Sloggi thinks tweaked thong thing is “cheeky”

First rolled out at the Luxembourg prologue in 2002, the Sloggi bicycle-based billboard campaign sure is an attention grabber. In 2002 the slogan was ‘Le Grand Depart’. For London in 2007 it’s roadside cyclesport chant ‘Allez!, Allez!, Allez!’


Click here for a bigger, just-about-safe-for-work pic of the current campaign. A close-up of the Luxembourg campaign poster can be found here, and may not be quite so safe for viewing at work. And if you think those pix are risqué you definitely won’t want to click here for Sloggi’s competition to find the “world’s most beautiful bottom.” However, this corporate on the making of a Sloggi ad campaign is surprisingly tame.

The creative - called “cheeky” by Sloggi UK - was developed for Triumph, the über-undies corporate. Outdoor advertising agency Clear Channel plotted poster sites on to the route of the Tour de France and put together a ‘Tour de France’ promo map for potential clients. Sloggi bit.

Purminder Mondair, Triumph UK’s marketing manager said: “We are renowned for our memorable ads with line-ups of long legged beauties shot from behind and have built up quite a fan club who eagerly await new campaigns. The cycling creative first appeared in 2002 and it is as fresh and relevant as ever, and we couldn’t resist using it for the Tour de France. We’ve just tweaked the product to bring it right up to date and added the topical headline.”

The multi-format Sloggi campaign is appearing on 6-sheets, 48-sheets, 96-sheets and mega 96-sheets along the route of the Tour de France in England.

In 2002, the creative caused a storm in Luxembourg. There were complaining letters to newspapers and confusion over whether the racy image was the official pic for the Duchy’s Grand Depart.

On the , Sammarye Lewis wrote a poem about the racy campaign (think ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas):

Driving into the elegant Duchy of Lux,
Thinking that here, Jean Marie might be wearing a tux.
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a huge billboard full of female derriere.

Le Grand Depart were the words at the top,
But the cyclists pictured made my eyes pop!
No Telekom, no Postal and no iBanesto,
Sex sells Le Tour seemed the bold manifesto.

No lycra, no spandex, and not even one of the boys,
Nay, Luxembourg beckoned
With girls and their toys.

Now you may say it’s right,
Or you may say it’s wrong,
But those gals on their bikes
Wore only a thong…

It outraged many folks,
Who sprang to their arms.
How could Le Tour take advantage
Of those feminine charms?

Unbelievable!
Has Le Tour lost their collective minds?
Advertising Le Grande Boucle
With female behinds?

Then the truth was revealed to all of these folk,
The advertisement ‘twas but a sly, clever joke.
It looked quite authentic, and made some folks swear,
But ’twas only an ad for female underwear!