Who Wants to be an Angry Bride?

One of the things I do in my real life is to advise wedding professionals on their branding and marketing. Some of my clients are gown manufacturers. Consequently I am always reviewing ads and I read a lot of marketing blogs. Today I ran across a post on Holly Buchanan’s blog on how angry and sullen the models in jewelry ads look. Well baby, they need to take a look at some of the ads for wedding gowns!

Commence rant!

For an industry that never fails to use the words “The happiest day of your life” to market their wares it amazes me that the models all look so sullen and pouty. In some cases they just look downright mean. What’s with that?

As a marketer I know that you should use feelings to help bring the message to life for the viewer. Do I really want to buy a gown that invokes those kinds of emotions? Show me happy, show me in love, show me relaxed, but for crying out loud don’t show me sad and angry. Why would I want to be sad or angry at my wedding? If you want to sell me a gown give me an image to which I want to relate.

In their defense, so many of these designers are only looking at how the dress shows in the photo. They’re a designer, that’s what they do. Stop taking only the advice of the photographer and stylist and listen to your marketing director once in a while.

End rant.

I would really like to know if I am alone in this. Look at the two images and tell me which bride you would rather be; the one on the steps or the one with her hands on her hips?