Choose Your Words Wisely

June 23, 2006 By David Burn 3 Comments

Lewis Lazare despises the new Evian campaign.

Evian is coming at consumers with a new print and online effort from Euro RSCG/New York that feels horrendously wrong-headed. For reasons we can’t begin to fathom, Euro has decided to advertise Evian as the water to “detox” with, a word with strong drug-addiction associations that really doesn’t belong in the same sentence with bottled water. But somehow we’re supposed to forget all that and focus on the fact Evian can help rid our bodies of their various impurities.
As if to further muddle the message, the print ads throw in some racy images of unclothed models stretched out on the side of a snowy Alp — sexy visuals that in no way relate to the more medically focused detox message.
The absurdity of it all truly is nauseating.

What is the deal? Who drinks bottled water to detox? I drink it to hydrate.
Why not use the word “Purify”? Maybe it was already owned by another water brand. Even so, that’s no excuse.

Filed Under: Brands

About David Burn

I wrote my first ad for a local political candidate when I was 17. She went on to win her race, and I felt the power of persuasive copy for the first time. Starting in Portland in 1995, I worked my way across the country as a copywriter and eventually became a content director making media products for big packaged goods brands. I returned to Oregon in 2008, and now I focus on building brands for companies that matter, including this one.

http://adnoob.blogspot.com Sean

The accounting VP’s transformation into a dickhead was finally complete.
Cpm

Well you also drink to get rid of toxins, after all… I think “Purify” would imply that you are in a “normal” state and drinking would just make you feel better, whereas by detox they mean that you are currently poisoned (by what you eat and breathe) and that Evian can save you…
Regarding the nude model, I think their idea (beside catching the eye) is to give an impression of immersion in a world of purity. The fact that the traces in the snow looks like wings of an angel strenghten this impression.
Well, I don’t think this ad is so outrageous… now maybe that’s because I’m french (and thus used to seeing sexy models in ads).
Anyway, the soundtrack of their online ad has at least managed to make me want to go to the toilet )
PS: great blog, btw, keep up the good work
Cpm

Well you also drink to get rid of toxins, after all… I think “Purify” would imply that you are in a “normal” state and drinking would just make you feel better, whereas by detox they mean that you are currently poisoned (by what you eat and breathe) and that Evian can save you…
Regarding the nude model, I think their idea (beside catching the eye) is to give an impression of immersion in a world of purity. The fact that the traces in the snow looks like wings of an angel strenghten this impression.
Well, I don’t think this ad is so outrageous… now maybe that’s because I’m french (and thus used to seeing sexy models in ads).
Anyway, the soundtrack of their online ad has at least managed to make me want to go to the toilet )
PS: great blog, btw, keep up the good work