Tag Archives: Nike

Which Consumer Brand Should I Choose For My Next Tattoo?

by doctorads

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

There I was, minding my own business and reading the skeletal remains of Newsweek when I came across this piece by Tatiania Perry, headlined “Harley-Davidson, Volkswagen Make Top Ten of World’s Most Popular Brand Tattoos.”

Coupon and discount site, DealA looked at more than 50 of the world’s most popular brands to reveal which company inspired the most tattooed fans. The categories for the brands were media, gaming, automotive, food and drink, toys and fashion.

Disney was the leader with 474,458 hashtags. The tattoos for the company have a heavy nostalgia lean because of the franchise’s history. The tattoos under the hashtag ranged from Mickey Mouse to the variety of princesses.

In second place, with significantly less hashtags, was Nintendo at 42,648. The Japanese video game company’s hashtag was filled with “Mario Kart,” “The Legend of Zelda” and “Super Smash Bros.” characters and references.

Arriving in third is Harley-Davidson, which is not surprising given the loyalty of its customers. The motorcycle company’s logo has been plastered on a background of skulls, eagles, flames and flags.

So, Doc – what’s your prescription for my next piece of body art?

– Tattoo Me

Dear Tattoo Me,

For starters, here’s the full top five, via Attractions Magazine.

Obviously, this is a real thing, as you can see all over the Googletron.

Brand-based tattoos can be a goldmine for marketers, according to this post last year on The Cult Branding Company’s website.

There are many psychological reasons customers brand themselves with tattoos of the companies they love. Here are three:

  1. Membership into Social Groups: Brand tattoos help customers bond with others in the same social group who share special interests and common values. Brand tattoos send a message that they belong to a unique, personally meaningful community. You only “get the message” if you’re part of that group.
  2. Finding Meaningful Associations: Brand tattoos remind customers of personal values. The tattoo is a permanent badge with special meaning. It creates a powerful recall cue of the memories, experiences, emotions, and other positive associations they have with the brand. A single image, as represented by the tattoo, can encapsulate a series of complex memories and feelings.
  3. Connecting with Ideals: Brand tattoos are reminders of the customer’s ideal life. The brand becomes associated with specific ideals, as Apple has become inextricably linked to creativity, beauty, and self-expression. Customers see the brand’s mark as a reminder of these ideals, and they draw strength from the image.

Customers instinctively look for meaning; they naturally look for something to rally around; they crave an emotional payout from their interaction with the brands they love.

So, Tattoo Me, there’s the à la carte menu for your next piece of body art. But be careful which brand you rally around for an emotional payout. Abbey White’s piece in The Hollywood Reporter the other day provides a timely cautionary tale.

Inside Disney’s Chaotic “Don’t Say Gay” Bill Response

In the days leading up to CEO Bob Chapek’s apology, Disney’s LGBTQ employees didn’t hold back in their criticism of the company’s public silence on Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill and were already gearing up for an increasingly fraught and “exhausting fight.”

In interviews with The Hollywood Reporter, and in letters to Disney leadership, LGBTQ staffers across the company denounced Chapek’s defense of Disney’s initial decision to not release a public statement regarding the passage of HB 1557/SB 1834.

“All corporations are involved in things like this,” Molly Ostertag, a Disney TV Animation writer who worked on its groundbreaking animated series The Owl House, told The Hollywood Reporter prior to Chapek’s apology Friday. “I think people are responding to the hypocrisy of Disney. They’re established as being a place safe for children, inspiring for children and accepting of children. This goes against all of that.”

The Doc’s diagnosis: Mickey and Minnie might be cute, but in the end they’re cismice.

Forewarned is forearmed.

What’s Up with the NYC Girls Project?

by Campaign Outsider

DrAdsforProfileWell the Doc opened the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

Did you see this story in the New York Times yesterday?

City Unveils a Campaign to Improve Girls’ Self-Esteem

The fashion industry and Madison Avenue are not anathema to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in the same way that soda companies and big tobacco are. But they are, in a sense, the impetus for City Hall’s latest public health campaign.GIRLS-02-articleInline

Mr. Bloomberg is taking on the popular, unattainable notions of beauty promoted by professional image-makers with a campaign that tells girls that they are beautiful the way they are.

Mainly through bus and subway ads, the campaign aims to reach girls from about 7 to 12 years old, who are at risk of negative body images that can lead to eating disorders, drinking, acting out sexually, suicide and bullying. But unlike Mr. Bloomberg’s ads to combat teenage pregnancy, smoking and soda-drinking, which are often ugly, revolting or sad, these ads are uniformly upbeat and positive.

Whaddaya think, Doc – good idea?

– Bloom(berg) Off the Rose

Dear Bloom(berg),

First off, the Doc has never lacked for self-esteem, so he’s the ideal person to address this issue.

The $330,000 NYC Girls Project describes itself as “[a] public education campaign geared toward girls ages 7-12 appearing on buses, subways, and phone kiosks and featuring a diverse group of girls performing activities like reading, playing sports, and drawing with the words: “I’m a girl. I’m smart, a leader, adventurous, friendly, funny. I’m beautiful the way I am.”

Yes you are. (See PSA here.)

It reminds the Doc of Nike’s classic 1995 damage-control If You Let Me Play spot.

 

There are some NYC Girls Project spoilsports, though.

From Slate:

This initiative gets so many things right. But to pick a nit, what’s with the slogan? As Kat Stoeffel at the Cut notes, “There’s something slightly contradictory about the NYC Girls Project message—‘Don’t worry about how you look. You look beautiful!’ ” Isn’t the point of the program to encourage girls to disassociate their sense of worth from their physical appearance? Why couldn’t the slogan simply be, “I’m Awesome the Way I Am?”

From Time:

The NYC Girl’s Project may have employed all the right tactics, but the long-term effectiveness of self-esteem programs is still in question. In a study published in 2013 on an Internet-based promotion of positive body image, young girls in the study reported a decrease in body dissatisfaction: they compared their bodies less to others and were more satisfied with their own appearance than girls who hadn’t seen the promotion. However, the positive effects had dissipated during a followup interview three months later.

Even so, it’s worth trying, yeah?

Yo.