Upfront marketing

Under wired for sound

“What’s that noise, here come the Vassarettes/c’mon boys the girls you can’t forget”.

In 1994 Eva Herzigová stared down from a billboard causing alleged multiple car pile ups with her cleavage, under the now iconic Wonderbra tag line “Hello Boys”. Now, 15 years later, The Vassarette underwear brand (part of Vanity Fair) is taking that same concept and giving it a musical spin.

Let us introduce the Vassarettes, four girls that have been brought together via an American Idol style contest to ‘front’ a new underwear campaign. The premise of which sees the newly formed group perfroming topless (note: but not bra less) as a central part of their act. According to Myxer which is offering Vassarettes mobile content, the girls are “all about playing music that not only rocks, but empowers. With their infectious melodies and undeniable energy, they take over the stage with nothing to hide”.

“I love getting up on that stage in my bra and proving to the world that women are amazing and unstoppable,” says Emily. the groups singer and lead guitarist . Bandmate Alexa (drums) echoes this saying ” I’d never associated bras with fun”. Erin, who sports a neat bra and Keytar combo, asks: “C’mon, who doesn’t like to rock out in their underwear?”

Marie Claire magazine held a ‘one-night-only’ performance by The Vassarettes, whom they referred to as “one of the hottest new bands out of L.A.” back on the 20th November 2008. The group premiered their (slightly Coke aping) song ‘Are You Ready for the Real Thing?’ at the event. Actually, to drum it home they played it Twice. – in their bras. Obviously.

Now we at BBF are all for brands creating bands and getting in at ground level with artist development. However this feels a little too staged. It’s clearly a meld of both rock girl bands such as The Donnas with barely-dressed pop acts such as The Pussycat Dolls. The main issue is that whereas The Pussycat Dolls dress as they do as part of their act, with an edge of female empowerment (i.e. they dress that way out of choice), The Vassarettes seem far more voyeuristic – as if you are looking at a normal rock girl band through X-Ray specs. It doesn’t feel natural, and therefore somewhat loses its credibility. The voyeuristic nature of the campaign is echoed again on the website which offers the option of nosing around the girls bra strewn dressing room in order to find out more about each item. The accompanying website also offers up bios and video profiles/diaries from each of the girls, links through to Flicker photos and a dedicated YouTube site.

The Pussycat Dolls who launched their own lingerie range for high-street store La Senza last year, know a thing or two about the heady mix of female empowerment and a good bra. The line “When I Grow Up I Wanna Have Groupies” in the Pussycat Dolls song ‘When I Grow Up’ is often misquoted as being “When I Grow Up I Wanna Have Boobies” – which would make a good tag line for their increasingly tween audience. (Actually, maybe not). That aside The Dolls have managed to take Madonna’s conical bra from the 90’s to its natural branded conclusion – a line of mid range underwear styled around their stage look. Unlike most fashion brand alignments or pop star designers The Dolls underwear range at least has a direct correlation to the artists’ ethos, and offers consumers a sample of the band’s stage persona in the comfort of the own home (and body).

The Vassarette brand is clearly attempting to sex up its image, as proven by last year’s print ads, and this will certainly garner some media attention. However the longevity of the campaign is still uncertain. Will the band tour? Will they release an actual single? Basically, where does it go from here? The Vassarettes will apparently make their TV debut on 19th April on Style Network’s ‘Running in Heels’ so maybe there is more on the cards than the one song. In its favour The Vassarettes campaign does aim for a much more down to earth feel than say Victoria’s Secret’s model strewn catwalk shows or Agent Provocateur’s high end sleaze. It also nods to other female empowerment campaigns such as Dove’s ‘natural beauty’ campaign. However somewhere along the way it loses its aspirational edge somewhat. Yes girls would love to have the rock lifestyle – but maybe not at the expense of perminantely losing their upper clothing.

The main issue with this campaign is that it, much like the members of the band, just doesn’t have enough layers.