I think you’re right on this point. I’m fairly certain the target is exactly people like me, not kids who would chew bubble gum and not boring adults. Think about it, who wants a sugar-free road to fresh breath? People who are going to be making out. Keep it skinny and keep it fresh.

“Does Orbit save bad people from fates they deserve? Does cleaning up your mouth after the fact excuse anything? How is Orbit unusually or uniquely able to do this? This spot does not answer these questions - it does not even attempt this. The answer instead is that the advertising is about showing something odd and cool, repeating it enough to associate it permanently with the brand and then hope that it will make the brand cool and desirable in the process. It is a strategy that works for a very few brands and only when the advertising is consistenly unique. We don’t think these spots make that cut.”

I think you’re wrong to discount it because you don’t get it.

When you study another culture it’s always a good idea to take a long hard look at those things that you find ridiculous, and this is a prime example. It looks to you like it makes no sense. This is exactly WHY you should pay attention. When I first saw this ad, I thought exactly the opposite. I’m almost ashamed to admit that before this campaign, I had never chewed orbit, and now there is an empty pack in my coat pocket. WHY? Because Orbit gum is cool. And I want a clean mouth.

Advertisers my whole life have been promising me things that they cannot deliver. “Buy this and everything will be wonderful!” “Use this shampoo and your hair will be perfect.” “If you DON’T wear these clothes, you’ll be banished to the hell of unpopularity.” They told me that all I needed was the right product and I would be “in heaven.” I am disappointed to report that, as of right now, I am not popular nor do I have perfect hair, nor am I “in heaven.” They lied.

Heaven and Hell in these ads are (not so subtle) metaphors about good and bad. It has nothing to do with fate or the unique ability of the gum to clean. It does clean my breath and that’s enough. The ad is speaking to a cultural anomaly. “Orbit gum will not get you into heaven, but it might be amusing for a while,” and that’s all it took for me.

I can’t speak for my entire generation (though some might try) but I am particularly jaded when it comes to advertising. I have often found myself almost sick at the horrendous tactics of advertisers to get me (or more likely my male counterpart) to purchase something or other. They lay it all out, scantily clad woman ready to sprawl her tanned moistened body on anything that gives her the product she craves. But it’s not as simple as handing your audience all the answers.

In a world with no meta-narratives, how can you claim to have the truth and expect to be taken at face value? I don’t think you can. So you leave gaps and allow your audience to fill them “for themselves.” Stop trying to answer all the questions for them. They know what you’re doing. They will only assume you are lying.

What does this campaign say about Orbit gum? That they have a sense of humor, that they can poke fun at themselves, chew this gum and you’ll have that cool edge too. Think of it in theatre terms; Show it, don’t tell it. You don’t need a cute tag line or a pat answer to tell you what looks cool, it just looks cool and you see it.

I think that the kind of humor and the sense of ease displayed here is essential in reaching an audience that has been raised with post-modern self-referential sensibilities. If you can make fun of yourself, you must be fun to be around. If you chew that gum that only fun people chew, you must be fun and popular– Simple as that.

There is no question that you can overthink ads or that we may be wrong about what the consumer “thinks”. Focus groups, we should point out, are no better. Knowing what 10 people in New Jersey think does not tell us anything about national opinions.

On the other hand, I wonder what the target for Orbit actually is? Remember that Orbit is a sugarfree gum in a hard cardboard container that is intended to freshen breath. That’s inherently a more adult product than, say, Bubblicious or another high sugar, bubble-popping gum. So even though the choice of Snoop Dogg would lead us to believe that Orbit is aiming for kids, the underlying product as well as some of the other spots suggest the target might be older.

Looking at the whole campaign, I still think that this advertising is about attitude and doesn’t completely hang together. But Wrigley has been successful with Orbit, so it is hard to second-guess them.

dv

e

It is very difficult to review spots which are obviously targeted to a very different consumer. I just couldn’t figure out what the positioning was supposed to be here. Perhaps we’ll hear from orbit.

dv

I sent one of those automated messages to myself and it made me laugh. Then I sent one to my wife. She didn’t.