Credit: Advertising Age (adage.com)
I wear lipstick every day all day long; I love it and feel naked and drab without. So, when I read that Virgin Atlantic was launching its own lipstick, made by bareMinerals (another line I love), I was intrigued enough to write a shortie.
The announcement appeared in Ad Age “Creativity’s Top Five of the Week.” Here’s where I’m confused because the campaign feels more like an excellently creative PR campaign than a creative campaign from the ad department.
Look at all these elements:
- Virgin Atlantic launches a new Upper Class Cabin and the inaugural flight from London to New York will be celebrated with a particular shade of red lipstick.
- On the plane featuring the new elite lounge, female (why did the writers have to say “female”) cabin crew will sport the new “Upper Class Red” color of lipstick that matches their uniforms. The lipstick will contain “a special pearl powder to hydrate the lips of frequent flyers.”
- Passengers on the inaugural flight get a free lipstick.
- The lipstick will be sold on board or in stores that stock bareMinerals (I already know where I’m going to test this color!).
Now, my peers in public relations, does this campaign sound at all like an advertising campaign or should this one be owned by PR? Wait, I already know the answer; we’re integrated now and no one can take all the credit for a decent campaign, right?
But, still…
