These guys are really relaxed about having sex. The first one says “I will only touch your breasts, if you think that’s o.k.” The second one is less explicit (except for his horny look), but also very respectful towards the girl; “I am ready for more, but you are in charge”. Welcome to Holland, the country where prostitutes and marihuana are legal and where teenaged men make sure the girls they are about to give an STD or a baby, are ready for it. The URL maaksekslekkerduidelijk.nl (be ‘deliciously’ clear about sex) persuades teenagers to check each other’s ‘sex manual’. To us this sounds like a teaser for a date-with-happy-end app, but since SOA-AIDS (‘STD-AIDS’) owns the campaign, that is probably not the case. What surprised us even more is that when you’re not between 12 and 32, you cannot access the site. That is, we understand it has to do with targeting, but the message you receive is beyond weird: “We don’t want 15 year old boys to encounter their mother’s manual”. Have they gone mad? We are pretty sure that the good old ‘Use a condom’ works better. Created by Woedend!
My response to the post wasn’t actually 100% serious; I figured that would be obvious enough. On the other hand: Soa Aids wants to stimulate a happy end as long as that means the (two) people involved shared their thoughts, lilkes and/or restrictions on sex and found a mutual, respectful way of dealing with them. Which definetely doesn’t have to mean intercourse or any other explicit sexual act.
These are not outdoor posters, they’re print ads. The copy is way too long & way too small. And why are there pieces of paper in their mouths? Let me guess, for lack of a better idea?
Dear Anna, thanks for taking the time to take a good look at these posters/print ads.
The pieces of paper you see are sexual manuals. They unmistakably explain what these young people do and don’t want when it comes to sex, and/or reflect a willingness to be respectful about the limits of their counterparts. Instead of just putting them in a headline or use a text balloon, we’ve decided to put them in the place a lot of people find quite hard to open when it comes to being honest (about this subject). Of course you have every right in the world to disagree with this solution, but ‘Pieces of paper in a mouth = lack of a better idea’ sounds pretty impetous to me.
How to make teenagers wear a condom? A difficult one. Or maybe not. SOA-AIDS (‘STD-AIDS’), an organization that wants to prevent the bad juices from flowing too freely, asked Vanabbetotvessem to create a campaign that playfully explains the importance of using a condom. These posters were the result. They convey tips about how to go about when the C-word comes into play. From left to right: “Start about a condom before your trousers come off”, “Women appreciate it when you start about the condoms”, and “A self assured woman starts about condoms herself”. O.k. nothing spectacular here. What is really special about this campaign is the way the outdoor posters were created. Forget Mac, forget Adobe, it was all made by hand. Why, we asked Vanabbetotvessem. “We like the touch of human imperfection. When you see the outdoor posters from close by, you actually sense that it’s made by hand”. Vanabbetotvessem also designed a booklet with more tips and a condom packaging – with the same visual identity, so that it will nicely add up to the rest of the campaign. Here you can watch the making of the posters – it’s good to see that some agencies still make advertising with love.
A year ago we wrote about Vanabbetotvessem’s commercial for SoaAids about Frank(enstein) & Sally needing an STD test. Apart from the wonderful execution, we really liked the metaphor of Frank being built up out of different body parts: “But this could be anyone’s…penis”. Always use a condom, until you’ve done an STD test was the message. This commercial is very similar, though it uses a different insight. Apparently guys are afraid to do the STD test, because of horror stories about devices that have to enter your…well, you know. But nowadays ‘pissing in a pot’ is often sufficient – to Frank’s great relieve.
This hilarious web film featuring Heidi Klum and Barack Obama (saying things in German like: “I am looking for a girl that likes me for who I am, not because I’m so incredibly rich”) promotes the iPhone application called Lovelips. The application – available at the App Store – translates some handy Dutch pick-up lines into the most common European languages and was created by Vanabbetotvessem. It’s no coincidence that a high percentage of the phrases involves the word ‘condom’ (“I got a condom for my birthday, you want to unwrap it with me?”), since the app was developed for SOA-AIDS Netherlands to prevent teenagers from picking up an STD when traveling abroad this summer. The pick-up lines are – purposely – pretty lame, but what a brilliant way to start a conversation. And what a modern way to address such a delicate issue!
In this beautifully executed commercial, the Amsterdam agency Vanabbetotvessem spoofs the world famous Frankenstein story. Interesting is that this ad makes the STD (in Dutch: SOA) test the strategical hero, instead of the condom. The reason is that in the Netherlands condom-use in risky situations already has a very high penetration (no pun intended). However, in a more-than-one-night stand situation the percentage drops worryingly. Hence the pay-off: ‘Always use a condom until you’ve done an STD test’. And to target the commercial also more specifically towards men, Vanabbetotvessem also created a second commercial in which Frank is the more sensible ‘person’. To top it all off, there’s also a dedicated website – which unfortunately doesn’t align with the commercial and is too messy.
Spot on! Especially the ‘date-with-happy-end’ is exáctly what it’s all about.
Thanks for mentioning our campaign.
You’re most welcome. We’ve updated the post and mentioned your agency.
@Marnix
Spot on? Date-with-happy-end? That means that SOA-AIDS wants to stimulate sex? That is strange…
My response to the post wasn’t actually 100% serious; I figured that would be obvious enough. On the other hand: Soa Aids wants to stimulate a happy end as long as that means the (two) people involved shared their thoughts, lilkes and/or restrictions on sex and found a mutual, respectful way of dealing with them. Which definetely doesn’t have to mean intercourse or any other explicit sexual act.
These are not outdoor posters, they’re print ads. The copy is way too long & way too small. And why are there pieces of paper in their mouths? Let me guess, for lack of a better idea?
Dear Anna, thanks for taking the time to take a good look at these posters/print ads.
The pieces of paper you see are sexual manuals. They unmistakably explain what these young people do and don’t want when it comes to sex, and/or reflect a willingness to be respectful about the limits of their counterparts. Instead of just putting them in a headline or use a text balloon, we’ve decided to put them in the place a lot of people find quite hard to open when it comes to being honest (about this subject). Of course you have every right in the world to disagree with this solution, but ‘Pieces of paper in a mouth = lack of a better idea’ sounds pretty impetous to me.
Thanks for explaining Marnix. I really didn’t see that link in the execution. And it still doesn’t make it brilliant to me. Sorry.
Anna, no problem. It’s not very often that I run into really brilliant things myself.