Yes – it’s true. Brassiere manufacturer Vanity Fair (not to be confused with the magazine with the same name that does have photos of bras) recently announced they’ve created an all-girl band who will perform wearing their bras (along with of course cute skirts and heels). The group – The Vassarettes – named after one of Vanity Fair’s brand of bras (Vassarette), made their debut at a few parties in the US, are now getting lots of on and offline coverage and buzz and will make their TV debut next month on Style Network’s Running in Heels show.
So, this marketing gimmick scores in a few areas – natural controversy given the girls performing in bras, obvious belief in the power of the notion that “sex sells,” lots of word-of-mouth as anyone who hears about it can’t help but talk about it and not to be overlooked, the use of music, a natural way to engage and entertain with multiple generations. Is it that much different to Victoria’s Secret who puts on extravagant TV shows with hot girls dancing down the runway? And we loved Samsung selling TVs with hot girls juggling soccer balls too.
Yet, the big question, will an all-girl band wearing bras actually sell bras? It’s a given that the campaign should increase the overall awareness of the Vassarette brand; whether that is with guys or girls I’m not quite sure. And whether hot girls wearing bras on stage and singing is motivation enough for girls to grab a Vassarette bra is something that we’ll need to wait and see. Will guys want their girlfriends to look as “hot as The Vassarettes” and encourage them to buy the brand? Do guys actually influence bra purchase decisions? Will consumers simply see this as a corporate marketing ploy?
Perhaps before answering those questions we need to consider what was the goal of the campaign – to raise awareness, cause some disruption in the marketplace, sell bras?
Since we don’t know that lets just talk more about the girls wearing bras and performing in a band. The reality is that their first song isn’t awful, no one is making them perform in their bras against their will, and the YouTube video seems to show they are entertaining. The website isn’t as easy as it could be to load but has what you’d expect – lots of photos of the band wearing bras – and lots of bras everywhere as if someone threw up bras. The campaign has ticked off the boxes of social networking, with videos on YouTube (including an unplugged version, really showing off their musical talent) and photos on Flickr.
Wonder what happens when some crazy drunk at a concert yells “take your top off”?!........
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