By sheer coincidence, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts unveiled an exhibit dedicated to the works of legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent just three days before his death. This was the institution’s first time dedicating space to a fashion designer, as part of a strategy to attract a younger audience.
When Saint Laurent passed away on the Sunday following the launch, the museum decided to make admission to the exhibit free. Its agency, Montreal-based Amen Creation, acted quickly to craft a tasteful newspaper execution to spread the word about the free admission. ‘We put the ad together in one hour, got it approved right away and bought space in the Tuesday papers,’ says Nicolas Massey, Amen’s CD. ‘We had to be very delicate. We don’t want to exploit his death.’
The resulting ad is a simple image of a mannequin wearing one of the designer’s famous women’s suits. It has a single tear running down its face.
The YSL exhibit is running until the end of September. Next up: Andy Warhol and the music that inspired him.
advertiser: Nathalie Bondil, director, Danielle Champagne, communications director, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
agency : Amen Creation
You are cordially invited to submit your new, dead clever and previously unrevealed campaigns to editorial director Mary Maddever at mmaddever@brunico.com and CD Stephen Stanley at sstanley@brunico.com, co-curators of strategy’s Creative space.
