I just picked up on this terrific example of 21st century brand engagement – a chap called Richard Neill posted a rant on the Bodyform Facebook page… here it is…

Hi , as a man I must ask why you have lied to us for all these years . As a child I watched your advertisements with interest as to how at this wonderful time of the month that the female gets to enjoy so many things ,I felt a little jealous. I mean bike riding , rollercoasters, dancing, parachuting, why couldn’t I get to enjoy this time of joy and ‘blue water’ and wings !! Dam my penis!! Then I got a girlfriend, was so happy and couldn’t wait for this joyous adventurous time of the month to happen …..you lied !! There was no joy , no extreme sports , no blue water spilling over wings and no rocking soundtrack oh no no no. Instead I had to fight against every male urge I had to resist screaming wooaaahhhhh bodddyyyyyyfooorrrmmm bodyformed for youuuuuuu as my lady changed from the loving , gentle, normal skin coloured lady to the little girl from the exorcist with added venom and extra 360 degree head spin. Thanks for setting me up for a fall bodyform , you crafty bugger (ORIGINAL POST AND COMMENTS HERE)

Many other brands may have sent their spin doctors in to deal with this, or remove the comment, or simply buried their heads in the sand hoping that it will become just another post on their page that no-one will notice.

But not Bodyform. Here is their video response.

Phenomenal. As I write this, the post has had over 100,000 likes and nearly 5,000 comments (and over 4 million YouTube vies).

That’s engagement.

It’s funny and unafraid of delivering the truth about both advertising and women.

Consider how much it cost to produce, versus how much a traditional TV ad (both production and airtime) would cost them.

What other brands can learn form this is that openness and transparency are essential in todays world of instant information exchange.

That people like people, and not brands (granted, CEO Caroline Williams was played by an actors, but it’s her words).

That we live in a serious world, but we all need to lighten up a little and not take it too seriously (read, deliver the truth while making us smile).

That people share stuff (as I am doing now) when it reveals a truth and also makes us chuckle.

Bravo!

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix