Oasis: was honesty the best policy?

I first saw this ad on Wednesday.


My initial thought process went like: 'Oooh honest... Mildly amusing... Doesn't make me thirsty...Lazy... Annoying... Who is that even aimed at? Would that sell Oasis?',

I immediately sent it to marketing colleagues and ad friends to get their opinions. 

The general consensus from marketers was, 'Is that funny for the consumer? Who is the consumer? Why would they buy Oasis from that? Seems lazy.'
My ad friends were slightly more accepting; ''Honesty is a refreshing concept...it's got us talking about it so job done in terms of awareness... love it, it's different."
Typical - marketers think consumer first, advertisers think attention-grabbing first.

My main bugbear with this ad is the visual. You're trying to trigger thirst for consumers, so why would you go for a cartoon image over something like this?





Regardless of whether you would drink any of the above, you'd have to admit that showing the refreshing ice cold liquid in a condensed glass will trigger your thirst a hell of a lot more than a cartoon blob. And, even though Oasis make a joke out of it, they do ultimately have to sell the product, so they could've made it work harder for them.
RTD's (ready to drink) sales soar in the summer time, so why not make the product look as incredibly tempting as possible?

In an attempt to not be biased, I decided to ask some non-marketers and non-advertisers their opinion.
"It's okay, I wouldn't buy it. I don't drink that type of drink anyway, but it doesn't entice me - I'm not worried about their sales targets!" - f, 56
"Pretty funny and to the point, but I'm not one to buy due to an advert - more just trial and error to see what I like" - m, 29

When reading up about the campaign I found out that Oasis are trying to target teenagers, the new "centennials", "generation Z". They created this laid back, give-a-fuck, attitude to connect to this target group "because they want brands to be transparent, honest and communicate their values.".... I'm sorry, but Oasis' values aren't really coming through here. And they are forgetting that that generation are pelted with "cool ads" every day. They are savvy to it and they know your game. And they will be the quickest to jump on your brand with crushing criticism unless you can offer them something newer, faster, funnier, fresher, or that's beneficial to their lives.

To end, I thought maybe it would be best to ask someone who the ad is actually aimed at. 
Here is a quick convo I had with my 18 year old cousin - Oasis' target consumer.



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