Think Locally, Fuck Globally

Well I know it’s a Gogol Bordello song but it’s the best thing that could describe advertising as we know it now. I got this strange opportunity to travel a lot these days and while other people are probably enjoying their holidays and relaxing, trying to get rid of work, I’m doing exactly the opposite. More work? Sure, give it to me!

I know Charles made a post a while ago about McDonald’s selling their coffee as ‘premium’ in China whereas you don’t get ‘premium’ quality anywhere else around Europe – I wouldn’t know about the United States as I’ve not been there in the last years but anyway; the entry is called ‘Sexy Beijing‘ and I advise anyone mildly interested in what I write around here to read it. It’s a very relevant post about how not only China but Asia and communist were different from the ‘rest of the world’ and still are, while trying to maintain this sort of ‘freedom, bound and restricted’.

While no one would care about coffee at McDonald’s and what it tastes like, it does matter when you’re a regular. When you drink coffee on a regular basis you can definitely tell when it tastes orgasmic and when it’s only water mixed with something that gives it a brown colour and has caffeine in it. I can tell that Starbucks in Romania tastes strange compared to the one in the UK. Even in the UK, maybe coffee in Manchester tastes different than the one in London (don’t go making any funny jokes now please. You know what I’m talking about.). Despite trying to keep the taste the same, it will never happen.

I’m all in for advertising brands with a local flavour as long as they appeal to the various crowds and consumers and makes ads more relevant to them but there’s something very strange about Burn. For UK people who don’t know what Burn is, it’s Coca Cola’s energy drink and around Italy and the rest of Europe they’ve had a strange positioning. It wasn’t like Relentless, it wasn’t like Red Bull, it was the ‘posh night club energy drink‘ but not the ‘potent energy drink‘.

Take a look at this ad made in Italy:

Just so you have a real taste of what it used to be like, here’s a very old poster featuring vodka and Burn:

You can sort of see where they’re coming from and where they’re heading to. Unless they’ve changed their whole strategy by 180 degrees, Italy is way off with what they’re doing to Burn, turning it into Lynx/Axe but failing miserably by adding a really stupid and unwelcome twist at the end. They also say imitation is the highest form of flattery. Or is it.

Yes, I am outraged. What the hell are they turning Burn into? I’m not liking this especially since it’s a very shallow strategy considering in most European countries legislation states you’re not allowed to show any product as enhancing sexual performance or ‘getting you the women’. You’re not allowed to show people smoking, drinking and being succesful in a sexual or erotic way. So what’s up with this anyway?