Frost yourself, then raise your right hand

Jewelry Discussion
1

Dear Orchidians,

The “studio tunes” thread (which I merely followed in bemused
silence, since silence is my preferred studio mode) encouraged me to
send this somewhat anomalous post, regarding a recent film and a new
ad campaign.

I just saw “How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days” (now in video) and a
large part of the plot is about an ad executive’s attempt to land a
major contract with the “De Lauer” company–I believe one of the
relevant lines is “Mr. De Lauer controls most of the world’s
diamonds, and Mrs. De Lauer controls Mr. De Lauer.” I don’t want to
ruin the film for those of you who haven’t seen it yet (yes, it’s a
"chick flick," cleverly written and starring Goldie Hawn’s charming
daughter), but the campaign slogan the exec comes up with is “Frost
Yourself!”

For those of you out in diamond land, I wonder what the legalities
are around using this slogan in e.g. a store display. It might amuse
your customers and, since filmmakers tend to enjoy publicity, a
little acknowledgement of its source might keep them very happy. I
myself am working on a set for an art show–utterly fake (Swarovski,
of course) and overblown–which I hope to call “Frost Yourself!”–or
maybe “Frost Yourself (remix).”

Just after seeing the film, I picked up the new issue of More" (a
magazine familiar only to women of a certain age) and saw a new
"diamonds are forever" ad campaign which is probably the cleverest
co-optation of feminism I have ever come across. “The left hand
rocks the cradle, the right hand rocks the world [etc. etc.]…Women
of the world, raise your right hand!” Lots of pictures of diamond
rings, with the obvious message that a “right hand ring” is one that
a woman who has “made it” buys for herself.

It reminded me of an article in Lapidary Journal, maybe a couple of
years ago, about women buying themselves rings to mark important
milestones (maybe they got the idea for the campaign from that
article…) And, in the currently deflated economy, anything that
encourages the women who still have money to spend it on rings is
good for all of us–a “right had ring” doesn’t have to be loaded with
diamonds.

So then I thought–this magazine is read by those women and the
advertisers know it, or they wouldn’t have paid for a 3-page ad. Most
of the “fashion features” are upscale, but the “serious” articles are
often about women over 40 who have done unusual things. I used to be
a publicist and, if I still had the chops, time, and energy, I would
pitch them an article about women “studio jewelers” over 40. The
readers of More are the kind of women who would love to support other
women’s work, but most of them have probably never even heard of the
ACC shows or read Ornament, so they don’t think of “us” when they
think of jewelry.

Anyone out there have the chops, time, and energy necessary to pitch
this story? Raise your right hand!

Lisa Orlando
Aphrodite’s Ornaments

2 
    "diamonds are forever" ad campaign which is probably the
cleverest co-optation of feminism I have ever come across. "The
left hand rocks the cradle, the right hand rocks the world [etc.
etc.]...Women of the world, raise your right hand!" Lots of
pictures of diamond rings, with the obvious message that a "right
hand ring" is one that a woman who has "made it" buys for herself.

I read of this campaign in the June issue of Stuller’s newsletter,
The Stuller Standard - the Diamond Promotion Service has just this
month launched its ‘Right Hand Ring’ advertising concept. Here’s a
quote from the newsletter:

“She is coming into your store already knowing that she is entitled
to this ring… With the Right Hand Ring, men are not expected to
play a central role. If a man is purchasing a Right Hand Ring, he
probably has instructions from the woman in his life about which one
to purchase…A woman’s right hand expresses who she is and where
she’s going…the 3 Stone Ring…expresses her need to be loved and
fulfilled, the Right Hand Ring expresses her personal contentment
with where she is in her life. …That ring is a bold statement to the
rest of the world about her inner peace with ehrself. She will show
it to everyone when she writes checks, shakes hands, etc…The savvy
jeweler will take the opportunity to go through their records of
previous customers looking for their customers in this category and
preparing some type of mailing to them, keeping in mind that while
the Right Hand Ring may be momentous for all women, the reasons they
want one can be (and this part really gets me) AS VARIED AS THE
FEMALE TEMPERAMENT…The Right Hand Ring promotion will trigger
many women to reward or treat themselves with a purchase of diamond
jewelry for themselves, something that many women find difficult to
do. This is outside of the normal purchasing experience where the
woman researches and the man pays.”

Yikes. I know it’s marketing, I know it’s out there, but it still
hurts!

-Jessica, in sweltering SF

3

Jessica, I consider myself to be something of a feminist (for a
guy,) and my wife is definitely a feminist. I understand your
’cringeing’ at this ad campaign, but as a jeweler selling diamond
jewelry, I hope that it is wildly successful.
David Barzilay, Lord of the Rings