Turning Lemons into Lemonade

When life throws you lemons, the clever person might make lemonade, but for the adroit advertising mind, that challenge becomes a canvas for creativity.

The slang term "lemons" for undesirable products has long haunted marketing campaigns. Flops like the Ford Edsel, a car launched with fanfare in 1957 only to face consumer backlash for its design and price, stand as cautionary tales.

But a dash of intuition, a sprinkle of wit, and a generous dollop of passion are the secret ingredients of great advertising, and the results can be as refreshing as a perfectly balanced glass of homemade lemonade.

Take the iconic "Don't be a lemon, use the Yellow Pages" campaign from the 1970s. This Kiwi gem combined catchy animation with the science of consumer search habits. By associating being "a lemon" with missing out on finding what you need, it effectively promoted the Yellow Pages as the go-to directory for businesses, using both humour and practicality.

Or what about L&P's legendary "Lemon and Paeroa" campaigns? These long-running New Zealand ads used the contrasting personalities of L&P's bubbly citrus and Paeroa's sweet water to tell humorous stories through comics and radio jingles. Understanding regional preferences and leveraging local humour, they created a brand that became “world famous in New Zealand.”

Also ‘world famous’ is the Tip Top ice cream brand which with the help of Colenso turned the humble sweet treat into marketing gold with the 1962 "Tui Takes a Break" campaign, featuring a cartoon character named Tui, a blue and yellow bird. Using the slogan "Tip Top - the best ice cream in the world" the campaign positioned Tip Top as a fun and refreshing taste of summer.

The campaign featured humorous and catchy jingles, sung by Tui, who would take a break from his various activities, such as fishing, skiing, or surfing, to enjoy a Tip Top ice cream. Some of the most famous ads in the campaign were "Tui Goes Fishing", "Tui Goes Skiing", and "Tui Goes Surfing".

The 20th century was a golden age for advertising, and true magic arose when art and science intertwined. Long before social media and digital advertising took over the industry, critical and commercial success was built on the iconic teachings of David Ogilvy, William Bernbach, and Leo Burnett.

Ogilvy’s "The Man in the Hathaway Shirt" 1950s campaign featuring an eye patch-wearing man with an air of sophistication and intrigue, perfectly embodying the brand's image of timeless style and quality, relied on minimal copy, letting the image and the man's enigmatic persona do the talking, creating an enduring brand legacy.

It was Ogilvy who famously said, "Sell the sizzle, not the steak," in a 1960s Schweppes Tonic Water campaign that exemplified that philosophy perfectly. The ads focused on the refreshing experience of drinking Schweppes, showcasing vibrant visuals of bubbles against a blue background, and emphasising the drink's ability to revitalise and quench thirst.

His 1950s Dove "Soap for Beautiful Skin" campaign marked a shift in how beauty products were advertised, focusing on real women and their skin needs rather than idealised models. An attitude taken up decades later with Dove’s “Real Women” marketing campaign launched by Unilever in 2004.

William Bernbach was the man behind the Volkswagen "Think Small" campaign and the iconic Marlboro Man image. Bernbach revolutionised advertising with his focus on emotional connection and storytelling. His witty, character-driven campaigns challenged conventions and made him a legend in the industry.

The "Think Small" campaign was a series of ads launched by Volkswagen in 1959, aimed at promoting the Volkswagen Beetle, a small, slow, and unconventional car in the American market. The challenge of overcoming the negative associations of the car's German origin, Nazi history, and lack of glamour was a true case of ‘turning lemons into lemonade’.

The campaign used honesty, humour, and simplicity to highlight the car's unique features and benefits, such as its fuel efficiency, durability, and low price. It featured minimalist and eye-catching designs, with a small image of the car on a white background, accompanied by witty and provocative headlines and copy.

Some of the most famous ads in the campaign were "Think Small", "Ugly is only skin-deep", and yes, once again, "Lemon". Created by the legendary advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB), the ad simply featured a bright yellow lemon next to a black and white Beetle, with the headline "Lemon." That's it. No fancy graphics, no long paragraphs of text, just one word.

The brilliance of the ad was its self-deprecating humour. By calling the Beetle a "lemon," (harking back to the Edsel story) DDB acknowledged its perceived flaws head-on. This disarmed potential critics and created a sense of honesty and transparency.

Bernbach’s other major success ended up with the ‘lemonade’ turning to custard. The Marlboro Man campaigns from 1954 to 1999, featured rugged and masculine men, often depicted as cowboys, in various outdoor settings. However, criticism and controversy dogged the brand as several of the actors who portrayed the Marlboro Man died of smoking-related diseases, and some of them became anti-smoking advocates.

When Steve Jobs was fired from Apple in 1985, the apple looked in danger of turning into a lemon. But on his return to the company in 1997, the "Think Different" series of ads repositioned the company as an innovative and creative force in the computer industry.

The campaign featured black and white portraits of iconic figures from various fields, such as Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, and Amelia Earhart, along with the slogan "Think Different" in Apple's signature font.

The campaign was a huge success, both critically and commercially. It won several awards, including the 1998 Emmy for Best Commercial and the 2000 Grand Effie Award for the most effective campaign in America. A true case of reviving a rotting apple.

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade", Beyoncé's grandmother used to say, inspiring the hit album “Lemonade”. Today’s advertisers face similar challenges every day, often being briefed on the seemingly impossible task of turning what looks like a lemon into a marketing success.

Take inspiration from the TBWA adman who created Lemon Skittles TV commercial that was aired in 2008, featuring a man who has a rare condition that makes him produce Skittles instead of sweat. The ad shows him working out at a gym, where his lemon Skittles attract the attention of a woman who tries to lick them off his body. The ad ends with the slogan "Taste the rainbow". The absurd and humorous scenarios not only showcase the different flavours of Skittles they capture the mood of the 21^st century.