When Cougars Attack
January 20, 2010
There has been quite the bruhaha over the Air New Zealand Cougar campaign.
It was an internet-only promotion for trips to the sold-out Sevens competition in Wellington.
The promotion consisted of a video that in a mock nature documentary tone described the habits of the Cougar -- an older sexually predatory woman.
180,000 views and that is just on the YouTube version.
It was tied to a competition where women who chose to self identify as a cougar could send in pictures of them and their cougar packs out on the town hunting and whatnot.
If these woman chose to do so they might win tickets to the Sevens.
Once there 10 young Fresh meat men supplied by a separate but linked radio promotion would be thrown to them. They also would have costumes provided. One rule was that the women had to be over 35. Which seems youngish but I don’t think they were saying everyone over 35 is a cougar, more that entries to the competition was open to everyone over 35. Although sure enough people have seen it in the negative, rather than the positive.
The promotion and the video drew a lot of flak from some women, some women’s rights groups and some rape prevention and rape education advocates.
It also drew plaudits from some supporters in online forums.
But most importantly of all it drew a veritable truckload of coverage.
There were stories in the Herald, Stuff, Herald on Sunday, on TVNZ’s Close Up, it got to Fark.com, the SMH (as if Oz needed the material) and on and on. It is already being highlighted by influential Advertising blogs. In the HuffPo and on Digg... The Daily Telegraph, The Economist etc etc
So -- -what was the fuss, was it justified, is the ad ok, is the campaign reasonable, and most importantly, was it successful?
First -- the fuss:
I think a bit of context has to be applied here.
This was never intended to be a wide audience campaign, it was for an internet audience, it was a clip that people could choose to watch and choose to stop watching, they didn’t have to send it on.
It was linked to a light-hearted promotion for a prize that involved attending a festival sporting event known for outrageous costume wearing and activity. It was also aimed at women who would choose to self-identify as a cougar.
It is a bit rich for people to take an enormous amount of offence at something they have had to seek out. This reminds me of the pretty sad situation last year where about a million times more people complained about the Russell Brand/Jonathon Ross answerphone Andrew ‘Manuel’ Sachs drama than actually heard it or ever would have.
A media-whipped sense of outrage is a pretty weak starting point for an emotional response to a joke.
I’m not saying everyone who objected had no grounds, just that the level of exposure of the ’sin’ was met with disproportionate attention taking the communication places it was never meant to go.
Unless of course it was. The makers of this could only have dreamed of receiving this attention.UPDATE: And to be frank -- it is not their best work. .99 the agency responsible also did the excellent worldwide smash hit Nothing to Hide work. Those videos received millions of hits on YouTube. This safety video has over five million views. 5 million views. Holy wow. Cumulatively the clips have had over ten million views worldwide.
These worked because the tone, idea, execution were magic..99 are evidently a tremendous agency.
UPDATE -- Having gone and done some primary research I have found a lot more. While the struck through parts are correct in part, as in 99 did the excellent Nothing to Hide campaign -- -they did not do this campaign. My source for this information was wrong -- as I found out by calling a very helpful member of the Grabaseat team Sunil Unka. The agency responsible was Projector Media. They are the agency that Grabaseat use.
The distinction between Grabaseat and Air NZ is an important one. The Grabaseat brand is there for the very reason that they can do things that Air NZ can not. They are competing in the online space for a different traveller than the Air NZ brand proposition. They are there to mix things up, take risks and deliver a different result. They do many small promotions for low budgets that are highly targeted. The cougar campaign is a perfect example of one of these.
It was fast turn-around -- less than a week from script to filming. It was low budget -- less than 20 grand to produce. It was highly targeted: it was giving away only 60 tickets to an event -- not even airfares down. It was aimed to exist only on the online Grabaseat portal. Or as shared video. It was aimed to exist for Grabaseat, not Air NZ -- if you see the difference.
It was of course meant to be funny -- and it was funny if you hold it to the standard of a late night sketch show -- which would be an appropriate comparison on turnaround and budget then it was. If you held it up as the best viral ever then it wouldn’t quite hit that mark.
The cougar campaign did not quite hit the mark like that. There were flashes of brilliance -- -the Cougar Expert that flashed up, the line about cougars working extra hours in HR and marketing consulting and a few other moments did it for me. But it didn’t quite gel and isn’t quite magic. But it is a very good version of what it is trying to be -- a socially observant, humorous clip worth watching and sharing and talking about. It also is a social catalyst -- look at all it caused to happen. But it isn’t unalloyed gold. The pretend to be gay line doesn’t quite pay off, the P addict is a bit of a clanker for me, the accent isn’t quite Attenborough -- -just little things but I see where they were going and overall they have done well.
I said to Penny Ashton on facebook that if it was funny then the rest of the complaints it has generated wouldn’t matter, although I didn’t mean it wasn’t funny at all, more that if it was classic gold-plated magic then no problem.
Penny was not stoked with the ads -she was quoted as being incensed. I kind of feel that if this was the major new brand position for Air NZ with TV spots, billboards etc then it would be fair to see it as dismissive or derogatory to women -- but as a single grabaseat promotion to a festival….I don’t see it as a big sin. But then again, I’m not anywhere near the targets of the ads and I don’t really get offended -- so what do I know?
It is interesting that people overlooked the obvious points on context, intended audience, medium (the internet viral) and genre (spoof, parody, comedy) and were still offended.
Do the aggrieved have a point though all the same?
Rape prevention advocates reckoned that it trivialised and made male rape victims relive their ordeals.
In terms of the rape concern. If the ad showed stupification, the slipping of a Mikey Finn then that would be a concern. Or if she knocked him over the head. Or if she was so much physically more intimidating and was aggressive and stand-overy, or if he was legless then maybe or if he was in real distress instead of a weak sweaty-pitted act gay thing -- maybe then -- he looked into it and totally able to escape if he wanted -- during the Enya =could have been a good time -- but as the ad ran -- what a nonsense.It is an obvious joke and is not advocating, endorsing or glamourising rape. If they had showed him tied down and screaming, well, that is another story.
In terms of being Misogynist well -- if women are offended on behalf of women then I don’t really have a say in that.But I think with the elements of choice involved it actually puts the agency into female hands. If women want to engage they do, therefore having agency, power and position. If they don’t engage or say they dislike it that is agency also. It is not anti-women at essence. If it was a competition asking young men to send in examples of desperate old women trying it on in bars then that would be different.
You don’t have to think it is great, you don’t have to like it, but saying it is misogynistic when you might really mean tacky or low-class makes things more intense than they need be. But again, if women or anyone else truly feels it demeans women I haven’t a say, but I would also probably prefer not to have a dinner party full of people who see evil where lame would do.
Was it successful?
Wildly. Whether they nailed the video tone or not it generated tremendous coverage outsize to its worth. It really connected with many people even if not with me personally (just look at all the comments in favour on the forums etc) and it kept in with the overall irreverant cheeky go-for-it grabaseat tone.
Apparently over 100 cougar packs of up to four women entered. So that is somewhere north of 300 women bothering to identify with this, take the photos and submit them. Not a bad result.
And also of note:
Perhaps the most terrifying thing for me was the profucion of terrible puns that it brought about:
Claws out over Cougar Ad
‘Cougar’ marketing campaign puts Air NZ in tailspin
The country’s national carrier was already causing turbulence with its latest uniform range, which critics said made women look like drag queens in Russian military garb.
Critics Roar
UPDATE: Here is a link to this whole thing being discussed by me and Noelle on Summer Noelle.
And on Radio Wammo Breakfast, before I had talked to Sunil at Grabaseat and a few advertising sources, so slightly less complete -- a few gaps and inaccuracies that are cleared up in the post above.
NB: as with all these blog posts if you have information correcting or adding to anything please share it and I will update the post. All information comes from online sources and we all know how reliable they can be! Every care is taken to be accurate and timely.
13 Comments
Excellent write up, couldn’t agree more. I don’t believe it implies or even comes close to anything that should get rape victims or organizations up in arms.
I hate to sound like one of those people but are we reaaaallly going to start having to stop EVERYTHING because of a few complaints? A line needs to be drawn, and as you say, campaigns like these need to be sought out, they’re not slotted into your day to day viewing like TV.
TVNZ have somewhere in the 160,000 viewers range for Breakfast… and there were 200 complaints about the Susan Boyle ‘retard’ remark? That isn’t even a drop in the bucket. Was it offensive? Absolutely. But most things are to someone, we shouldn’t police such things off unreasonable amounts of complaints about what’s offensive, especially on things that are obviously not intended to be. Otherwise, I have 200 friends who are equally offended by the Black Eyed Peas… perhaps we could get them pulled off TV and Radio?
My beef with the ad was how it represents us older women.
The word cougar seems to have become a term used for any group of woman over 35 who are out on the town. Weather they are ‘on the prowl’ or not.
There’s also the double standard: men who bag younger women get a “whoarrr, mate!”. Women who do the same get “ewww!”. This ad is doing
Women over 35 or invisible in the media – you’re either a – ‘elderly prima gravida’ (older mum) or a cougar. Feck that!
What really stuffs arguments expressing a toe-curling reaction to something like this, is when the likes of the Rape prevention advocates draw a very, very long bow and make any objection seem laughable.
There you go. Thanks for letting me express my opinion Simon, I don’t often get a chance to do that in a public forum
People should get the stick out of their arse and stop moaning – dont like it? then dont watch, look away, turn it off, go to church, or watch somthing you do like but if its not for you dosent mean its not for someone else – vegiterians shop in supermarkets that have meat on display and im sure they dont like that – should supermarkets pull the meet of the shelves if they get a few complaints.
Id also bet that the real cougars think this is great and have all had a good chuckkle over it on their mid morning fag breaks in bars all over the city, while viraling it via their iPhones.
If they want to censor our adverts why dont they start with the hand soap advert with the anoying tune – now that IS offensive.
Hello – thank you for the comments.
The vegetarian and the Black Eyed Peas analogies are two I like very much.
@Ana – that is very interesting. I kind of think that this doesn’t apply to all women over 35. It is a stereotype with a grain of truth so just like some Used Car Salesmen are Used Car Salesmen in the stereotyped view so some older women are cougars.
Having worked in hospo I know that there is some truth to the stereotype – as in any stereotype. I’m not familiar with it being applied to every older woman – only those that have the fake tan, excessive grooming, wealth and new found sexual freedom to play.
The sexual agency is one plank of this.
I think Cougar is like Chav – more of a class issue than an anti women issue. But then again I just had an interesting chat to Noelle about this on RNZ and off air she told me she sees it as a derogatory lens to view a woman’s sexuality through so doesn’t like it – but I just don’t see it as a lens to view a woman’s sexuality – I see it as a lens to see a class subculture. Both are right, I just don’t see the other! But not being a woman – what do I know?
My beef with the campaign was not that it was offensive but that it just wasn’t that good. The cougar meme is old, the execution wasn’t the greatest (although as you mention there were some funny parts), and it just seemed off message for Grabaseat or AirNZ. Also the fact that the winners had to buy their own airfares seemed a bit lame. I mean this is a promotion from an airline so you expect that their key product of getting form A to B would have been included in the prize.
Grabaseat and AirNZ have been on fire the last few years so I guess we can expect the odd promotion that doesn’t quite work. You are going to get that when you push the limits.
Seen TVs Cougar Town? It’s coming to TV here and casts Courtney Cox as the cougar. Her part is not of an over-tanned and groomed wealthy woman. It is about a newly single older woman; so the new found sexual freedom bit is right…but on that point, I agree with Noelle.
I agree with Mr Barnes too.
Should also be put on record that the whiped yogart shit is not just for girls ( apparently kids like it to ) and that nutragrain is good for growing daughters to.
Why, thank you for all your classic anti-feminism and rape apologia bingo. That’s all us silly wimmenz needed – someone to mansplain it to us!
“In terms of being Misogynist well — if women are offended on behalf of women then I don’t really have a say in that”
Actually, as a breathing human being, you do. You have an obligation to not contribute to something that is harmful. We may not be offended, but we sure as hell know when something is harmful to a section of human beings with less power.
“This was never intended to be a wide audience campaign, it was for an internet audience”
Bollocks. The internet is leading source of news and information for our society. Wasn’t “meant” to be seen by a wider audience? How do you explain “viral” then?
“It is a bit rich for people to take an enormous amount of offence at something they have had to seek out.”
See my comments re: viral. Guess you’ve missed the basic impact of social networking sites like Facebook. Which is how AirNZ were probably intending this piece of douchebaggery to get out.
“The Grabaseat brand is there for the very reason that they can do things that Air NZ can not. ”
Doesn’t mean they should be complete douche-tastic a-holes to do it.
“I kind of feel that if this was the major new brand position for Air NZ with TV spots, billboards etc then it would be fair to see it as dismissive or derogatory to women — but as a single grabaseat promotion to a festival….I don’t see it as a big sin.”
Bullshit. Anything that is derogatory towards a women’s sexual power, or a rape victim, is harmful. You don’t get to choose how little or how big something is harmful.
“but saying it is misogynistic when you might really mean tacky or low-class makes things more intense than they need be.”
You also don’t get to decide what it is. When a woman’s sexual power is framed in a fearful and derogatory light, I call a spade a spade. It is in fact misogynistic, low class, tacky AND harmful to rape victims.
And yes, guess what, men get raped too.
Hello A Nonny Mouse
Thank you for your comment. I quite seriously meant that it is not up to me if people firmly hold that feeling, as you appear to. I was not meaning it in a flippant way either – I don’t happen to think that but it is not up to me to decide whether that should be thought. Try advancing the same tolerance of other views divergent from your own. It is quite something to call it rape apoligia.
Thanks for contributing that viewpoint, I have had a few interesting discussions with people who feel that is is more about negatively framing a woman’s sexuality than it is a case of lighthearted social commentary exaggeration. I hadn’t seen it that way – and I appreciate the viewpoint.
As to the points about it not being a wide audience campaign I kind of think you are missing the point there. A viral campaign travels as people send it on or seek it out by choice. A wide audience campaign is injected into public spaces without any choice – it is on billboards, on the news etc. A campaign like this really cannot be said to be the same no matter how you frame it. If Air NZ had spent millions ensuring everyone in NZ saw it then it would patently be different if people seek it out and share it by choice.
But all the same, it is an interesting point you raise that if they had hoped it might go viral do they have the same care not to offend as they would have if they put it on the news in family time and into family spaces – I think not as context is important. Just because something might be shared on facebook does not mean everyone on facebook will see it. I think it is you who are confused about the impact of social media.
And yes, men get raped too. I kind of think you may be putting a bit more anger than fairness into your points here, but I thank you all the same for sharing them as it is an interesting perspective.
It is an obvious joke and is not advocating, endorsing or glamourising rape. If they had showed him tied down and screaming, well, that is another story.
Wow… thanks for the heads-up, Simon. As long as there’s no bondage involved and you lie very quiet, then it doesn’t count. Also, dear, you might want to cash a reality check on the notion that sexual predators are burly apes who target weak, wispy little things. Not quite that simple.
The serious question I’d like a serious answer to is this: Would be such a big “joke” if Air New Zealand was trying to drum up some business from pack-hunting middle-aged cock-hounds on the prowl for some hot young pussy? Or does it then stop being funny and start being creepy?
Ana Samways wrote:
Seen TVs Cougar Town? It’s coming to TV here and casts Courtney Cox as the cougar. Her part is not of an over-tanned and groomed wealthy woman. It is about a newly single older woman; so the new found sexual freedom bit is right…
I reply:
Not interested (I’ve had migraines more amusing than Courtney Cox), but I did happen to read a very interesting review of an episode on the blog of NJ Star-Ledger television critic Alan Sepinwall:
When I talked with Bill Lawrence last week about “Scrubs,” he also said that he realized a few episodes into this show that the “attractive older woman dates hot younger guys” premise wasn’t all that interesting, and that the show worked much better as an ensemble about this makeshift family Jules had created around herself.
[Source: http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2010/01/cougar-town-stop-dragging-my-heart.html
So good on Air New Zealand for thinking the tired, tacky and offensive play on a tired, tacky and offensive stereotype is how New Zealand’s flag carrier wants to brand itself around a major event in Wellington. The public money used to bail out these clowns was well spent.
Hello Craig
once again, I’m not talking about rape in general, just about what was portrayed in the ad.
Careful Simon she is a A Nonny Moose not a A Nonny Mouse.
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