Does space really wash whiter?

What do the lotto, biscuits, tyres, an energy drink have in common? They have recently used the space theme in advertisements. So does space really wash whiter or to be more precise is it a good way of promoting the merits of products that claim to do so?

 

The astronaut Dale Gardner brandished a For Sale notice during the STS-51A shuttle flight in 1984. He was alluding to the two satellites retrieved during this mission. However, space can also be used to sell other things than satellites... Credit: NASA

They’ve been popping up all over the place for the past few years. So what’s going on? All these advertising campaigns boasting the merits of space-themed products and the dream factor that it conveys. Rule number one when making claims about a product is that to sell well you first of all need to make people dream.

A winning bet
At the end of 2002, the car manufacturer Renault launched the Mégane II, second opus of the strategic model in its range. The advertising campaign therefore needed to be up to the anticipated market share, i.e. imposing. In 2003, the omnipresent commercial on television screens across France and the rest of Europe showed a Mégane II driving on... the moon! In 30 seconds, the promotional clip – in true text book style – exploited astronaut themes which resonated the most with the general public.
Firstly the Moon is an obvious reference to what is considered to be one of the greatest events in the History of Mankind, namely the Apollo missions. Anchored in the common psyche, it is an allusion that has the benefit of being understood by the viewer (and potential purchaser..) in a fraction of a second if the visual is deftly done. For the manufacturer it ensures that its car is immediately associated with values such as technological achievement, adventure or the possibility of opening up new frontiers. Space is therefore a winning bet when it comes to promoting products, even the most strategic. At the end of the commercial (see video below) the driver gets out of the vehicle and heads towards a house where his inevitable feminine counterpart is waiting to greet him (visibly a masculine clientele is being addressed), rushing into his arms. Once again, those creative folks cleverly used the knowledge that people have of Apollo. Explaining beforehand that there is weightlessness on the moon and that there is a Mégane II driving on it thereby quickly demonstrating its road holding capability would have been pedantic to say the least. Luckily, prior explanations are not required as « everyone » (let’s say an enormous percentage of the marketing target) can remember the astronauts jumping up and down on the moon. The driver jumping at the end of the advert suffices in itself. Final coup de grace, the moon house which evokes the futuristic ideas of post-Apollo hopes (when moon base projects were on the drawing boards) and anchors the vehicle in an enhanced avant garde theme (it is not just the car for today, but also for tomorrow).

In 2003, Renault promoted the qualities of its Mégane II by having it drive on the moon, thus associating it with the dream imaginary of space exploration.

Truly a novelty?
This commercial is obviously not the only example of recent advertising in which space is used to sell. In 2003, it was featured in one of the most visible campaigns of the genre as car manufacturers are amongst the biggest advertisers. And in advertising, good ideas never go to waste: the astronaut theme was very quickly exploited. For example, national lottery La Française des Jeux showed a winner on board a space station being asked by the Russian team not to touch a large number of buttons. Once again, we see the use of an obvious historic reference, even in a quasi-caricatured version of space: a station is necessarily Russian (heritage of Mir) and the chap mustn’t touch anything!
More recently, a space-themed commercial for galettes St Michel biscuits showed how the use of space has evolved over time. The moon features once again but is now evoked in a more remote, nightmarish fashion as the galettes-astronauts are now exploring a mysterious planet and are faced with a strange alien. However the phrase «One small step for the galette» establishes an obvious link with Apollo 11.

Even a «traditional» product such as the galette St Michel biscuit can exploit the space theme (in the case in question via a reference to Apollo). Credit: DR

It would however be false to believe that it is a recent phenomenon. At the beginning of the 1990s, Buzz Aldrin (the second man to walk on the moon) drove a Citroën BX in a television commercial. And once again we can trawl back through the advertising archives and continue to find numerous examples, in particular at the height of the space race when the United States and the USSR increased their efforts to become the first on our natural satellite. This even meant that we saw astronauts selling the merits of a cold medicine!

Buzz Aldrin who walked on the moon during the historic Apollo 11 mission has taken part in numerous advertising campaigns, a sign that space is a winning bet for products as varied as watches, radios, cars, hearing aids, video games, etc. His official website explains this approach on this page. Credit: DR

In a more classic approach, manufacturers reminded the general public about their involvement in the NASA programmes by inserting magazine advertisements. A habit that outlasted Apollo. In the 1980s Hewlett-Packard thus affirmed that its HP-41 scientific calculator « can help the space shuttle land » (it had been on board for the crew to use). A few months ago, tyre manufacturer Goodyear stressed its involvement as manufacturer of the tyres on the Apollo moon buggy... Conveniently forgetting to mention that that the « tyres » on NASA’s LRV’s (Lunar Rover Vehicle) consisted of a clever metal mesh and bore very little relation to the tyres on vehicles nowadays.

The arrival of the American space shuttle marked a return of astronaut-themed advertising which usually exploited a direct link between the product and space like the HP-41 calculator. Credit: DR

When it goes a bit wrong!
Getting it slightly wrong is understandable since the purpose of such advertising is not to promote space itself but rather to use the latter to sell a product. A subtle difference. But sometimes the inherent simplification in advertising messages results in unexpected consequences which could affect the reputation of a space agency! Thus at the height of the space race the firm Fisher advertised the fact that its Space Pen was used by NASA astronauts as its pressurised ink cartridge meant that it was possible to write in weightless conditions. As a result many people believed that the American agency had paid Fisher 1 million dollars to develop this costly « gadget » while the far cleverer Soviets simply used a pencil. In reality, the company Fisher had single-handedly invested a large amount of money in research and development to design its pressurised cartridge and sell a pen capable of working in all positions. Very cleverly, Paul Fisher (inventor of the Space Pen) attracted NASA’s attention to his product and the latter subsequently used it on its space flights after a series of tests. However the agency never actually paid for the pen to be developed.

In using the space theme, advertising is fearless in exploiting the most dubious of myths such as those claiming that the Apollo missions were actually filmed in a studio. An amazing approach for a product with the gravitas of treasury bonds. Credit: DR

Very recently, still in terms of offbeat humour, certain advertising campaigns have featured a humorous or Mickey-taking approach. However on a more disturbing note Belgium promoted the serious nature of its treasury bonds with the slogan “You might doubt the first steps on the Moon… but never the security of state bonds” ! It made a direct reference to the urban myth that the Apollo missions never happened but were actually filmed in a studio. This hoax has seen a slight gain in popularity due to the geo-political climate of the last few years which has fostered anti-Americanism. A sense of humour? Let’s hope so. But was it in the best of taste for treasury bonds, moreover from Belgium which has participated in such a remarkable (and noted) way to the European space programmes? And, recently, the energy drink Red Bull showed astronauts on the Moon (obvious Apollo reference) unable to make their first steps properly as their beverage gave them wings, ending with Houston saying « we’ll film the whole sequence back in the studio » (see the video below). Not in the best possible taste maybe but we will see that the creative folks have been more careful in this instance (or crafty?) as, in the final analysis, the reality of the lunar mission has not been called into question.

Even with a humoristic take Apollo 11 remains the mother of all space references which can be appreciated by all.

Trend or flash in the pan?
As the advertising sector is permanently on the look-out for trends to design effective sales messages which tap into "the zeitgeist" it is not surprising to see space regularly on the rise as fashions change. With respect to the recent crop of space advertising, it is also due to a double generational influence. Those that knew Apollo in their childhood are today’s consumers or decision-makers who now give cast verdict on the marketing campaigns.
The space news of recent years, whether alas for tragic reasons (Columbia accident) or more happily its successes (landing of the Huygens probe on Titan, rovers on Mars, Chinese manned space flights, etc.), perhaps also explains this wave. Finally, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian space programme, lacking in resources paved the way for new initiatives which last to this day. The first space tourists (at 25 million dollars for a week in space) that went up in the Russian agency’s Soyuz vessels inspired the sub-orbital flight projects (10 to 20 times less expensive) scheduled for 2010 which have already been used as prizes for lotteries associated with IT companies (Oracle) or chocolate bars (Nestlé). For the time being, the winners only have the promise of a place on board a craft which has yet to be built and tested! In November 2006 we also saw a cosmonaut drive a golf ball from the International Space Station to promote the Canadian golf club brand E21. The gesture was not the first of its kind however. During Apollo 14 in 1971 commander Alan Shepard hit a ball playing a historic shot with a 6 iron on the Moon. However, the American never mentioned the brand of equipment used at the time. 35 years later Mikhail Tyurin performed a swing as part of a contract signed between the club manufacturer and the Russian space agency. Sign of the times...
In coming years relations between space and advertising will surely depend on the general public’s interest in future missions. No doubt, the return of the astronauts on the Moon between now and 2020 should logically see a rise in space-themed commercials.

22 November 2006. During a spacewalk outside the International Space Station the cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin plays golf as part of a contract to promote a club manufacturer.

Published on 2 June 2009