ADS OF THE DAY: Diesel

By 2010, fashion brand Diesel was having a tough time.

They once led the fashion industry behind their bold and provocative strapline, Only The Brave.

But the brand had become predictable and irrelevant and was losing market share. Their whole image seemed faded and tired.

US agency Anomaly was invited to pitch for the business. Diesel had just one question for them: how would the agency reinvigorate the brand?

Anomaly won the business and started working with Diesel. After three months of brainstorming led by Anomaly’s creative director, Mike Byrne, a striking new approach was born.

BE STUPID

‘Be Stupid’ was a fresh, disruptive campaign that basically said don’t be smart, be stupid.

Why?

Because smartness is cautious, methodical and restrictive. Stupid is taking risks and being creative and fearless. One of the campaign's straplines, ‘Smart wants what stupid gets’ perfectly captures this thought.

The copywriting and the whole campaign recaptured the spirit of Diesel, harking back to the old strapline Only The Brave and reminding everyone that being brave means doing the unexpected.

FOLLOW THE MANIFESTO

The team also pulled together a manifesto which celebrated this move towards impulsiveness and away from caution.

Stupid is a way of life. It’s how we, Diesel, think you should live. The world would be a much better place if we were all listening to our hearts instead of our heads. ‘Be Stupid’ is not an advertising campaign, it's a movement. And these print ads represent many of the philosophies of being stupid.

It was powerful work with quirky, original, eyecatching imagery, slick photography and ballsy typography.

It was so good it won the D&AD Wood Pencil for Press Advertising in the Press Advertising Campaigns category in 2011.