Reebok Easy Tone Campaign Easy To Mock, Tone Deaf

When I saw the new Reebok campaign for its new line of athletic shoes, I immediately put on some Axe deodorant, had a can of Coors and went out to get a pair. Imagine my surprise then when I arrived at the store to find the brand's East Tone line is for... women. Specifically, women who want a better "booty."

The brand's microsite says "88% of men are speechless." And that certainly might be true of a campaign that seemingly uses tactics straight out of men's deodorant or beer ads: women in underwear ogled, sweeping perfume camera angles, headless female torsos.

What Reebok is trying to do is clear: associate the technological benefits of the shoes (firms! tones!) with the models on the screen. (Want to look like this? Buy these) It may work for Victoria's Secret, but in Reebok's case it has all the style and nuance of a "I Got Ripped in 4 Weeks!" web ad.

To be sure, Reebok needs to do something. The brand, purchased by Adidas in 2006, saw a 34% Q3 slide in operating profit. (Adidas's net profit was down 30%.) And while some of this decline was due to the overall retail malaise, Reebok has been suffering for years now, unable to grab market share from Nike and other competitors.

Below is another of the ads the brand is using for Easy Tone. Be warned, while not "graphic," it is probably overboard -- and undoubtedly ridiculous.