Hardbody – Female Sports, Health and Fitness

The latest ad from Under Armour features not male athletes but also their female counterparts as well. Props to Under Armour for another well executed spot.

The CU’ Independent, an online student newspaper in Boulder, Colorado, is taking a creative approach to fund-raising. The Colorado University newspaper enlisted the help of local ad agency TDA Advertising & Design to create anti-prejudice t-shirts. The t-shirts are sold for $15 each on campus and at local retailers.

Simple but effective.

Check out the new women’s spot from Under Armour. THIS is bad ass and empowering to women.

Under Armour announced their new women’s “Protect This House. I Will.” campaign today. They are creating a multi-channel campaign and a new Facebook page aimed at their female consumers.

Check out the new Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/UnderArmourWomen. I’ve created a TEAM HARDBODY section on the site. You can check it out here.

See more Under Armour spots on their YouTube channel, youtube.com/underarmour.

The New York Times has an interesting story on the new launch. This stood out to me…

“Women said they did not want to be treated separately. They said, ‘We want to see ourselves up against men.’ ” Such women, he said, “don’t look at themselves as a female athlete but as an athlete.”

Earlier in the year I posted an ad from Nutrex where they featured pro figure competitor, Larissa Reiss spread eagle with a poorly photo-shopped supplement bottle next to her. The headline read, “Meet your new sex partner”. Classy stuff (note the sarcasm). They’re back with another sleazy ad and this time it features not only Larissa Reiss but also pro bikini competitor Nathalia Melo. The headline reads, “BETTER SEX! No strings attached”.

As you can see the image shows Nathalia on all fours with Larissa pulling her g-string off. I don’t find the image flattering and it’s far from sexy. It’s pretty apparent that this company doesn’t view these women as athletes. If they did they wouldn’t put them in their ads this way. Sure, they have the right to do whatever they want but why showcase two of the top pro competitors in this manner?  I get that the supplement is a sex enhancing pill but there are plenty of ways to convey sexy without making it sleazy.

What do you think? Post your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a creative way to show a product’s benefit. Every one who purchases GNC’s BURN 60 fat burning supplement receives a complimentary bag. Is it the best thing ever? No but it conveys the point that BURN 60 will slim your waist.

Ad via: coloribus.com

The Snazzy Napper might be the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen all year. “It’s like privacy in a bag”. Hilarious.

Thanks to @RebeccaStaggs for the link.

This is hilarious. Gotta love Ellen.

Thanks to Jeff Taylor for the link.

Weird and yet amusing.

I love the line that Heather Bergeron says in an Adidas commercial for the 2010 CrossFit Games. “You can’t wait for tomorrow. You can’t wait to crush something you suck at right now.”

Do you have an extra $20,000 laying around? If you do and you’re looking for a ridiculously, awesome camera check out the Mamiya DM33. It has a 33 megapixel sensor which equates to insane quality. Wait. Wondering why I’m geeking out about a camera that costs more than some cars? Check out the commercial below, it features IFBB Bikini Pro Tabitha Klausen (now Leandri). Props Tabitha!

I like the approach Nike is taking with this ad. They’re calling out the people who think a shoe is the “quick fix” to getting fit. Reebok’s advertising has made claims that you’ll get a tighter booty wearing their EasyTone shoes. Nike takes a different path in this ad saying, “The Nike Trainer One is not a magical toning shoe. It’s a training shoe. Its DiamondFLX technology activates your muscle to work how they’re supposed to, giving your faster results from all those squats, lunges and classes that you do. So you get fit faster.”

New Nike ad from CNBC.com

Nike is great at marketing and has been for years. There is an interesting article about the new toning shoe market on CNBC.com. It talks about the explosion of this new market targeting women and how Nike has avoided it. Check it out, it’s worth the read.

Check out the new T-Mobile commercial that features a female bodybuilder’s image. I could be wrong but it looks like the woman is Nikki Fuller. The commercial is pretty lame if you ask me.

Check out this monster steak billboard for Bloom grocery stores. The billboard not only looks mouth watering (probably not to those of you who are anti-meat people) but also smells like a juicy steak. The North Carolina billboard is getting all kinds of buzz not from how it looks but how it smells. The billboard emits a scent of charcoal and black pepper every day to promote the store’s new line of beef. It’s a creative idea that is catching more than Carolina driver’s attention. Brilliant.

The folks at Gizmodo.com aren’t fans.

Can you spot whose booty is featured as part of this new EAS Myoplex ad?

The rest of the ad reads: Your Glutes…Work ‘Em Out and Show ‘Em Off.

If you’ve got a booty like this I say HELL to the YA. Show it off!

I LOVE the work Oakley is doing with their new women’s campaign. “Perform Beautifully” is an example of how a company can empower women in a tasteful and classy manner.  The photography, video and more importantly the message is great. Karena Dawn says it best in her video, “any woman can perform beautifully”. If only the supplement industry would take note on this approach.

Karena Dawn featured in new Oakley women campaign.

Check out the videos on oakleyshopping.com. Two thumbs up for Oakley Women!

The commercial says it’s ridiculously simple but I’d say it’s simply ridiculous. Terrible message. Two thumbs down for crappy weigh-loss marketing.

Thanks to Kayde Puckett for the link.

Dog owners take note… You’re making life hard for your dog if you let him become a chubster. Check out this amusing ad for a diet dog food product.

Ad via adland.tv

Do your pooch a favor and don’t let him get fat or he’ll never get any action.

If you’ve thumbed through any of the muscle magazines lately you’ve likely seen this ad. The Nutrex ad features Larissa Reis for VITRIX, “America’s #1 Selling Liquid Sex Pill”.

THE AD COPY:

America’s #1 Selling Liquid Sex Pill
With a partner like VITRIX on your side, more happy endings are inevitable! Why is this super-charged sex drive formula so popular? Because it works…FAST! VITRIX utilizes fast-absorbing liquid capsules to give you maximum results every time you need it.

Make it a ménage á trois with VITRiX!

On Bodybuilding.com the question is asked…

How do I take Vitrix to see optimum results?
Since Vitrix is so effective and thanks to its superior liquid delivery system, this unique formula only needs to be taken once a day. On training days we recommend to take 6 Liqui-caps one hour before working out. On non-training days all 6 Liqui-caps can be consumed at one time with a meal or in between meals at anytime during the day. It’s that simple. However, if you prefer to split up your dosage, you should take 3 Liqui-caps in the morning and 3 Liqui-caps in the afternoon.

Call me crazy but why would I want to take this before working out when it’s being marketed as a something that will give me “more happy endings” and a “super-charged sex drive formula”?

MY OPINION:
The ad isn’t targeting women, that’s a given. I’m far from a prude but whatever happened to leaving something to the imagination? Using played out clichés is a lame and uncreative approach to advertising. The image isn’t flattering and it’s poorly photo shopped. The only thing that could make this ad tackier would be photoshopping the bottle of VITRIX between her spread eagle pose. Larissa is an attractive, exotic woman but there are more creative ways to showcase her and still  market the “super-charged sex drive formula”.

THE OPPOSITION:
Some people will say lighten up. A tweet by one individual from the company said, “most people like it including the Mag editors. Some few don’t like it and that’s ok because again you can’t please everyone.” I agree, you can’t please everyone but when did that become an excuse to do tacky advertising? Others will take the stance that if you’re talking about it, then it’s working. I don’t buy into that train of thought. There are plenty of things being talked about that don’t equate to building brand trust or customer loyalty.

A few tweets related to the mention of this ad…
- Sex/supp add.. I saw that,Super Tacky! I read your mention about keeping it classy & then she posted the pic here on twitter!
- I’ve seen that. Was looking at a mag w it w my Mom. She was like, “what mag IS this???”
- I saw it yest…totally too much. There’s actually a couple others that are almost as bad.
- Saw that ad… No bueno! Makes me not want to use ANY of their products… So tacky!

What do you think of the ad? Do you hate it or see no problem with it? Post your comments below or send your thoughts on twitter to Hardbodynews.

Banner ads have been around for years but this is without question one of the most creative approaches I’ve seen. It’s an ad for Gold’s Gym and well take a look…

If you’re on a MAC (sorry PC users) you can see the banner in action here.
Via Ads of the World.

This ridiculous commercial guarantees you’ll have great legs in just three minutes. WHAT? YES, it’s a “three minute miracle”! Oh and let’s not forget if you use this you will get “firm lifted buns” too! This $200 piece of crap cracks me up. Sorry, my bad if you order right away it only costs $149.95.

The things people think up…

Cracking eggs is pretty simply, right? Apparently not for some people and that’s why there’s EZ Cracker. Oh brother…

My background is in advertising, marketing and design so I naturally pay attention to ads as much as I do content. I received the newest Planet Muscle magazine in the mail today and as I was thumbing through it I saw some of the tackiest supplement ads I’ve ever seen. Yes, I know the target audience isn’t women but it is women being shown in the ads. I buy into the notion that sex sells but when did sleazy take over for sexy?

One ad shows a woman pouring a white substance over herself and it says “MEGA LOADS!” and “MAX HARD”. Come on, really?

Another ad has a top figure competitor spread eagle pimping a sex pill. Classy. Not so much.

I know there are a number of industry people who read this blog, if you’re someone in charge of your marketing and advertising… don’t go the cheap and easy route. Try and be a little more creative and utilize women in a sexy but not sleazy way. Women, appearing in tacky ads might get you a couple hundred bucks for appearing in it but is it worth it? That’s your call but I’d encourage you to think twice before you do.

Rant over. PEACE!

This is a different approach to advertising a protein product. This ad is part of a new campaign targeting athletes and every day consumers. The product is an organic protein called EcoProtein. Since I can’t read a word of what their web site (ecoprotein.com) says, I’ll take their word for it. The ad illustrates the organic connection by showing the roots to the runner.

Will it be effective? Who knows but it certainly cuts through the clutter.

via adsoftheworld.com

This commercial with dancer Sofia Boutella is a few years old but it’s pretty sweet and a number of the moves performed remind me of an IFBB Pro Fitness routine. Check it out. I dig.

You might recognize fitness model Lindsay Messina from a variety of places. She’s notched a few covers under her belt with the first being this Muscle & Fitness Hers issue.

Now the stunning cover girl is rock’n it in a new commercial for KNOCKOUT ABS®.

If I tried this thing it would probably whack me in the face.

I ran across this little nugget this morning.

A study from Arizona State University, University of Cologne in Germany and Erasmus University in the Netherlands found that campaigns utilizing real sized women, which includes ‘plus-sized’ models, “are unlikely to work on their intended customers”.

“We found that overweight consumers demonstrated lower self-esteem — and therefore probably less enthusiasm about buying products — after exposure to any size models in ads (versus ads with no models). Also, normal-weight consumers experienced lower self-esteem after exposure to moderately heavy models, such as those in Dove soap’s ‘Real Women’ campaign, than after exposure to moderately thin models.”

An interesting finding that came from the study was that the size of the reader relative to the size of the model is a factor in self-esteem.

- via agencyspy

This story supports the need for more Hardbody women in ads.

Ads outside of the United States are always a little more over-the-top but this one pushes even those lines. This ad shows a woman working out on a spin bike in a very erotic fashion. What’s the spot for? VULVA Original.

The web site (smellmeand.com) says, “VULVA Original is not a perfume. It’s a vaginal scent which is purely a substance for your own sensual pleasure. The vaginal scent stimulates and complements erotic fantasies”.

Um ya chalk this one up to the WTF Category.

Most of you have a Myspace, Facebook or some other social networking account. This commercial by Samsung is an amusing spin on the profile photo and how to proper shoot the look you’re trying to capture. Pop the collar and show off the assets.

Reebook Germany gets into the mix. These booties do not get the hardbody seal of approval. Sorry. They are smaller than the average booty I’m sure but they’ve got a ways to go before they’re hardbody.

IFBB Figure Pro Meriza DeGuzman is having a busy but productive start to her new year. She tells me she’ll be co-emceeing the NPC San Diego Championships on March 20th and has been training a number of amateur NPC competitors recently. She’ll be plenty busy planning her wedding in the coming months as well. Meriza and boyfriend Pete will exchange wedding vows on December 11, 2010 in San Diego. Those of you attending the Arnold can stop by the MANSPORTS booth and meet Meriza.The company has re-signed Meriza for another year of sponsorship and will be launching a new product for women called “Figure Fuel”.

Apparently using “strong” and “sexy” in women’s ads is a growing trend in the supplement biz.  This ad’s headline reads, “STRONG IS SEXY” while the MusclePharm ad recently launched reads, “Strong is the new Sexy”.  I’ll be curious to see how Figure Fuel does on the market as you wouldn’t expect a company named “MAN Sports” to put out a female product.