Nobody likes a tryhard, yet so many brands are trying to be edgy lately. I’m not offput by crude humor in the slightest, but I can’t help but feel like brands are desperately grasping more and more for attention via punchy names and claims.
Isn’t it a little tired? Isn’t it enough to have a great product and solid marketing?
Brands
NARS Orgasm has been out for ages and the name makes sense for the color they are suggesting it is inspired by. It doesn’t strike me as tawdry even if the average shopper would feel unnerved asking for it by name in Sephora.
Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara isn’t a particularly nice formula – but oh man, such an edgy name! There are plenty of other products out there that are trying a bit too hard. Some are good, some are clearly banking on their shady name to make sales.
Trying to be Edgy
Oh, marketing. Urban Decay has a history of products with shady names. Okay, it’s one thing to name a color something off-beat. They’ve teased their new Troublemaker mascara which is, allegedly, “sex proof.”
Okay Urban Decay; I know that Wende founded the brand with the aim of going against the grain. With an effortless edginess in mind. But in their tagline, “Beauty with an Edge.” But isn’t marketing, “sex-proof,” mascara trying to be edgy a little (a lot) harder than is necessary?
Urban Decay themselves state on the product site:
Troublemaker holds up in hot and heavy situations and still looks good in the morning. We tested it ourselves, and it lasted through saunas, snowboarding and sex!
One – all of your consumers would expect you to test products in-house before releasing them. Two, gee UD, bet all of those were very stringent tests.
Why would you leave makeup on in a sauna? Just sayin’.
Reviews
Urban Decay’s site suggests there are five reviews to the product so far. When you click the link, however, it takes you to a blank review section.
Other accounts on the internet from people who got them early are besides themselves (with glee) with how scandalous the claims are, proudly proclaiming that, “it’s totally true!”
Oh good, now we can all sleep at night,
The Bottom Line
I’m not sure when Troublemaker releases but I don’t plan to buy. My criticism for their (and many other brands’) marketing strategy isn’t the main reason why, however. In general, I’m not keen on splashing out on prestige mascaras but that isn’t helped by trying too hard to be edgy. I will not be trying this unless I come across a sample tube.
Seriously, how much of their clientele was reaching out to them and going, “Hey Urban Decay, your products are really great but there’s just this void in my life and in the market. I really need a mascara that can withstand–“