If it can’t be fixed with duct tape…

01 February 2008 in Engineering, Enmore, Human Nature, Marketing by Stilgherrian | 6 comments

Photograph of billboard for Solo soft drink: If it can’t be fixed with duct tape it can’t be fixed

OK, this one is dedicated to my friends in the SCA. They’ll know what I mean. Yes, it’s a billboard advertising a soft drink, but it’s also a deep, deep commentary on The Nature of Engineering.

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Tags: duct tape, sca

6 comments

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Quatrefoil on 02 February 2008 at 9:02 pm

Snigger. It’s a great ad for duct tape. It’s a lousy ad for Solo, though. I’m presuming it rests on the theory that Solo is a drink for real he-men of the neanderthal type. I hate to tell them, but I don’t think that kind of man drinks much soft drink of any variety.

Reply
jay on 02 February 2008 at 11:14 pm

Where I live they drink xxxx gold. Mid strength beer that I, a Melbourne and Adelaide expat, would call a soft drink. Know their way around a roll of gaffer tape though!

Reply
Stilgherrian on 03 February 2008 at 8:52 am

@Quatrefoil: Solo has always been marketed as the soft drink for Real Men.

“You’ve gotto work it hard to be a Solo man,” says this truly wonderful 1988 TVC — sorry” television commercial” for you media non-junkies. Love the synth line, love the moustache! Magnificent!

“Light on the fizz so you can slam ‘em down fast,” they tell us again in the 1990s Solo Lemon Lime ad.

I think the realisation that “that kind of man” doesn’t drink much soft drink was precisely the marketing plan: hit a new market segment with a soft drink tailored just for them.

If I cared sufficiently I’d see if I could find some soft drink sales figures for the period. But I don’t.

@jay: Tell me more about what they can do with gaffer tape!

Reply
Quatrefoil on 03 February 2008 at 9:38 pm

Ah! There’s a lot I’ve missed out on by being either TV free or ABC/BBC only for most of my life. I still think it’s a good ad for duct tape though.

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Sweet Sister Morphine on 04 February 2008 at 3:56 pm

As a friend of mine is fond of saying:

Duct tape fixes everything, even relationships.

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Pingback from I love duct tape! « DunCAN’s Blog on 20 February 2008 at 6:16 am

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