Lovehoney’s: “Feel the Lovehoney”
Certain products or sectors can be inherently trickier to get approved. Something that Lovehoney is all too aware of. “We cannot show a dildo on TV in the UK” says Nora Lahl, Director of Marketing.
Leith are the agency who recently won the Lovehoney account. On their first ad together they wanted to create a brand ad as successful as Nike’s iconic ‘Just Do it’ campaign. But as a brand who retails sexual wellness products, they knew they were in for a bumpy ride.
How we helped
They found challenges in getting approval across different mediums, like Out of Home and social media, for example, but said that working with “bodies such as Clearcast throughout the entire process saves a lot of headaches”. The project’s Lead Copywriter, Marion Miranda, explains “we had regular check-ins with them. We would run past our scripts and our storyboards and even our first edits with them”.
The team at Leith enlisted our Copy Development service, working directly with Manager, Pete Bellas, who helped them to navigate their sector, products and the TV ad rules. The service is designed to help creatives to get their best – and sometimes more controversial – ideas onto TV. Pete does this by working closely with the client on their creative ideas, to achieve any campaign goals and maintain the brand tone, all whilst remaining compliant. This ensures that the ad not only makes it to air, but remains there should any complaints arise. As Miranda puts it “it was all about working with them rather than against them, because it would just make things easier”.
Avoiding restrictions
Leith were keen to avoid receiving the 11pm timing restriction, which can be common for ads of this type. So, Pete helped them to work their creative around this goal, by advising on the types of toys, products and creative approach they could feature. In this article from The Drum, Lahl says “obviously we cannot show a dildo on TV in the UK. Also, not sure if we should”. Pete clarifies “you could technically feature a sex toy in an ad. But, depending on the specifics, this may attract the post 11pm timing restriction”.
Our advice
Pete’s advice reassured them that the light-hearted and fun approach would be a great direction to go in and would be fine for the airtime they were aiming for. He explained that “as the ad still featured a couple having sex, we still had to be careful to navigate this carefully to ensure that the scenes were subtle enough, whilst remaining fun and confident, and also achieved their goal of normalising sexual happiness and intimacy”. Miranda summarised that “in the end, the bigger brand platform didn’t rely on showing products because it’s about the feeling”. As Lahl says “we wanted to stay true to the category we are in – cheeky, playful, just a teeny, tiny touch of sexy – but we also want to keep entering the mainstream market”.
Ad of the day
The brilliant ad was recently hailed as the Drum’s ad of the day. The Drum said that ” ‘Feel the Lovehoney’ celebrates sexual happiness with unapologetic confidence while circumventing ad restrictions through the use of suggestion and innuendo”. A satisfying climax to the campaign’s launch. Pun intended.
The new campaign is rolling out in the UK across TV, digital and social nationwide now.
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