retail advertisers try rock climbing

i'm always on the look out for general market ads that incorporate rock climbing. recently, both walmart and target have used climbing imagery in their ad campaigns.

i first came across a climbing-inspired walmart tv ad back in july. in the spot we see a climber making his way to the top of a pitch. when he gets there, there's a dell computer staring right at him. the ad was trying to communicate the surprise of randomly finding a computer there. the same surprise one would encounter by finding dell computers at walmart stores. the two companies had just announced their new retail partnership.

the walmart ad was weak. bad acting, bad concept. i figured it was worth sharing, however, so i wrote walmart's corporate pr office expecting to easily secure a copy of the spot. what company wouldn't want free pr, right? here is the response i received from one of their demand media managers: "hi david. we, as most companies, do not allow other sites that we do not own/manage to run our media. thank you for your interest." i wrote the "demand" person back and told her that she well knew that as an editorial outlet i didn't need permission to run a copy of the walmart ad. i gave up after being unable to locate a copy of the clip. oh well. screw walmart.

target is also running a campaign that features climbing. the ads are pretty unique for a big box retailer. and i get them. they're selling the cool urbane "adventurous" lifestyle. as a climber, though, some of the style choices are both odd and funny. here is the print version:


i didn't ask for a copy this time (kinko's scanner baby.) the first thought that came to mind was what's with the generic climbing shoes? if i was looking this ad as a non-climber i'd probably think i could walk into a target store and buy me a pair of these groovy little rubber slippers. not likely. these are specialty climbing shoes. i also like the strategically placed carabiners. it's like "yea, i'm a climber. i have carabiners hanging on my harness." nice touch mr. stylist.


the big thing that stands out to me, as a climber, is how the rope is attached to the model and his harness. wtf? unless there's some tie-in i'm unfamiliar with, when would you ever tie yourself onto the end of the rope this way? the knot is like 2' from where it should be. in addition, the tail is way way too short. tsk tsk target. we all know you want a tail that's at least 5" long. safety first!

kudos to target for trying something different. although next time they might want to hire a climbing consultant.