Friday Fun: Bathroom BlogFest 2010 Stuck in the 60's
10/29/2010
Friday Fun is Diva Marketing's virtual happy hour from cosmos to Jack to lemonade. A waiting for the weekend 'playground' time to be sophisticated-silly. Or sometimes just plain silly.
Today's Friday Fun is dedicated to the Bathroom BlogFest 2010.
Now in it's 5th year, the Bathroom BlogFest is a fun way to call attention to the .. The Loo. This year CB Whittemore, Susan Abbott and Stephanie Weaver, the creative minds behind this week of posts, thought it would be fun to spoof the 60's a la Mad Men. By the way, don't you just Love the logo?!
I must admit I'm not really a Mad Men fan; but shhh! please don't tell anyone .. I am a fan of Doris Day. I love those old movies that she filmed in in the 60's. When CB asked me to play along the image that immediately came to mind was the classic bathroom "feet-to-feet touching" scene with Doris Day and Rock Hudson. It turns out that Pillow Talk was released 10-1959 .. but that's almost 1960.
Looking at the image with 21st century eyes it seems wistfully innocent. And it is. Can you imagine the scene with Lady Gaga?
But look a little closer and you'll see the elegance of the composition of the image. The stark, white bathtubs are set against a gray wall for Doris Day and a white tile wall for Rock Hudson. The bubbles in Doris Day's tub along with her blond hair are a perfect foil for Rock Hudson's tanned legs and dark hair. Add to that the understated sexuality (oh! I hope that doesn't attract spam bots) of simply feet-touching-feet against a wall that is really an illusion of reality.
Since Diva Marketing is about marketing and branding in the social web, if we bring it back to that world, the bathroom scene becomes a reminder that sometimes less is actually more. How many flash graphics, splashy (oops sorry!) YouTube videos or grand Facebook tabs do you really need to connect with your customers?
Isn't that what social media is really all about? The ability to reach out and touch .. maybe not feet-to-feet .. but certainly heart-to-heart with your customers? Sometimes I can't but think that the elegance of social media has gotten lost in the rush to add "likes" or friends or followers. The next time you want to include the latest shiny toy to your marketing plan, think for a moment about a powerful image from a 1959 .. almost 1960 .. bathroom scene that stole the show.
Enjoy the other Bathroom Blogfest posts ..
Susan Abbott - Customer Experience Crossroads
Paul Anater - Kitchen and Residential Design
Shannon Bilby - From The Floors Up
Toby Bloomberg - Diva Marketing
Laurence Borel - Blog Till You Drop
Bill Buyok - Avente Tile Talk Blog
Jeanne Byington - The Importance of Earnest Service
Becky Carroll - Customers Rock!
Marianna Chapman - Results Revolution
Katie Clark - Practical Katie
Valerie Fritz - The Awarepoint Blog
Nora DePalma - American Standard’s Professor Toilet
O’Reilly/DePalma: The Blog
Leigh Durst - LivePath Experience Architect Weblog
Iris Garrott - Checking In and Checking Out
Tish Grier - The Constant Observer
Renee LeCroy - Your Fifth Wall
Joseph Michelli - Dr. Joseph Michelli’s Blog
Veronika Miller - Modenus Blog
Arpi Nalbandian - TILE Magazine Editor Blog
Maria Palma - People 2 People Service
Reshm Bachwani Paritosh - The Qualitative Research Blog
David Polinchock - Polinchock’s Ponderings
David Reich -My 2 Cents
Victoria Redshaw & Shelley Pond - Scarlet Opus Trends Blog
Sandy Renshaw - Purple Wren
Bethany Richmond - The Carpet and Rug Institute Blog
Bruce Sanders - RIMtailing
Steve Tokar - Please Be Seated
Carolyn Townes - Becoming a Woman of Purpose
Stephanie Weaver - Experienceology
Christine B. Whittemore - Flooring The Consumer
Simple Marketing Blog
Ted & Christine B. Whittemore - Smoke Rise & Kinnelon Blog
Linda Wright - LindaLoo Build Business With Better Bathrooms
