Tan Organic get the marketing wrong: cheaper and more orange than a Lidl Jaffa Cake

Standing in front of what looks like (and probably is) a bright orange Powerpoint presentation a business type man looks lovingly at a little brown bottle in his hand. Holding it tenderly he turns to the camera and tells us how wonderful is the tanning magic contained within.

It's awkward and unconvincing and one may wonder why on earth is he telling us this. Yes he's a Dragons Den person and obviously that gives him a modicum of celebrity - but that is missing the point. Gavin Duffy may have invested in the tan, but that doesn't mean he's the right person to advertise it.

Bill Cullen he ain't. Ad savvy Bill would have had Jackie advertising the tan along with a coterie of lovely organically tanned fillies displaying golden limbs. In other words they would have been advertising to the target market.

This is a tan that's been getting pretty decent reviews and as an Irish brand we're very keen to see it do well. As part of our Tan Trials '10 we've reviewed the pro spray salon version (big thumbs up) and the home version (more shaky). We've also got a lot of comments about the bottle of all things on this post - read it here. But as Beaut.ie Dad would say: an advertising campaign like this one is likely to tear the arse out of the brands progress. It's just the wrong fit.

Advertised

It screams cheap. And it screams orange. Surely the very last things Tan Organic could want to convey.

This honestly reminded me of those ads that used to appear on RTE many many years ago. You know - the ones that were just basically a card held up in front of the camera with a voiceover behind them. They were usually advertising something like Triple A Golden Maverick.

In the words of Twitter hashtags this is a big #tanorganicFAIL. And it's a shame.

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