..to love the harvey nics walk of shame ad

[spiderpig8]

Why do you keep following me frothy?
Perhaps reading back on this thread will show posters who is following who?
Now where's my stapler gone?

Do you mean to sound like a twat, Olive?

Slinking - that was a bloody brilliant post/summary.

Did Santa send us a troll for Christmas in olive, though?

I think that that´s a good post Slinking

Buy a dress from HN if instead of looking like a young girl who´s been partying all night you want to look like a staid 40 something who has been out all night?

To my mind, it's an ad man's idea of what 'the walk of shame' must be like for a woman, as opposed to a woman's real-life experience of what the walk of 'shame' is (or was, back in the day!).

Go Slinking!

I think Slinking has got it right too. The thing is, they obviously don't intend for you to look at the first group of women and think they're "slags" or that they're vulnerable or distressed; you're supposed to think "Oh, I've been there! OMG! It was, like, so embarrassing!" And then the idea is if you wear a class HN outfit you won't be embarrassed because people will just look at you and think you're cool and sophisticated.

Am I seriously the only one who has never done this walk of shame thing?

never done the walk of shame in the past id make sure i left in a taxi before six and before dawn came. The adverts poor taste its always women who get slamed isnt it not the men.

No, sickoftheemails, you're not. I haven't either.

Slinking, I think you have it back to front. They don't want everyone to like their brand. They actually want us common types to dislike and avoid their brand. Remember a few years ago a very famous, very posh brand became the chav's brand? Why would you want to sell lots of product at a low margin when you can sell less at a high margin and make more money for less work?

You can add a premium on your price for a brand that is perceived to be exclusive and expensive. I do know someone who really does boast about being able to go shopping at Harvey Nichols because he has so much money. I guess that might be a common idea among horrid hoorays. They would drop the brand if they thought anyone could buy it.

Anyway, what's that gorgeous-looking girl at 11 seconds to 16 seconds doing, walking round in a Marylin Monroe dress, looking perfectly confident and not ashamed at all? Am I hopelessly unsophisticated that I wish I'd looked like her in my all-night party years? Much nicer than HN's frumpy frocks.

Hate it. Horrible judgenmental concept, executed in a sexist, snobbish and sizest way.

And I used to shop at harvey nicks in my young single days when I was about the age of the women in the ad.

As an ex marketing director I would have never let this out the door.

Fire the agency.....

i actually thought it was a rape crisis ad for the first couple of secs. that girl with the ripped tights...

Slinking, I agree that the Real Life WOS is just a bit cheeky, and "oops, what am I like?" and has never really caused any girl worth her salt to feel actual shame.
Whereas the girls in the ad look really ashamed and sad, which is why it is so unappealing and grim.
I do take issue with the assertion that our partying days are behind us though!

I love it - and I have been there!

I don't think any of the girls are 'fat slags', they probably all looked gorgeous when they set off the evening before, and good on them for having a good night! Some are curvaceous and some are slim. I think it's a bit of fun and the ad is more about the style of dress.

Slinking has it right. Someone up thread pointed out that Harvey Nicks is strictly nouveau. This is true. They are aiming it at women who feel deeply insecure and expect that everyone is as judgemental and mean spirited as them. The ad is designed to push the buttons of those who think it is worth spending £700 on a frock. IME, genuinely wealthy people don't throw money away like that, you need to feel real status anxiety to consider it necessary.

However, HN went too far and I expect that they will have alienated customers and potential customers.

I was thinking about that aspect of it last night Aitch. Those women looked dazed and unhappy and passers by just kept on walking or stared and kept their distance. The ad seems to suggest they all got what was coming to them somehow. One looks as if she's staggering a bit.

I also wondered about the idea that these women were leaving what was obviously the fairly posh abodes of their partners of the evening before, and all looking as if they shopped somewhere that didn't match the residences they were leaving. More than a hint of the women being out of their depth financially. The only one shown arriving at her own home is the one in the HN clothing. Everyone else seems to have miles to go before she sleeps...

Slinking, I agree with what you said about the process that led to the ad. However, the ad is going to be broadcast to a much wider audience, and is guaranteed to be seen in a different light by a large chunk of that wider audience. Yes, HN wants to keep the riffraff out, but to step so obviously over the line into misogyny and classism is surely going to end up casting the brand in a less than favourable light - in the bigger picture. Even HN customers don't live entirely in their own little bubble all the time.

Horrid on so many levels.

Again, I do think they look bloody cold and hungover, not ashamed! I really think it's an opportunity lost, really, it'd be a cracking ad for HN's coat department...

But also, yes, it's a middle aged man's view of the WOS.

'also wondered about the idea that these women were leaving what was obviously the fairly posh abodes of their partners of the evening before,'

we aonly see one abode being left (ie first woman with the holey tights) and it doesn't look the slightest bit posh to me!

It's somewhere leafy as there are birds twittering and shrubbery is visible. There is no heavy traffic. The surrounding houses are of the solid Edwardian or Victorian variety. It's an environment where 30 somethings would live. The woman looks younger, and not entirely comfortable there, and aware that she has overstayed her welcome. She looks around furtively when she gets out the door. She has crept out quietly and her shoes are in her hands so as not to disturb whoever is still asleep inside. The occupier of the house can sleep in while she has to get to work perhaps?

I think I know where the last mansion block is in RL as I used to live nearby. I'll have a look on Google street view and see if it tallys.

I agree I think they all looked cold and the punchline should have been "HARVEY NICKS. WE DO COATS".

Dreadful advert. No clear point on first viewing. Makes ordinary women out to be a bit desperate and sad.

I suppose the point is that you feel more confident wearing an expensive dress.

Mediocre selling point, terribly conveyed.