The above ad on the New York City subway is part of a series of Lumix ads that are all too clearly aimed at snagging the young consumer. Others in the series say, “Fits perfectly in those skinny jeans pockets,” and “With GPS, it remembers where you were last night better than you do.” It’s like, “See?? We get you! You’re precisely the hip young demographic we’re targeting! We’ve noticed what you wear! Buy our camera!” It’s downright horny, it’s so unsubtle.
I don’t know why this ad series bugs me so much. I think it’s because it’s so cloying and desperate and pandering that it reminds me of a 60-year-old guy in a toupee and boxy leisure suit hitting on 19-year-old Russian model wannabe. If she deigns to let him buy her a drink or give her a lift home in his leather upholstered Lincoln Town Car, it’s not because he really “gets” her, but because he has something she wants.
Or maybe I’m just grumpy today. OK, definitely grumpy today. I tried to imagine an ad campaign directed to Formerlies. “You’re not thin anymore, but our camera is!” “A camera your kid could lose and you wouldn’t kill him because they’re not that expensive.” “You will look good in at least 1 in 8 pictures taken with this–we promise!”
At first I thought, maybe I’m just jealous I’m not in that demographic, but then I thought, nah! I’m done with the days that I’d think it was cool to need a GPS to get myself home. I don’t feel left out. I feel underestimated, and I hope the pre-Formerlies reading the ads do, too.
In fact, the Lumix is a good camera. I’m on my second and it takes terrific pictures without my having to know what I’m doing, which makes it the perfect camera for me because I have no idea what I’m doing, and don’t intend to learn. Lumix will probably sell some cameras, but hopefully it’ll be in spite of and not because of these ads.
June 25, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Totally desperate! I thought the exact same thing when I saw the campaign, and was totally annoyed. I find it very affirming to see my thoughts here on your blog! 🙂 The one about skinny jeans particularly annoyed me. The use of the word “those” I think really highlights the distance between the advertisers and their market. “Those skinny jeans” … ugh! It’s like, “See? We know about skinny jeans!” Just like you said.
June 25, 2010 at 12:34 pm
My kids say I’m just cynical, but I say it’s from years of experience that allows us to see the true motivations/thinking behind ads like these (or to be able to figure out the ending of the movie in the first 30 minutes). As for digital cameras, I finally gave up on my dream of learning how to use my Nikon D70 in manual mode and bought a (used) pocket digital “point-and-shoot” camera. The awesome thing about digital cameras is that, unlike film, you can take 500 pictures of yourself and can be fairly certain at least one of them will not be unflattering. (Maybe not exactly flattering, just not unflattering.)