I love how this creative ad campaign for CHANGE transforms a negative situation such as censorship into art that works to its benefit. The May 2008 ad campaign for international, upscale brand CHANGE, which sells quality lingerie, swimwear and homewear, was recently unveiled to announce the launch of CHANGE in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Conservative media in the region are known to "censor" flesh-revealing pictures by using a marker to cover the flesh. CHANGE adopted this censorship practice in the art direction of their own ads to focus the attention on the product line. The print ads show attractive girls in bikinis and swimwear with all their flesh censored/ edited/ covered with markers but the bikini/ lingerie/ bra.
Excellent work by Ogilvy ad agency, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with creative director Mazen Hassan and art director/ illustrator Yasser Alireza. The best campaigns are those that are tailored to the local market, and this acts as a fine example.
Why This Trend Is Growing
- Censored Skin as Art
- Opportunity for companies to use censorship as a creative and impactful marketing strategy.
- Negative Situation Turned Positive
- Transforming negative situations into opportunities for innovation and brand messaging.
- Tailoring Ads to Local Market
- Creating campaigns that resonate with the cultural and social norms of the target audience.
Industries Being Reshaped
- Fashion
- Fashion brands can adopt creative marketing strategies, such as using censorship as a form of artistic expression.
- Advertising
- Opportunity for ad agencies to innovate and create impactful campaigns by leveraging local cultural practices.
- Lingerie and Swimwear
- Companies in this industry can use creative advertising methods that incorporate censorship to enhance product visibility and appeal.
