HRC's Pink-On-Red Equals Sign Goes Viral For A Week. Success?

Last week, on Tuesday, 26th March, the Human Rights Campaign launched a social media campaign to rally support in favor of same-sex marriage as the U.S. Supreme Court began to debate its merits.

Original HRC Pink-On-Red Equals Sign Avatar

Across the social media spectrum, but most noticeably on Facebook, users were asked to change their avatar to the pink-on-red equals sign above. This is a tweak on the HRC's original blue-yellow logo.

Washington State

Immediately, this began to catch on. And also immediately, as more people changed their avatar in support of same-sex marriage, people began to customize their avatars (like the one shown above in the shape of Washington state).

Denim Patch

Within a day or so, this campaign had successfully gone viral. A post by Eytan Bakshy on behalf of the “Facebook Data Science Team” notes that on March 26, the number of changes to profile picture was markedly up, with 2.7 million, or 120%, more than the previous Tuesday.

Sesame Street's Bert & Ernie

But some questioned how successful the campaign was and suggested that people changing their avatar on Facebook (or on their other social media profiles such as Twitter etc) was completely useless.

Peanuts' Peppermint Patty and Marcie.

Some points made on this may be valid. But personally I feel the Supreme Court may be somewhat influenced by the global response the campaign achieved.

Lady Liberty and Lady Justice.

Some avatars crossed over into unexpected genres, characters and memes that normally wouldn't be linked to this issue.

Below is just a small selection of avatars people adopted during the campaign.

Bacon 01

Bacon 02

Batman

Black Flag logo

Bud Light cashes in.

Star Wars' C3PO & R2D2.

Divine.

Dog Bones.

Ermahgerd meme 01.

Ermahgerd meme 02.

Lord of the Rings' Frodo & Sam.

Game of Thrones.

Grumpy Cat meme.

Gamer control pad / Nintendo.

Futurama's Hypnotoad.

A couple of head avatars.

Doobies / Joints.

Lil' Bub.

Paula Deen.

Matzah (coinciding with Passover).

Pancakes.

Rothko.

Skateboards.

Dr Who's Tardis (x2).

Pokemon.

The Lion King.

True Blood.

Message to President Obama on corn (?).

And judging by the number of people now beginning to switch their avatar out to something else, the campaign is beginning to wane. The "avatar swap" part of the campaign lasted about a week. I just wonder what effect, if any, it will have on the Supreme Court ruling decision due out soon.

Does Wonderbra lift and separate from the other handful of bra brands?

Over the last few years, there's been a particular branding campaign which has captured my gaze.

Even though the campaign isn't directed at me, I still notice these ads and can't look away.

"DD", Saatchi & Saatchi, 2006, 

Wonderbra is a lingerie company that's been around for most of the last century but really only uplifted its name globally in the 1990's. They differentiated themselves as the bra brand which not only enhances a woman's bust line but makes heads turn.

"Hello Boys", TBWA, 1994.

A controversial print / poster / billboard outdoor ad campaign by TBWA in 1994, with Eva Herzigova, kicked off this new creative strategy which spanned the globe and covered numerous different ad agencies.

But over the last decade, the branding campaign switched focus to a strategy where the ads displayed don't show the cleavage being enhanced but the results and consequences.

Focussing on the outcome rather than the eye-grabbing spectacle of the bras themselves, the campaign lets the viewer make the connection.

Some of these are rather obvious while others are more subtle and make you think.

"Shoes", Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore, 2002.

This ad caught my eye in a creative advertising magazine. It may not be apparent at first, but I think it works on two levels. The woman in the ad can't see her feet because she's wearing a Wonderbra. So she's unaware of the mismatched shoes. I also thought that no one else on the street notices her shoes as they are all looking at the woman's cleavage (not shown).

"Umbrella", Publicis, Paris, France, 2007.

It takes a while for some people to get this one.

It's not the vacant outdoor courtyard. Or the number of shopping bags.

(What's holding the umbrella?)

"Friends", Publicis, France, 2009.

A more obvious one but still direct and simple.

"Baby", possible spec work / mock ad.

This one is both funny and creepy at the same time. I can't seem to find an agency source for this ad which makes me think it may be a spec or mock / parody.

"Scooter", TBWA Praha, Czech Republic.

Not so subtle but still lets the viewer make the leap by the way the image has been cropped below the chest line.

"Economist", DDB Worldwide, Singapore.

This ad parodies the well-known,  long-running outdoor campaign for The Economist which is "written by intellectuals for intellectuals."

Some people have criticized this ad regarding its intention. Is the Wonderbra wearer quoted ("Linda Foster, CEO, aged 29") too smart for The Economist? Or is she not smart enough? Is it because she shows cleavage that she doesn't have to be smart to get where she wants? Is every man at her beck-and-call?

Or is it more simply that the bra works so well that the wearer can't see below it to read a magazine like "The Economist"?

I think the final suggestion is the idea DDB were trying to get across with this ad but some read it differently.

"Oranges", Copy: "Fits Naturally",  possible spec work / mock ad.

I couldn't find an agency reference for this ad so it may be another spec or mock ad. The oranges being a metaphor for the perfect "natural fit".

"Pants", possible spec work / mock ad.

Another possible spec / parody. The sheer number of these add to the brand as they are spread virally, but may be beyond the control of the Wonderbra company.

"Yellow Safety Line", Guerrilla Advertising, Euro RSCG, Singapore, 2008.

Interesting guerrilla placement by Euro RSCG Singapore - adding a second yellow safety line futher behind the regular line at public train stations in Singapore.


There has been criticism by some advertisers of Wonderbra's campaign in that it may not speak directly to its target audience of women. Some say that these ads have been designed by advertisers (predominantly men) for other advertisers (other men).

I don't agree with that entirely and I guess it differs from ad to ad. They do have a consistent visual element without the use of copy to convey their idea. It unhooks the viewer's mind to make the connection - that last step of "the big idea".

I've been meaning to cover this campaign in my blog for a while, so I'm glad to be finally getting this post off my chest (sorry for the pun/s... lol).

Bob Meagher offers ample advice to SCAD students on GEICO

Courtesy: SCAD Advertising

I had the pleasure of attending a talk on Wednesday evening by Martin Agency creative, Bob Meagher. He addressed an audience of SCAD students at the Arnold Hall Auditorium. During his 22 years as Art Director and Copywriter at Martin, Meagher has worked on a number of campaigns for a range of clients - the most well-known of these would be GEICO.

Here are a few points I gathered from the GEICO story:

• In 1994, GEICO came to Martin Agency with the goal to grow faster. At the time they were only a small player in the car insurance market.
  
  
• At that time, GEICO and the car insurance industry had several barriers which needed to be overcome to establish the brand - car insurance is a low interest category, GEICO had low brand awareness, other insurance companies employed scare tactics to sell their services which put potential customers off and GEICO were seen to be a car insurance best suited for good drivers only.
  
  
• The core tagline for GEICO was developed back then and hasn't changed:
  
  
  "15 minutes could save you 15% or more on your car insurance."
  
  
• The key message in this tagline is that switching to GEICO is a simple process and is cheaper than competitors. Early TV ads in this campaign included "Squirrels", "Chatty Cathy" and "Tiny House."
  
  
• The Martin Agency adopted a "Gilligan's Island vs LOST" philosophy where instead of the more traditional single brand message campaigns used by others (like the series Gilligan's Island), they would push the GEICO brand using multiple campaign storylines (like the series LOST) . This strategy built a modern, contemporary, multi-faceted brand.

The GEICO Gecko

• The GEICO Gecko was developed and eventually evolved into a wise-cracking lizard with an everyday Englishman accent who was clever and self aware as an advertising icon.
  
  
  

The GEICO Cavemen

• The Cavemen became another set of GEICO branded characters who are characterized as being sophisticated and smart but "stuck somewhere between 1986 and 1988". They appear to be offended by GEICO taglines that state "So easy a caveman can do it."
  
  
• There was also a series of GEICO commercials which lay down a misdirection only to spring the line:
  
  
  "I just saved a bunch of money on car insurance by switching to GEICO."
  
  
  

  

  GEICO's "Kash"

• Starting in 2008, two paper-banded stacks of U.S. bills with a pair of big, buggy eyes on top - known of "Kash", was used as another character who would remind people that:
  
  
  "This is the money you could be saving by switching to GEICO."
  
  
  
  

  

  GEICO's "Question Guy".

• Other more recent well-known campaigns include the "Overly Serious, Hard-Boiled Question Guy" (played by actor Mike McGlone) who always follows up the key tagline with a rhetorical question (e.g. "Elmer Fudd", "Dogs & Cats"), "What you are about to see may shock you" commercials (e.g."Octopus") and the XtraNormal ads targeting twenty-somethings (e.g. "Grandpa", "Superheroes").
  
  
• Eventually these campaigns became so well known they filtered into mainstream culture with references to the different taglines popping up everywhere and even attracting YouTube parodies (e.g. Matsuda, Googly Eyes) and a GEICO YouTube channel which engages the audience.
  
  
• Meagher stressed that wear-out factors determine whether a campaign needs to be dropped and if an idea has run its course.
  

I found the talk quite entertaining, especially as someone who has only seen these GEICO commercials sporadically over the years.

And I can't believe there are people out there who think the Gecko is Australian. Are British and Australian accents really that hard to tell apart?