We All Walk in Different Shoes Kenneth Cole Advertising Campaign: First Analysis

looking at the ad
I'm soaking up the image, and it’s catchy. It’s a lesbian-themed one, something you don’t come by on a regular basis accompanied with their campaign title ‘We All Walk in Different Shoes’. Okay, so I now know what ‘different’ means to Kenneth Cole. Different equals not good not bad, just not mainstream so maybe that’s how Kenneth Cole views homosexuality? Whatever the case, I didn't get their target audience quickly enough. I needed to read the blurb, ‘GAY MARRIED COUPLE’ first. Which brings me to my next point, this font should have been bigger (-1 pt).Kenneth Cole if you want to aim in at Lesbian, married couples, make it more known because just showing female legs with a small blurb isn't doing it. Or what you could do is leave the anonymous and random legs there and just print ‘GAY MARRIED COUPLE etc' in a bigger font. If not, my newly pregnant cousin is just going to think this is some Pampers ad because of the central focus that's placed on that blue-eyed baby. Which is another point, my eyes go directly to the baby and not say, your ugly shoes or your too-long boring black dresses.

focusing in more
This ad is not super direct -- I need to think. Okay, it’s a product for women, middle-age women, but damn, there’s a baby. Okay, rethink. Kenneth Cole is targeting here middle-aged-lesbian-mothers. Ok, I'm not one of those but I admire that they are focusing on this population. The demographics of middle-aged-lesbian-mothers must be small or so I would think? If that’s the case, Cole took a bit of a financial risk (their product is targeting an audience that is small and not so big which means less profit). Or by extent, Cole here is also focusing on middle aged women, mothers and lesbians in general. So, this definitely opens up their audience market by touching base on all these identities.

kenneth cole and social responsibility
Either way, they take on an incredible social responsibility. There is a ‘social production’ that went into the making of this advertisement, and its clear: this global campaign lays the foundation for a social acceptance of lesbian families. The ad reads with a small but bold description: GAY MARRIED COUPLE, JOANNA AND NICOLETTE TESSLER WITH THEIR DAUGHTER RUTHIE. Folks, we are talking more than black sleek dresses and leather strapped heels here. Why? Because this print advertisement is very much striking an ethical and social implication. Kenneth Cole here demonstrates what is now referred to as ‘caring capitalism’. It’s an example of how marketers today are taking on a social responsibility, they do so by voicing a lifestyle that is often not portrayed in mainstream media.