Selling sleep ~ Do these mattresses float?
How can a company that sells $5,000+ mattresses really get away with having an ad like this one in Dwell’s November issue:
This ad is obviously supposed to mean that sleeping on this very expensive Hästens mattress is going to take you away to lakeside restfulness. Yawn. I’m falling asleep now without ever having bought one. It works! This type of mattress imagery has been used for decades now. See:
That’s from Life magazine back in the late 60s.
But selling sleep isn’t the easiest thing in the world. I have to say that I actually admire Hilton Garden Inn for this ad:
It’s a little bit blue, and that helps distinguish it from everything else that is so bright and colorful. This ad actually goes against the old line, “Let’s ALL stand out.” It doesn’t work that way. This Hilton ad tells me exactly what I want to know: I’m going to roll up in those pillows and not want to get out of bed. This makes me happy. It even makes me want to go to the Hilton instead of my own bed because I certainly don’t have that many pillows. Then there’s this still image from a commercial for Requip, the restless leg syndrome (RLS) medication:
Yes, that woman is sitting in her chair, probably getting ready for bed, having taken her pills beforehand just as prescribed. But wait! Those are some very nice little bird of paradise flowers. What else?
This is not the RLS commercial that I went looking for originally. The other one had a nice cup of tea or coffee that seemed to have an animated island come spinning out of the top of it. These pharmaceutical companies will never learn. Will the sleep givers?
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Posted on October 7, 2007
Filed Under Health and Wellness, Household Goods, Pharmaceuticals, Travel |
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