When I Grow Up I Want To Be In Playboy

No, not as some scantily clad is-she-airbrushed-or-is-she-just-impossibly-perfect model, but as a writer.

Writers like Chuck Palahniuk, Ian Flemming and Vladimir Nabokov all started their careers writing short stories for this iconic magazine. But Playboy is more than just a magazine, it’s an institution built on liberal expression who regularly debut not only authors but musicians, models and film makers too. They have done incredible work promoting civil and reproductive rights, freedom of speech and other pertinent issues. See? Not just a bunch of pretty faces….or boobs.

The definition of the word ‘Playboy’ varies from source to source but the gist is that he is an educated man with both wealth and time to spare, who is devoted to the pursuit of pleasurable activities. The magazines image is based on this definition and encompasses a luxurious, intelligent almost hedonistic feeling in terms of its execution.

It represents a sense of personal freedom and economic freedom, but has a kind of sophisticated, sexually liberated feel. –Hugh Hefner 

Playboy was banned in South Africa during apartheid and resurfaced for a short stint in the 90’s. In 2011 Playboy SA launched but found that they were losing their projected readership to, for a lack of a better word, lad mags like FHM and Maxim and more hard-core vagina wielding publications like Penthouse. Another issue that Playboy faces is the fact that locally people think of it as just a platform to look at naked ladies, completely disregarding the fact that there is so much more on offer.

Y&R, a local ad agency, came up with this campaign to help shift perceptions about Playboy SA and show that it is “More than just a centerfold.”

“More Than Just a Centerfold” campaign: ‘Deforestation’, ‘Silicon Valley’ and ‘Crack Addiction’ by Y&R, South Africa

I chose this campaign to review because I think that the photography and art direction is stunning. It brings together elements of wit and beauty while sending a strong message about the publication. The ads are set in luxurious locations and they all feature a stunning creature of almost unattainable proportions. The men in the ads are obviously well off and more sophisticated than your average Joe. Instead of leering at the hot mama's laid out in front of them they are focusing their attention on interest articles from a magazine which are titled Deforestation, Crack Addiction and Silicon Valley. These titles on their own are innocent enough but when they are placed over the women's naughty bits, for example silicon valley over her boobs making a play on the fact that some women get boob jobs, they become an element of wit that ties this campaign together.
The concept is that 'Playboys' are not just sex crazed maniacs who are only interested in naked women but also other aspects of life like luxury and intellectual stimulus- and the same can be said for the magazine.

Visually I love the use of texture and shadow in these ads from the silk curtains to the slats in the sun lounger's shadow. The men are photographed from the back showing that the models, magazine articles and luxurious surroundings are in his line of sight. This implies that these are the things that interest him and are the kinds of things he chooses to be around. Each ad shows a different kind of person, both black and white, to show that a Playboy is not race specific but rather caters to a lifestyle choice. The decor featured in the ad is not period specific but rather timeless in its elegance which extends to the image that Playboy wants to portray.

I think this campaign is a definite win in terms of balancing beauty and brains. The reader is first pulled in by overall decadence of the ad, once pulled in however the reader notices the article and makes the mental connection between the title and the placement. After having figured out the wit behind the ad one feels a sense of achievement and the connection between the ad and the reader is strengthened. This is a common winning formula for ads and Y&R has executed it perfectly.

Shopping My Heart Out at The Exchange

NATIVE, a small Cape Town based marketing agency, has managed to save over 2450 lives over the past week. They teamed up with The Organ Donor association of South Africa and worked day in and day out for two months to bring us the world's first cashless fashion boutique/pop-up shop called The Exchange.

The idea is that you can visit the shop in Cavendish Square (downstairs, next to the Woolies entrance) and choose a gorgeous item of clothing from a selection of 25 fashion designers including Catherine Moore, Lunar, L&K and Silverspoon. Instead of delving into the last of your rent money you pay by simply signing up to be an organ donor thus paying by giving the gift of life.

Becoming an organ donor means that you can potentially save 7 lives. Your heart, liver and pancreas can save 3 lives and your kidneys and lungs can help up to 4 people. The Organ Donor Association is desperate to sign up 50 000 new organ donors in 2013 and currently there are over 3500 people on the transplant list. With over 500 items in store, The Exchange hopes to potentially save over 3500 lives with this ingenious initiative.

Ryan McManus, Executive Creative Director at NATIVE came up with the initial idea 5years ago and the NATIVE team managed to start and finish the project in just two months- quite an achievement if you ask me. Ryan explains "Fashion has typically been synonymous with consumerism. We are looking for a way in which we could change the currency of meaningless consumerism and shift it to the currency of life by purchasing fashion with organ donor registration." This concept really speaks to my anti-consumerist tendencies (and my bare wallet).

Pop-up shops have become very popular in Cape Town over the last year, following on international trends. Since it is a bit of an underground trend people who shop there feel included and part of an elite inside group. From the execution of the project I am assuming that the target market is made up of educated females around 16-30 years of age from the upper LSM's. They are young, healthy, very interested in following trends and enjoy engaging in social media. I think that using a pop-up shop to execute Ryan's vision is an excellent idea as it speaks to the target market in a way that they can relate to and in turn makes organ donation fashionable.

 It has been a long time since I have been able to afford a piece of clothing that wasn't from Mr Price and so I dragged my boyfriend down to Cavendish and made a bee line for The Exchange (just in case the dress of my dreams was being snatched up by someone smart enough to wake up early). The store itself was clean and classy with stencilled messages on the walls saying things like "Fashion so good you would give your organs" in a lively blood red. The decor was hospital themed and in the middle of the store a hospital bed held a selection of gorgeous accessories for our perusal. There is a space in the shop for you to get your picture taken after you have signed up which is sent straight to the Organ Donor Associations Facebook page to generate more interest. 

After drooling over a pair of too-small silver heels I found a gorgeous purple dress that I only had to swap my organs to own. Hell, I wasn't planning on doing anything with them after I die anyway!

The sign-up process is quick and painless, you just fill out a form on the shop assistants iPad, pop a couple of stickers in your ID then you are done. The old post-purchase feeling of "oh my god, what will I EAT for the rest of the month" was replaced with a warm feeling of public service.

The above image is an example of the emotive and visually stimulating adverts made for the store.  By using a model that is on the transplant list brings a sense of reality into the advert. The red background and white dress work really well with the hospital theme. The copy "Shoes: Obs Shoes, Kidney: Still unavailable" could be written to remind the reader that there are way more pressing and important issues than fashion but at The Exchange you can literally "Give Life. Get Fashion" merging both consumerism and a good cause.

This project is an example of incredible pro-Bono work. Everything was donated from the clothes to the shop space.The resources that they did purchase were used in smart ways for example the shopping bags were plain but a bold red sticker was made up saying "I shopped my heart out at The Exchange" with a short blurb highlighting the stores mission. I feel like this concept could be used around the world for all sorts of causes. This type of anti- consumerist advertising is refreshing and I hope to see more of it from both NATIVE and South Africa as a whole.

The Exchange should be open until the end of the month but it depends on if the stock lasts or not. Clothes are flying out the store quicker than cobra spit so if you want a piece of the action or just to make a difference you better get down there fast!

If you are unwilling or unable to visit the shop but you still want to be an organ donor you can sign up at www.savesevenlives.co.za

You can't teach a hungry child.

I was sitting in front of my PC while thinking what my blog post for this week would be. I started eating a banana but all I really want was a toasted chicken mayo Panini. It was terrible; I could hardly concentrate on my daily Facebook stalking. I was starving! Then my mind travelled back to an ad for the Peninsula School Feeding Association that I saw a few weeks ago. The foolish feeling that it invoked swallowed the hunger. Damn first world problems. It seems guilt may be an affective diet choice for me.

The Peninsula School Feeding Association was founded 55 years ago in order to provide meals to children in primary, secondary and special needs schools in the Western Cape who can't afford it. Their adverts ask for donations to help insure that school children don't have to think about their next meal, but about the schoolwork they are supposed to be doing so that they can better their lives for the future

Peninsula School Feeding Association: Pear, Drumstick and Banana by Draft FCB Cape Town

The Peninsula School Feeding Association ad campaign touches upon a pressing problem in South African schools: hungry children. This ad series shows an almost blank exam pad page, the lines are curved in order to look like an outline of a pear, a banana and a chicken drumstick respectively. Below the drawings is a line of hand-written text saying "It's all they can think about". The body copy reads: Concentrating on schoolwork is impossible when the only thing on your mind is your next meal. You can help! Your donation will feed hungry children, allowing them to reach their full potential. Visit www.psfa.org.za to find out more.

The creatives who came up with this ad were trying to put us in the position of the hungry school child by featuring a very well-known sight from all of our school days, a blank exam pad. We have all faced this terrifying blue-lined expanse of whiteness more than once in our lives. The reason for ours being blank however was probably not because we didn't have enough money to feed ourselves but because we had stayed up too late the night before or we were suffering from a sugar crash from our Nutella slathered croissant breakfast. Never the less we can all relate to the blank page on a superficial level.

The curved blue lines that make up the food outlines almost look like a mirage. I know when I am craving something I see it everywhere; in tree bark, clouds, freckle formations, everywhere. Cravings are distracting and consuming and can get in the way of a great manner of things. Unfortunately for these children the distraction isn't going to disappear after they tuck into the hearty lunch mommy packed for them. I think the words written below work very well in cursive as it helps with the school vibe that they are trying to create.

The ad is pretty emotive and makes my problems seem pretty trivial. I think that the way they have executed this ad is eye catching because it is uncluttered and simple while still interesting enough to keep reading on to the body copy.

I am proud to see that these ads were created by Cape Town based agency Draft FCB. One day I hope to contribute my brain matter to important campaigns like this one.

On another note, I definitely have a new-found respect for my banana