There are a few brands that I absolutely love.  From product to promotion they can do no wrong in my eyes.  I’ve even made a (mental) list that will one day make the basis of a series of posts.  Current leaders, for those interested, are IKEA (<3) and Marmite (what’s not to love?).  Diesel used to sit pretty on top of that list but recently I’ve started falling out of love.  For me the latest/upcoming campaign is a case in point and I’m starting to feel like I’ve seen it before.

I’ve always had a particular soft spot for the BE STUPID campaign and the latest images I’ve seen come across as shadows of their former campaigns.  It’s very likely that I like BE STUPID too much, I’ll admit that.  I’ll also admit that whoever said ‘it’s all relative’ is right too: it is all relative.  Maybe I’m just being unfair and sentimental.  I first saw the BE STUPID campaign during my year abroad and it’s all too likely I’m associating happy erasmus memories with happy Diesel memories. But less of this and more of the ads.

I’m not sure if the images I’ve selected above are representative of the campaign.  I’ve mostly chosen them because I think they’re pretty cool and wanted one portrait and two landscapes pictures.  The photos were shot by Mert and Marcus who are a really very, very cool fashion photography duo.  They’ve shot for almost everything and their work is more or less flawless.  I guess this leads me to loving the picture but not really getting the point.  They’re just weird enough to grab your attention but unless I’m missing something I don’t see how they pull together.  In a sense, they’re some sort of BE STUPID lite.

I really, really hope that there’s something more to this campaign that I’m missing.  I hope even more that there’s going to be some amazing online, outdoor, event and guerilla marketing to accompany these images.  I’ve always thought of that as being one of Diesel’s strengths and it would be a shame if this year’s SS campaign was ‘just’ this.

For now, I wait with bated breath.