Ads featuring scraped knees typically involve a six-year-old in need of band-aids. But in an effort for Vaudreuil, Que.-based Laboratories Mauves, the subject is an attractive redhead who is clearly suffering from a bad case of rug burn.
The creative for Klimax, an aptly named natural aphrodisiac, is the work of Montreal ad shop 18 février. CD Mitch Cayouette says seven-month-old Laboratories Mauves wanted to differentiate the product from Viagra. Hence Klimax targets a younger, hipper 18-to 34-year-old crowd, including both gay and straight consumers.
‘It’s not Viagra, it’s a natural alternative, so we had to create a happy brand, but we also needed to give it a cool personality,’ he says. ‘It’s for outgoing young people, who go out all the time and want to have fun.’
Cayouette says the agency made a conscious effort to keep the creative simple and intelligent.
‘I think that people from this age group are used to being bombarded by bad advertising. When you make them think, it usually stays in their minds.’
There are two other instalments in the campaign. One shows an empty shower with several bars of soap on the floor – wink, wink, nudge, nudge – and the other is a bedroom scene, in which a crucifix has disappeared from its place over the bed.
The media buy includes Nightlife magazine (knees and crucifix), the gay publication Fugue (shower ad), and university newspapers, as well as wild postings in the entertainment district and Zoom ads in bars.
Next year, there are plans to include urban weeklies like Voir and to attack the Ontario and Vancouver markets.
Client: Laboratories Mauves
Agency: 18 février
