Hugo Boss Street Fights

I really hope I see this while I am walking around Toronto. Something tells me it will cause everyone around it to feel awkward. I pity the poor actors.

Hugo Boss will soon raise the curtain on a marketing effort in support of its new XX fragrance for men and XY fragrance for women.

At the centre of the campaign is a street marketing initiative in which actors hired to play couples will appear on downtown streets and at selected Bay stores in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal on Nov. 3 and 4.

The “couples” will break out in heated arguments in these locations, debating which of the two fragrances is sexier. The actors will also involve consumers in the arguments by asking passersby to give opinions on the relative sexiness of the two scents.
The campaign also includes a partnership with dating website Lavalife. A 20-second video spot advertising XX and XY will run on the website, and the products will also be featured in Lavalife’s first-ever holiday gift guide. The campaign was developed by Toronto agency Compound.

Elisha Wagman, creative director for Compound, describes the street-level initiative as an experiment in getting the attention of consumers 30 to 40.
“We’re bombarded with media messages, so what we wanted to do was bring in the human element and reach this target audience face-to-face,” says Wagman. “You don’t have as much control as you would with a typical campaign. But we were quite confident that we would be able to reach the audience in a way that made a difference in the marketplace.

About two months ago The Bay, a retail store in Canada staged protests outside of there stores where women chanted "Don't blame us for being fabulous", "We have a right to feel beautiful" and many other lines. As I stood at the corner at 8:00 am everyone face was saying "What the hell is going on". It was extremely awkward and as one women tried to get by them on the sidewalk she retorted "Get a job".

Good luck Hugo.

Found on Marketing Magazine Daily