The new Diesel ad campaign has swapped the obvious sexual connotations of previous seasons to focus on something more serious: the effects of global warming.
Shot once again by Terry Richardson, the images are unsurprisingly highly stylised and glamorous, but in an unusual twist the emphasis in the pictures is clearly placed on the location rather than the products. Scenes show life in a world that has been completely altered by global warming, with rising sea levels and increased temperatures. Obvious landmarks including the New York skyline, Mount Rushmore and the City of London are shown almost completely submerged in water, whilst the Great Wall of China is buried in sand, the pigeons of St Marks Square in Venice have been replaced by parrots, and palm trees and lizards surround the Eiffel Tower.
All of these can currently be seen on the Diesel website, which the company have branded ‘global warming ready’. Running alongside this ad campaign, Diesel are promoting the work of stopglobalwarming.org, as well as their own list of things you can do to atone without changing your glamorous lifestyle! All produced with the company’s trademark cheekiness, the site is a clever way of highlighting a serious issue in a digestable format.
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wow, 4th pic is amazing, i liked, diesel 2007 collection is beautifoul
January 26th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Dear Amanda,
i have seen one of the print ads you’re praising in this post today in a German magazine.
I cannot share your wonder about how stylised the photographer has captured DIESELs latest campaign.
Personally and professionally I would rate this campaign as a total failure both in creative and social means.
I will tell you why:
1. The ads show a scenario where hedonistic people preserve a luxurious lifestyle, totally untouched by the climate changes that have obviously taken place.
We see healthy, trained rich young people in the foreground while the background appears to be chosen totally random.
2. There is no ironic or sarcastic quality in the campaign.
Even though DIESEL tries to bridge towards the ECO movement on the webpage the imagery is misleading. The images do not shock. The ends do not meet.
The ads’ clear message is: DIESEL does not care about Global Warming. DIESEL is only interested in preserving a certain lifestyle by any means. People who wear DIESEL don’t care about Global Warming. They even drive Hummers!
The campaign could have worked if DIESEL had chosen to roll out a campaign depicting a REAL worst case scenario without showing any kind of fashion photography or products.
3. The site is NOT a “clever way of highlighting a serious issue in a digestable format.”
As stated in 1. and 2. I cannot see why this campaign should deserve being rated “clever”.
The campaign is superficial, ignorant and distasteful. What is the creative idea behind this campaign? I cannot really see it. Is it “It doesn’t matter if the world goes down as long as you have a DIESEL Watch?”
And yes, Global Warming is a serious issue. Everyone should know that by now. And it deserves an honest and respectful approach, doesn’t it?
April 13th, 2007 at 4:36 pm