NYT advertising columnist Stuart Elliott has his eye on a new campaign for Renuzit:
The Renuzit brand of air fresheners, sold by a division of the household-products giant Henkel, is being expanded with the addition of a line named Renuzit Fresh Accents. The campaign, scheduled to begin in earnest this week, avoids the approach common for the category of presenting homes transformed into gorgeous showplaces by a spritz or whiff of fragrance.
Rather, the campaign, by an agency in Philadelphia named Red Tettemer & Partners, is centered on other gorgeous images: buff young men who are either shirtless or have opened their shirts to reveal chiseled midsections.
The jest is that Renuzit Fresh Accents is as gorgeous as the models because it is, the print, online and outdoor ads declare, “the first air freshener designed to look as great as it smells.”
The campaign is part of a broader trend in which men are objectified rather than women, Elliott writes.
More:
“We didn’t set out to objectify men,” he adds, “but you always see gorgeous women” in ads because those responsible for creative tasks at agencies will say, “‘There’s a hot woman, so guys will pay attention.’”
“I’m an equal opportunity objectifier,” [Steve O’Connell, partner and executive creative director at Red Tettemer & Partners] says, laughing.
More shots, AFTER THE JUMP…
Find Renuzit here, the campaign on Facebook here.
