Sex Sells...Until the Doors Close

chick_ofthe_sea.gif

If anyone this hot strutted the hallways of the Adrants conglomerate, we'd have to shut down for a few hours just to get our breath back. One of the most unlikely marketers to use the sex sells strategy, tuna maker Chicken of the sea, is doing just that in this commercial which has a mini-skirted, midriff-baring hottie making her way to the office elevator while men do what they do when faced with females like this: they drool. While all hopped up on testosterone, the ad's ending puts a nice twist on the whole woman-as-sex-object marketing strategy and let's us in on what she really looks like. All to sell healthy tuna. Great ad. See it over at AdJab.

by Steve Hall    Aug- 4-05   Click to Comment   
Topic: Commercials   

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Comments



Comments

memo to adrants: great ads have ideas.

Posted by: mp on August 4, 2005 2:26 PM

Duly noted. However it did get me thinking about tuna.

Posted by: Steve Hall on August 4, 2005 2:54 PM

oh my gawd. deja vu or scene by scene steal off an old japanese ad i seem to remember. i'll have to search but whoa that is one smelly piece o plagerism.

Posted by: edgar_rhode on August 4, 2005 3:16 PM

Edgar - it's actually another ad for Chicken of the Sea, but from an Asian arm of the overall company. They chose to use the same creative, just Westernized.

Posted by: Tom Biro on August 4, 2005 6:41 PM

I'm intrigued to see that the Asian version has the woman's skirt splitting (or maybe just the zipper opening?) when she lets her breath out. She also pants a lot more and looks close to tears. Interesting cultural differences there.

Posted by: Rose Fox on August 5, 2005 10:17 AM

The original was for the Sealect Tuna brand in Thailand. Won a Gold at Adfest in 2002.

Posted by: Paul Kemp-Robertson on August 5, 2005 10:20 AM

http://www.lookatentertainment.com/v/v-250.htm

Posted by: Daniel Lee on August 5, 2005 10:21 AM

That is maybe the most hilarious ad I have seen in a long time. I'm a woman and I, personally, think it is so true of women. Good advertising all around.

Posted by: LGibbs on August 5, 2005 10:34 AM

And now for the tuna bummer report...

Let's hope that belly wasn't a bun in the oven.

A January 2003 report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that one in six women of childbearing age have mercury in their blood above the level that would pose a risk to a developing fetus. One of the greatest sources of mercury is canned tuna. It is recommended that everyone have no more than 3 6oz servings of canned tuna a month and women should cut it out of their diet all together if they are pregnant.

Posted by: Juan on August 5, 2005 11:01 AM

The original ad is Thai, not Korean/Japanese and both spots are available on the US Chicken of the sea website:

http://www.chickenofthesea.com/presskit/campaign/

Posted by: Barbara on August 5, 2005 12:08 PM

I guess plagerism is the best form of flattery - though it appears to be the same company, just different market.

Recycle what works - beer commercials do.

Cheers.

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/suckitin.php

http://www.lookatentertainment.com/v/v-250.htm

Posted by: MJ on August 5, 2005 12:12 PM

I like a hot chick as much as the next guy, but I think this ad misses the mark. Seems the tuna is associated with her big gut. Not so good...

Posted by: Z-Man on August 5, 2005 1:25 PM

Ok they are both good executions of the idea .. I happen to like Asian women so the Thai version does it for me.

The worst bit ... the horrible, corny pack shot and jingle on the US version .... do they have to treat their market like 5 years olds?

Posted by: Ian McKee on August 6, 2005 9:02 PM

What ruins the american spot for me is the voice over and the lack of the line featured at the end of the thai that tied it all together.

Posted by: Daniel on August 9, 2005 3:41 PM