Orchids and Onions – Eskort ad brings home the bacon

I watched one of those American food programmes once – the sort which leave you in no doubt about why so many people in that country are obese – and heard that old saying that there isn’t any food item which isn’t made better by the addition of bacon.

It’s been part of my life since my first memories – and weekends were always when there would be bacon and egg on the table. That is still the case in our house. There is something highly addictive about the taste of bacon and the smell of it cooking gets all sorts of juices going.

So I can identify with the new ad for that old household pork brand, Eskort, just put together by MetropoliticanRepublic. It encapsulates that almost deranged feeling you get when you haven’t had your bacon fix.

The premise of the ad – which is part of a broader campaign by Eskort and MetropolitanRepublic to bring the 103-year-old brand bang up to date – is that its products are “so delicious you’ll look past anything”. And it has been done in a very funny way … albeit I must qualify that with: funny to me. And my humour is definitely non-vegan.

So, we see hubby returning home and heading straight for the fridge. As the ad started I wondered if we’d be seeing a tribute to the legendary “It’s not inside, it’s on top” Cremora ad of the 1980s. But it was just the opening frames – featuring the dim, food-fixated man – which they have in common. He looks through the fridge and can’t see the bacon and goes off to find his wife and chastise her for not keeping the stocks replenished. She’s not around and as he traipses through the house, we get the odd clue that things are not quite right – pool equipment lying around, pool cleaner sucking air, picture skew on a wall as if someone brushed past it in their haste to get somewhere.

Husband bursts into the bedroom saying “What’s going on here?”, which sees his wife burst forth from beneath the covers. He then says “The bacon is finished”.

And out from beneath the bedclothes pops a young toyboy-like dude, who is equally shocked that the bacon is finished. Angry wife storms off to the fridge to show Mr Dim that the bacon has been there all along.

Then comes the line that Eskort is “so delicious you’ll look past anything” – even the possibility your wife maybe having an affair under your nose.

All three end up eating delicious bacon sandwiches on the patio while the pool cleaner continues to suck air. Hubby, still clueless, asks the young man, “who are you again”, not noticing his pool cleaner uniform…

There will probably be people who will take offence at the ad but morals have changed a lot in 103 years and Eskort is clearly a brand prepared to take a chance because the majority of those who see this will be entertained, not offended.

I also love the way MetropolitanRepublic has put in a funny punchline at the end – something which used to be common but which you don’t often see these days.

Orchids to Eskort – for bravery – and to MetropolitanRepublic – for a well-executed ad which combines humour with effective brand awareness.

I saw an TV ad for Salome women’s products the other night which just made me sad. It featured a number of women clearly sharing their real-world experiences of infertility … one of the least talked about yet most serious causes of emotional instability within relationships.

I was sad because, nowhere in the ad is the “blame” for failure to have a child laid anywhere other than at the door of the female body. That flies against the reality that in many cases of infertility, the male is to blame. In this macho society of ours, that is seldom acknowledged. A “barren” woman is often deserted by a man – or replaced by a second or third wife in a traditional setting.

It is not fair that the burden for conception should be that of a woman. I speak from tough experience … I learned that male fertility is still little understood. Men need to learn about it and talk about it. I had to and it wasn’t pleasant for a typical male ego. Fortunately our story had a happy ending … she is now a qualified vet.

Ads like this, Salome, do a grave disservice to your target customers – women.

So you get an Onion for unbalanced portrayal of a very sensitive subject.

Brendan Seery

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