Last week, I posted an entry that I stole from our intern blog. Not to be outdone, our other Summer intern, Erin Larson, posted this gem on the blog. Well, I couldn’t post one without the other. Some years you have great interns, other years, not so much. This year, we have great interns. Thanks, Erin!
This is her Altyrian View.
I have talked to a large number of my male friends lately who have taken notice of Canadian Club Whiskey’s new “Damn Right your Dad Drank It” ad campaign. The billboards and magazine ads have done a great job of grabbing the attention of my friends (in their early-to-mid twenties) partially, I believe because of their unexpectedly blunt tag lines and partially because they promote a hyper masculinity that is attractive to a high percentage of young men
The ads feature headlines such as “Your Mom Wasn’t Your Dad’s First”, “Your Dad Was Not A Metrosexual”, “Your Dad Had Groupies” and “Your Dad Never Got A Pedicure” accompanied by 60’s and 70’s style images of men surrounded by women, engaging in masculine activities such as fishing and playing guitar on-stage. The ads can be found at Canadian Club Whiskey’s website, which also allows visitors to insert their own dads’ pictures in the advertisements and offers merchandise such as t-shirts and posters featuring images from the “Damn Right” campaign for sale.
After spending much of my day researching how companies are adjusting in order to market to the rising Generation Y, I have come to several conclusions as to why these ads are striking such a chord with young consumers. Most notable is the no-fuss language used in the ads. The headlines are definitely blunt but the ads also feature short phrases that reinforce the simple idea that real men drink whiskey.
He went out. He got two numbers in the same night. He drank cocktails. But they were whiskey cocktails. Made with Canadian Club. Served in a rocks glass. They tasted good. They were effortless.
The above is featured under the “Your Mom Wasn’t Your Dad’s First” headline. What makes this type of language so effective is the fact that members of Generation Y appreciate advertising that is no-fuss and direct to-the-point. Many experts point out the belief that ‘Gen Yers’ respond much better to advertisers that simply state their points than those who they feel are making too much of an effort to push products upon them. Gen Yers appreciate authenticity which is exactly what they are getting from the “Damn Right” ads, many of which even feature personal pictures submitted by the company’s employees.
According to Campus Advantage, members of Generation Y have “been over saturated with marketing and advertising.” For this reason, they along with others who have studied the new group of young adults believe that companies must “deliver a consistent brand message in surprising ways with creativity.” Canadian Club’s new ads have hit the mark right on the head with the clear yet somewhat shocking and new approach to advertising an old product.
