The great Advertising Standards Authority has spoken. If you hadn’t heard, the organization recently banned a Lynx campaign which featured Lucy Pinder in a series of, some say, sexually suggestive videos. Reacting to an army of complaints, in this case, 15, the ASA asked the brand to pull the campaign. Praise be the power of the vocal minority. Yes, just 15 people lodged official complaints and those 15 people got an ad campaign pulled.
Not one to sheepishly drag its tail between its legs for too long, Lynx produced yet another video featuring Ms. Pinder apologizing for…well…whatever it was she did to get 15 people to complain. In the video, she returns the props she used in the video campaign while dressed in a baggy top that reveals zero cleavage.
We congratulate Lynx for playing along. All too often, brands respond to campaign complaints with hollow defense statements or pious platitudes issued via press release. They usually result in the brand being perceived as spinelessly weak or foolishly pompous. In this case, Lynx was neither spineless nor pompous in the presentation of its apology. In doing so, it extended it’s campaign messaging by leveraging the situation to its benefit.
This, of course, won’t be the last we see of Pinder or Lynx. Both thrive on the use of sexuality to further their individual causes and there will be plenty of Pinder’s pulchritude and Lynx’s salaciousness for years to come.
