Advertising is Controversial

For this post I'll be talking about the way Calvin Klein advertise his products, since I have been learning about marketing for almost 4 years now. So I thought I should relate CK to what I know best. By all accounts, Calvin Klein was a marketing genius. He understood the power of a suggestive image and was able to link his brand name with the young, sexy and risque images portrayed in his advertisements.

The first signs of Klein’s marketing savvy came in 1979, when he had model Patti Hansen photographed on her hands and knees wearing his new, tighter jeans and placed the ad on a massive Times Square billboard. It caused such a sensation that it was left up in place for FOUR years, demonstrating remarkable staying power in such an industry of fleeting fads as fashion.

CK is not shy about pushing the limit when it comes to advertising his products. In early 1980, he featured a 15-year-old Brooke Shields purring "Nothing comes between me and my Calvins." To see the ad click here . Seriously I can't believe she was 15 when she did that advert. She looked so matured. I envy her! I mean, just look at her.!!

CK has been at the forefront of fashion's grunge trend, using stringy-haired youth to hawk his CK Be and CK One fragrances. FYI the ad with ppl talking; girl in the middle is Kate Moss. There are also other famous models like Trish Goff but I'm not sure which is which. Hee..

CK's commercials and adverts are always following the youth trend and reflecting their life in it so that the customers can relate to it. But when I went through most of CK's advertisements, most of them are too provocative, especially in Malaysia. Hence, it has been quite hard for me to find pictures of their ads which I can post up in this blog. However, CK are really being an expert in marketing. He is so good that even now people are still following his steps. Recently, Kim Kardashian recreates the infamous ads that Brooke did 30 years ago. I'm not sure for which mags but below is a comparison. CK's ads are timeless...

Calvin Klein's quote “Anything we do in advertising is controversial. If it’s provocative and sensual and related to what we’re selling, I'm willing to take the chance. I have fun with the ads.”