Lamb Fragrance for Women

This month in Australia television viewers have been introduced to another controversial campaign from BMF, Sydney, promoting the sensuality of lamb eating in Australia. The ‘Lâmb: Fragrance for Women’ campaign is a follow-up to the effective Sam Kekovich broadcasts from January 2005 and 2006, another offering from Meat and Livestock Australia.

The ad begins with an oak tree in a wheat field, the first of a series of masculine images. A woman in a flimsy white dress langurously plays with the camera, peeking around branches and toying with the tree trunk. The male voiceover murmurs with a French accent over the beautiful music what sounds like “Lom”. Everything tells us that this is likely to be an advertisement for Versace L’Homme: Eau de Toilette for Men.

The woman lasciviously makes her way through the wheat field, walking towards a bare-chested male model. Their meeting has a backdrop of pointed conifer trees. So where’s the fragrance tie in? The man lifts his clasped hands towards the woman, holding a succulent aromatic grilled lamb chop. She takes the chop and inhales the scent with delight, falling back into his arms.

The final screen features the lamb in the foreground, with a sun setting behind the conifers. “LAMB: A fragrance for women. The perfect gift for Mother’s Day”. The woman gasps, “I love you Lamb”.

MLA’s ‘We Love Our Lamb’ campaign continues to deliver long-term growth in the domestic lamb market, with demand for Australian lamb increasing by $668 million or 64 per cent since the campaign began in 1999. In 2005, consumer expenditure for Australian lamb reached $1.7 billion.

See the Lamb Fragrance TV ad online as a 4.475 mb mpg video at www.themainmeal.com.au.

Credits

The Lamb Fragrance campaign was designed at BMF, Sydney, by executive creative director Warren Brown, copywriter Dennis Koutoulogenis, art director Dale McGuinness, and agency producer Mandy Pyne. BMF host the 60 second and 30 second ads in streamed FLV format, along with four high quality PDF versions of the print campaign.

I can see where the BMF team found its inspiration. Versace L’Homme is described as a crisp, active & masculine scent for modern man, capturing the essences of pimento, lemon & fern, with swirls of notes of cedar, patchouli & leather, adding a dash of tenderness & freshness. Sounds like it could go with ‘Lamb’ doesn’t it!

MLA marketing general manager David Thomason said the latest Mothers Day campaign continues MLA’s legacy of producing humorous, tongue-in-cheek advertising. “Lâmb, pronounced ‘lom’, is a clever parody of women’s perfume ads which we believe will appeal to a broad range of people, not just mothers”, Mr Thomason said. “Our advertising is trying to reach out to new audiences including younger, 20-something women who are traditionally lighter lamb eaters. This push for new audiences is very important in cementing the place of lamb on dinner plates around the country.”

The Lamb Fragrance television spot was filmed at Sutton Forest in the Southern Highlands, directed by Noah Marshall and produced by Tony Whyman with The Sweet Shop. Editor was Tim Mauger.

Sound was designed by Barry Stewart at Sound Reservoir.

The television campaign fits in with print (womens magazines) and outdoor advertising (shopping centres).