Morbid Marketing: An Opportunity Or A ‘Grim’ Prospect?
Whilst many will say the January return to work ‘feels like death,’ peer-to-peer vacation rental service Plum Guide took the sentiment a little further with its latest advertising campaign.
Bleary-eyed Londoners returning to work on the 3rd of January were met by a stream of grim reapers, donning placards with the words ‘The End Is Nigh’ written on them. Underneath the grim words was the logo for Plum Guide.
The message was clear — life is fleeting so make your next vacation count.
On its Instagram page the peer-to-peer vacation rental service said “Our Plum Guide grim reapers were marching through central London this morning – reminding commuters that life is short and there really is no time for average stays. Check out our Plums via the link in bio.”
“I didn’t think when I joined [Plum] that we’d be discussing people’s relationship with mortality as much as we have,” the company’s chief brand office Ali Lowry told AdWeek.
“Ultimately, we’re on this earth for a short and precious time, which means every holiday is important and really needs to be good.”
As a newer rival to rental giant Airbnb, Plum Guide is no doubt keen to get its name out in the holiday rental market.
But is morbid advertising a clever way to stand out against larger players? Or does talking about death in campaigns remain a ‘grim’ prospect?
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