Lewis Lazare: Most advertising goes out of its way to ignore any and all troubling aspects of a product, so it’s a treat to come across an ad that plays up the negative and boldly tries to turn it into a positive. That’s real chutzpah for you.
A new print execution from the Walrus Agency in New York City tries to make light of the fact the product it is promoting, a Grand Marnier liqueur called Cuvee du Cent Cinquantenaire, is a genuine tongue twister almost certain to intimidate foreign-language-challenged Americans.
The headline in the advertisement doesn’t at all shy away from this concern as it declares the product’s name “impossible to pronounce.”
A certain number of high-end liqueur afficionados might indeed respond favorably to the ad’s implicit challenge, but we could just as readily envision many more consumers opting for Bailey’s instead.
Still it’s encouraging to see advertising dealing with reality and trying to make that the foundation for an effective advertising strategy.
