Orange Girl World

At least according to marketers.  The favorite fruit of marketers these days is a weird apple hybrid.  In the span of two days I have seen two different campaigns for entirely different organisations each featuring a damnable apple hybrid.

The first one that came to my attention was in front of a church.  The tag-line was, “Church: it may surprise you.”  The picture was an apple being cut into to reveal the inside of the fruit which was an orange.

The second was an ad on the bus for Liverpool Community College.  There was a picture of an apple.  At first from where I was sitting it looked as if the apple was rotten.  After having got a better look at it, I realized the picture was of an apple that had been bit into exposing the inside which was a kiwi fruit.  The tag-line was, “Liverpool Community College: a different experience.”

There are manys things wrong with these ads.  I will start with the tag-lines.  “Different” and “surprise” are ambiguous words.  When used they do not necessarily indicate something enjoyable.  Indeed, they are often used to indicate the exact opposite.  When those words are juxtaposed with those images, it seems to suggust (in my mind, at least) a very nasty experience indeed.

Now on to those weird scientifically modified apples.  If I bought an apple only to discover when I went to eat it that it wasn’t an apple, it was in fact an orange or a kiwi, I would be furious and also a little disgusted.  I like apples.  I like oranges, and I like kiwis, but I do not like an orange that looks like an apple or a kiwi that looks like an apple.

I think that using this visual metaphor is an extremely bad idea, especially for Liverpool Community College.  To me it says, if I go there and sign up for one course, I will end up being taught something else entirely.  That does not make me want to attend that college.  If I sign up to study hairdressing, I want to be sure that’s what I will end up being taught; not carpentry or fashion design.

Liverpool Community College used to have a lovely marketing campaign.  It was called “Vocation, vocation, vocation.” It feature various bright-looking, attractive students from the college relating how they found their true vocation at Liverpool Community College.  I thought that was a really positive campaign that made the college look great.   Their apple-kiwi does not give the same impression.

So, my final word to marketers: just let an apple be an apple.  It’s good because it’s simple, like your campaign should be.