When it comes to personal products, we're receptive to adverts explicitly depicting how something works on our face. Take disposable razors: We don't mind seeing slow motion, cross-section animation of the hair as it's "gently" lifted and cut. Ditto for the makers of acne medications that graphically demonstrate how their "advanced formula" attacks oily residue beneath the skin.

Move south of the face, however, and we start to get squeamish. Suddenly marketing requires a certain … vagueness. Consider the common—though, if you think about it, bizarre—use of blue liquid to demonstrate the absorption capabilities of feminine hygiene products. Then there's toilet paper. Someone from another planet might think these ads are selling something soft to rub against the face.

Things get even touchier when marketing contraceptives. An accurate depiction of their use faces any number of broadcast and social taboos. So what is a condom maker to do? In a post at CK's Blog, Christina Kerley (a.k.a. CK) praises an ad from Durex that manages to show precisely why you need its product in a humorous and inoffensive way.

CK's take: "Not once did it have to show sex—or say a single word." It communicates a tricky message in a memorable way, without stating it explicitly. And that is Marketing Inspiration.

YouTube link: here.

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