Harvey Nichols’ advert causes controversy
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Harvey Nichols latest advertising campaign, featuring images of men and women apparently wetting themselves with excitement over the prospect of the store’s sale, has divided opinion.
Flyers featuring the images alongside the slogan “The Harvey Nichols Sale. Try to contain your excitement” have been posted and emailed to customers around Britain.
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Hide AdAccording to the store, the campaign was inspired by Julia Roberts’ uttering of the phrase “It was so good I almost peed my pants!” in 1990s film Pretty Woman.
Julia Bowe, group press and marketing director at Harvey Nichols explained the rationale behind the images: “In humorous reaction to the (often-irrational) excitement sale time engenders, we have developed this campaign to capture this near-fanatical spirit, because let’s face it, the thought of picking up brands such as Alexander McQueen at up to 70 per cent off is enough to excite and overwhelm even the most composed shopper.”
The store is well-known for its tongue-in-cheek, often controversial advertising. Their Christmas 2011 campaign featured a television advert entitled The Walk of Shame, featuring a series of dishevelled women making their way home in the early hours after a night on the town, shoes in hand, about which the advertising standards watchdog received complaints.
Defending the latest campaign today, a spokesperson for Harvey Nichols said: “We developed the campaign to promote our summer sale and capture this excitement in a light-hearted, humorous way.
“The images in our advertising were designed to be a visual representation of a well-known phrase.
“During the production of the campaign, we researched the use of this expression in popular culture and social media, and were satisfied that it is both commonplace and invariably used in a playful, inoffensive manner, which was in keeping with the tongue-in-cheek spirit in which we intended our campaign to be taken.”
The debate on Twitter showed a mix of condemnation and appreciation. One user tweeted: ““Have been offended by Harvey Nichols’ latest mail shoot flyer”, and another wrote: “Really, Harvey Nicks? Really? They’re certainly pushing the boundaries.”
While tweets in support of the campaign included: “I think the latest @harvey_nichols sale teasers featuring women wetting themselves are jolly wonderful. Don’t you?!” and “Hilarious @Harvey_Nichols ad campaign! Personally I applaud a risky venture.”