, and the Wingman automatically engages in conversation with the ugly girl.
wingwoman
The female equivalent of the wingman, and the girls who are the targets of wingmandom. The wingwomen are frequently spotted around the queen bee, the girls that comparatively make the head woman look better than she actually does.
It would seem advertisers have no internal censor. Apparently, it's required for the job:
www.scaryideas.com
Advertisers have always poked fun and outright insulted their target base. I am agreeing this is a great ad campaign because people are talking about it. If this bothers you that much then relax and stop taking things so personal. Are you also upset when the Ambercrombe catalogs come out because you don't look like that?
Anon, just because it happens in real life doesn't make it any less unfunny or insulting.
The only thing this campaign is going to do is make sure I don't ever buy anything from Bacardi.
I'm aware that this sort of thing happens. I can even sing along with Stephen Lynch's song "She Gotta Smile," which is about a guy trying to hook up with a girl at a bar who is there with her "big fat friend."
However, there's a BIG DIFFERENCE between people chuckling about something behind closed doors, and a corporation passing it through enough levels of approval to get it turned into a multinational campaign ad. Maybe it's hypocritical to expect people to behave differently in public than they do in private, but I don't think so.
The world is currently run by a bunch of ego-maniacal, narcissistic, self-righteous little boys. Bacardi is clearly no exception. Grow the Fuck up already.
LET US PONDER:
Advertisers in general bear a large part of the responsibility for the deep feelings of inadequacy that drive women to psychiatrists, pills, or the bottle.
~Marya Mannes,
But Will It Sell?, 1964
It is our job to make women unhappy with what they have.
~B. Earl Puckett, quoted in Stephen Donadio,
The New York Public Library:
Book of Twentieth-Century American Quotations, 1992
You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements.
~Norman Douglas, South Wind
Let advertisers spend the same amount of money improving their product that they do on advertising and they wouldn't have to advertise it.
~Will Rogers
Beyond being aimed at women to reinforce their feelings of inadequacy, this is mean and horrible on a basic human level. Who treats other people like that? Or views other people like that?
Of course, anonymous thinks it's perfectly okay to be that nasty; but don't call him a fucking moron, because that hurts his widdle feelings.
LET US PONDER #2
Killing Us Softly 3:
Advertising's Image of Women
Jean Kilbourne's pioneering work helped develop and popularize the study of gender representation in advertising.
Her award-winning films Killing Us Softly (1979) and Still Killing Us Softly (1987) have influenced millions of college and high school students across two generations and on an international scale. In this important new film, Kilbourne reviews if and how the image of women in advertising has changed over the last 20 years.
With wit and warmth, Kilbourne uses over 160 ads and commercials to critique advertising's image of women. By fostering creative and productive dialogue, she invites viewers to look at familiar images in a new way, that moves and empowers them to take action.
http://www.jeankilbourne.com/video.html
Thank you for taking the time to post your story regarding Bacardi Breezer.
The campaign you are referring to ran in 2008 for two months in Israel. Even though Bacardi Breezer is not sold or distributed in the United States, we immediately notified the appropriate Bacardi affiliate and had this website shut down.
Bacardi proudly celebrates diversity and we do not endorse the views of this site. We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by this site and thank you for bringing it to our attention.
If a woman can honestly say she has never enjoyed looking better than a friend then I truly applaud her. I think this is an excellent parody of the incredible two-faced nature of the modern female.
Ever heard of the shock factor? Just by talking about this advert you have made it worthwhile. Bacardi Breezers were a dying brand but I think this will keep them going a while longer.
Kudos to them for having the balls to poke fun at a long standing issue amongst women.
Dear 7:30pm Anonymous Bacardi shill: Your words are not backed by any sort of confirmation or way to identify you as being authorized to speak for Bacardi or apologize on Bacardi's behalf. Where's a link to an offical apology on a domain controlled by Bacardi? Where's OpenID validation pointing to some official source?
This begs to ask the question: what sort of people drink Barcardi Breezers? Perhaps the same people who drank wine coolers or Zima? Is there really a superficial female target market for this product? Maybe the demographic is implying that tribal tats,body piercings,Uggs, red cell phones, bad Brazilian wax jobs and bare mid riffs are a must.
There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary.
Brendan Behan, Irish author & dramatist
(1923 - 1964)
...it wouldn't surprise me if after she's done with 'Dubai BFF' and with Bacardi on board as her main sponsor, she'll then go on filming 'Paris Hilton's BUFF'.
BEST UGLY FRIEND FOREVER
Here's one for you Copyranter:
“I have always believed that writing advertisements is the second most profitable form of writing.
The first, of course, is ransom notes...”
Philip Bernard Dusenberry, was an American advertising executive for the BBDO advertising agency.
Finally in full agreement and to further expand on 'Anonymous's 9:59 pm point, 'for every Paris Hilton there's a Nicole Ritchie'.
To the "All publicity is good publicity" chanters, please remember, just because somebody says something in Hollywood in the C20th, doesn't make it true.
Some publicity can be very bad. Bill and Monica, and Watergate spring to mind.
The phrase sounds good and people repeat it, but that's not the same as it being true.
ps. Everybody is beautiful.
Bacardi, I'm disappointed in you. As far as I'm concerned, this ad is a deal breaker. I've used Bacardi products for over 20 years, but I cannot support a company with such little regard for their customers. Does Bacardi truly believe that all of their customers are Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie look-a-likes? Sorry to tell them, most of us aren't. This ad is insulting to the intelligence of every customer Bacardi has because every one of us has something that could throw us into the "Ugly Friend" category. I won't be buying any more Bacardi product.
This is ridiculously insensitive, immature, and ignorant on every level possible when concerning degrading others. I would like to see Bicardi go out of business for this, but, alas, they probably won't. I can only hope they get their a**es chewed out for this and have it spat back at them.
WTF is fat considered ugly. Sorry but no. I'm fat, proud, and damn beautiful. That was insane; and besides that first girl was pretty.
Am I the only one curious as to why those women would pose for something obviously attacking their own images?
Here's a plausible answer to anonymous 7.09pm...
...the models in the ads have always been told that they have 'lovely hair', 'lovely eyes' and obviously don't care much for the arts .
Sonya:
No! No! When a woman isn't beautiful, people tell her. "You have lovely eyes, you have lovely hair.
Anton Chekhov
["Uncle Vanya" (1897)]
I would just like to say BACARDI STINKS! I also think that if everyone ignores this ad, it will soon die a painful death and be forgotten about along with the moron who put the ad together in the first place. This person obviously has a shrivelled up dick and a bad sense of humour. So here's a message to you. How nice it is for you to wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and think: "I'm gonna be a right cunt today"
To Corinne, 7:20pm
Since none of us are privy as to the gender of the questionable creative minds behind the campaign, what a dangerous and sexist ASSumption you make.
According to you, it most certainly was a 'dick' albeit of the shriveled variety who then metamorphoses magically into a 'cunt' and then acted accordingly.
Mother of all Freudian slips, WHAT ARE YOU SAYING that it takes one to know one???
For all we know, it was a sorority of cunts responsible for the girl on girl hatefest???
MEEEEOOOOOOWWW!!!
That is hilarious.
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