Ray Ban "Never Hide" Campaign

Posted by Tery Pitcher on August 15th, 2022

For over 80 years, Ray-Ban manages to hold the title of the most famous sunglasses in the world. Built for the needs of the U.S. military, Ray-Ban sunglasses have become the world-famous brand, not just experiencing another rebirth for the sake of fashion, but retaining its unique and recognizable at a glance character. The article is shared by https://great-writings.com/

Ray-Ban sunglasses appeared in 1929, when the company Bausch & Lomb received an order for the development and production of glasses from the U.S. Air Force command. They supposed to protect pilots' eyes from the blinding brightness of the sun and UV rays, while providing a high-definition image. Thus, there were the legendary drops-like glasses, which have become an inherent part of every American pilot. The model with no glare and green lenses in a yellow metal frame was called “Aviator”.

The pilots were proud of glasses and wore them not only at work or in the air, but also on the ground, attracting everyone's attention. Everybody wanted the same glasses "as the pilots" had.

In 1960s, these glasses have become worn at all - from presidents and stylish women, and ending with well-known musicians and hipsters. In 1961, the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's", served as a good advertisement for “Wayfarer” glasses, in which Audrey Hepburn (as Holly Golightly) practically never took them off. In the late 90s, the Italian company Luxottica Group has acquired the rights to the brand Ray-Ban.

Ray-Ban launched the legendary “Never Hide” campaign, which featured singers, media actors, athletes and other celebrities, not only on the screen, but also in print advertising. The company has always kept pace with the times.

“Never Hide” campaign was launched in March 2007 by the TBWA \ CHIAT \ DAY agency, and was focused on young people of the 25-35 age group. It was initially planned that it would act only in the spring and summer of 2007. As time has shown, the idea of ??"Never Hide" had a great potential, and Ray-Ban has been producing new spots and promotions for the campaign seventh year in a row. Internet was originally chosen as the main media channel, and remains the one up today.

The campaign began with a proposal to place photos of people wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses on the official website of the company. In turn, Ray-Ban has promised to place each photo on 12 huge screens set up in Times Square in New York City for 15 seconds. Then there were various viruses on how a guy was catching sunglasses with his eyes, making eye tattoo in form of points, how a cow gave birth to a male, and how Ray-Ban was bullying and bombarding chameleon paints.

Stylish minimalist campaign from Cutwater agency, continued the original black and white scheme of “Never Hide”. They showed that the legendary models of glasses could be in almost all the objects around us.

The 2009 campaign “Colorize” (“Paint”) advanced the line of colored summer glasses of almost all Ray-Ban models, including the most famous Wayfarer, offering to make life brighter and more cheerful. Clips and whimsical prints campaign offered ways to colorize life for the new season. It had the following slogan: “Not everything needs to be black or white”.

In 2010, well-known artists and designers have worked on the creation of a new advertising campaign, called "Rare Prints" - a series of exclusive frames for Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses. Traditionally, colorful and bright summer collection of the brand was refreshed, authoring a series of frames and advertising prints from such artists and designers as Matt W. Moore, Vahalla, Ames Bros and Aesthetic Apparatus. In the last five years, the San Francisco-based Cutwater agency made the most striking “Never Hide” campaign for Ray-Ban.

For over ten years, the world’s most famous sunglasses are made in Italy by Luxottica, with the fully retained lens manufacturing technology, and a lot of new models added. Thanks to the U.S. agency Cutwater, the brand always keeps its nose to the wind, constantly changing fashion-trends. The slogan was “fashion changes, Ray-Ban remains”. In my opinion, Ray Ban is indeed a company that keeps up with the times.

In 2007, they created a very successful viral video, featuring two guys, where one of them threw the famous Wayfarers, and the other guy caught them with his eyes from any position. Only in 5 days the clip received more than a million views, and provoked a strong public reaction: many young people have decided to repeat the trick, but it did not work out to anyone.

In 2009, Ray-Ban’s viral experiment featured a chameleon. The parallels were clear: chameleons are known for their unique camouflage abilities, living a hidden life, which due to the iconic brand’s philosophy, cannot be done. Certain conditional experimenter tried to pull the chameleon out of this status of permanent disguise, slipping under his colored glasses, and forcing the reptile to take the most unexpected colors.

Another popular brand virus demonstrated how a guy in the tattoo parlor gets a tattoo in the form of points on the very spot where the glasses usually are - on the face. The main calculation of Cutwater is obvious – sending the video to friends with accompanying remarks, "Look what an idiot", "brave man" or "what do you think, fake or not?" In addition to video, Cutwater posted photos of the tattoo parlor and what happened next.

In mid-April, Ray Ban Glasses Company has launched a campaign in honor of its 75th anniversary. It has published a series of posters with protest scenes in retro style, under the slogan "Never Hide". There were hippies, who were kissing during the riots in Washington in 1971, a couple dancing rock and roll in the Bronx in the 50's, a white rapper acting in the "black" club on Long Island. One poster campaign was a picture of a men couple in suits, going for the handle in the metropolis of 40s. Yet, for the creation of these images, advertisers were inspired by a real character, a writer Taylor Mead. It is obvious that the image of gay people here has been taken as just one of the examples of abstract disobedience to society's standards. A 2007 press release for the "Never Hide" campaign reads: "In its every form, the Ray-Ban campaign portrays regular guys and girls living their day to day lives with authenticity, with the courage to express themselves and their unique individuality, which is the most precious thing we have because the most fashionable thing to be is yourself".

Cases of the latter manifestations of "gay" advertising form a significant trend: global brands begin to support same-sex relationships. The circle would have been closed, but President Obama bless same-sex marriages. It is possible that homosexuality will officially become the norm for all social institutions in the country, and will not play into the hands of both parties. Values ??"Million Moms" case to be a success, and exploiting the ‘gayest’ theme brands is no longer able to increase their popularity on it, since it will not be a forbidden fruit anymore.

In May 2013, U.S. President Barack Obama has openly supported the legalization of same-sex marriages. Subject to the relationship between the state of sexual minorities is increasingly surfaced recently in the American society so that the President's statement was not a big surprise. With the amendments in the state to change gays and treated mass brands.

Over the past year, the representatives of the American sexual minorities were not a reason to celebrate another victory in the fight for their rights. On September 20, 2011 homosexuals were allowed to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. Such a popular social theme should be reflected in the advertising, which by its nature is necessary to be keept ahead.