Creative falls on its ass

I've been guilty of this too. In school while working on creative. Pushing the creative envelope to make an impression.

That's all well and good. When you're trying to get a job in the advertising industry and you have to impress a creative director.

But Summer's Eve, and more specifically, its agency, The Richards Group, is well beyond trying to impress anyone. They're in the business of selling product, not creating a conversation about racial stereotypes or questioning the validity of using hand puppets to simulate talking vaginas. Which is all they've done with their "Hail to the V" campaign.

The brand is taking a beating. Industry folk are talking about the campaign. Most of it centers around the question, "Is it true any publicity is good publicity?" This Adweek piece panned the spot, despite the fact that it pushed the envelope.

Ask Crispin Porter + Bogusky, who was responsible for the Groupon Super Bowl ads.

It hurt the brand. It was creative, yes. No denying that. But the decision to go-ahead, even with the benefit of hindsight, was so ill-advised. In short, this was amateur hour.