I saw this ad for toilets in one of my favorite magazines, WIRED. I often clip articles from WIRED and send them to my children and grand-children, the old-fashioned way, tucked inside a note card with a few words from me about why I thought he or she might like the article.
We all like to get mail. Especially the mail that’s not in a window envelope, or mail addressed to Occupant. I love this way of sending out “I’m thinking of you” messages. I did make a slight modern adjustment: my grandchildren cannot read cursive. As one sweetheart explained to me, “We learned that in second or third grade, and never used it again.”
Around Halloween I clipped this ad. Not to send to anyone. I just wanted to sit with it, and maybe figure it out. What is the message of this Kohler ad? Who is the target audience?
LadyRomp posted “Women’s News:Advertising FAILS 2012: The 9 Worst Ads For Women This Year,” on December 15. The Kohler ad was not part of the Worst Ads. Still, I think it could be #10.
I’m unsure whether I’d classify it as sexist, but it sure is confusing. Do we hope to be pulled underwater by a fleet of toilets?
Will a powerful surge of water be part of our experience? How powerful does a toilet need to be? Powerful enough to pull a sci-fi-ginger through a tsunami?
I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure I can do without an upgrade.
The Kohler ad conjures up images in my head worse than Michigan‘s Department of Transportation’s experiment with the Destroilet. A waterless toilet that incinerates waste for land application, the toilets were installed in a few highway rest-stops. A great idea until the safety inter-lock failed. Talk about being on the hot seat.
Please stay with the homey, comfortable ads for the bathroom. I want to feel safe when I get to there; not prepared for high-adventure.
Related articles
- Wired Magazine’s Editor, Chris Anderson, to Step Down (mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com)
