“Ditch the grass skirt, grab your pineapple and leap into Paradise” with Cocksox
There is something special about learning history from the Internet. Today I learned a little bit about Tiki:
What exactly is a Tiki?
In Polynesian mythology ‘Tiki’ meant ‘first man’ (like Adam) that eventually came to mean any depiction of man, particularly the grotesque carvings found adorning traditional island homes and villages
A Tiki is also a phallic symbol and in Maori lore, ‘Tiki’ was the name given to the procreative power and sexual organ of the god Tane, creator of the first woman.
In the Austral Islands south of Tahiti ‘Tiki-roa’ as the nickname for the penis and ‘Tiki-poto’ the nickname for the clitoris while in the arquesa Islands ‘Tiki’ was the god of the artists, serving as muse to all.
In short, ‘Tiki’ is the male, artistic sex god. Cool.
I’m mildly obsessed with Buzzfeed, which is a site that seeks to pull together rumors and trends and to summarize a list of links to blogs and other sites that are buzzing on hot topics. It’s been a big month for them with buzz popping up about both female urinals and a special section on an Australia product “Cocksox.” Through a link on their site, I found the “Tiki” lesson above and the bulged-out image below (note the slogan…because “south of the equator” was too subtle alone):
Now that we know about tiki, it’s time for a lesson on paradise advertising from Rapidsea. There are three classes of class when it comes to paradise advertising. The first is like Tiffany and Co. who created the Somerset line of jewelry. In this example, as you’ll see in the post, they know that their customers are sophisticated enough to know where Somerset is and why it is a nice enough place to warrant being branded by Tiffany.
The second class counts among its advertisers companies like Corona beer who understand where they come from and manage to relay that message into the psyche of their customers: i.e., drunk college students and 30–something BBQers. Corona has reached the point of success that everyone knows that if there is sunshine overhead there’s a Corona in your hand with a slice of lime in it. And, at night, you can forgo the lime if there’s a crescent moon:
With respect to Corona’s placement in this second category, I am speaking mostly of their print ads because their website falls into the third class of advertisers who just label their products with beaches and paradise outright. If you have little elements in your Flash site that move around, like kites or crabs (see Jimmy Buffett’s Cheese Burger in Paradise), you fall into this category.
Cocksox, I’m sorry, but you’re in this third category. I know that you actually sell swimwear, but to outwardly state that you can “discover paradise” by moving your member to the forefront of society is taking it a little too far. Two demerits.
But don’t take my word for it, ask “Kurt from USA” (available in the testimonials) instead:
“Love Cocksox underwear, they are super comfortable to wear. They are great to wear when working out at the gym!”
Thank you for providing a dissenting voice, Kurt, wherever you may be.
Okay, I’ll take back one of the demerits though because Cocksox has provided us here with such a great animation of their cool tiki illustration taping itself to a butt. Now, readers, you may watch the video below on two conditions: 1) that you heed the advance warning that there’s a reason why they call non-video images “stills”; there’s some non-stills in these sox and 2) you will refer to your investigation of this phenomenon as “delving into your academic interests” and nothing more if you accidentally bring it up in conversation at work. Agreed? Click:
Now, when they’re talking about “Cherry Paradise” in their swimbriefs, do they mean what I think they mean?
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Posted on September 10, 2007
Filed Under Advertising, Fasion, Internet Advertising | 4 Comments
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4 Responses to ““Ditch the grass skirt, grab your pineapple and leap into Paradise” with Cocksox”
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I love that you have no issue with the name of the product, only that they invoke some sort of tropical-ness (tropic-ality?) with their advertising and choice of fabrics.
I just figured that cocksox was Australian for underwear. Who am I to judge their language no matter what fabric they put on their “boot”?
Maybe you can help me understand if they are paying benefits to the Harrod’s snake or if he was just rented? See http://blog.rapidsea.com/2007/.....ive-shoes/
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