Bonds’ double-bunger birthday party/ies

Two Bonds’ 100th birthday parties launched this week. In Australia, Bonds 100^th is all about INXS and age diversity. In the UK, the sexy shapely Iggy campaign has launched.

Leo Burnett Melbourne has given Bonds a happy Aussie 100^th, with INXS singing (What You Need), and Aussie of every age from 0.5 to 99 dancing.

It’s less about undies and more about turning 100 (although every Bonds there is, is feautred somewhere)…

…with a 75 year old woman + a 25 year old woman leading the bunches (in this case, a pairing) of people who make 100.

There are also five x 20 year olds, a one year old with a 99 year old, and the most visually spectacular 200 x 0.5 year olds.

The new TVC follows the pattern of all singing, all dancing, all colour Bonds commercials since 2007.

The message, Bonds for every Aussie, is a really nice one.

Leo Burnett has held the Bonds brand and Bonds retail account since 2014.

The message Bonds is sending in the UK is quite different. The UK 100^th campaign also launched this week. A similar (sexy, celebrity) poster campaign ran in Australia from April, and a behind-the-scenes montage was cut to music and put on YouTube then.

Both poster campaigns feature Iggy Azalea. The only real difference is that the UK ads are largely monochrome.

The Australian ads were not.

Azalea commented, “I hope women think, ‘Iggy Azalea actually has a body that is relatable to my body’… and you should feel f*****g good about that.”

‘Iggy is completely original. She’s a style chameleon who’s never afraid to be true to herself, she has enviable body confidence, making her a great role model for all women and the perfect fit for Bonds,’ Group marketing manager of Bonds, Tanya Deans, added.

The campaign has received both good press (sexy, curvy body shape applause) and bad press – most of it a continuation of the complaints about her that grew into a loud roar this year. The Guardian’s feature was titled, Has Bonds killed the Aussie girl next door by endorsing Iggy Azalea? It’s more than 900 words of “hating on” Iggy. Here’s the gist of it:

“Azalea’s claim to be the next official Aussie girl next door is a thin one. She grew up in Mullumbimby but moved to Los Angeles at 16 because she “never liked” the Australian hip-hop and rap scene.

“She is an odd choice for Bonds: she claims she took the gig because “it’s an iconic Australian brand” despite being on record refusing to rap about growing up here.

“And her relationship with her birth country would be the ultimate example of the cultural cringe if she hadn’t gone one step further and simply renounced the entire nation in favour of the US…”