Diesel’s New Ad Celebrating Flaws Has Great Storytelling That Flies Off in All Directions

Last fall, Diesel gave us “Go With the Flaw,” a gritty, glamorous celebration of ugliness, created by Publicis Italy and directed by François Rousselet.Now, the second installation of the campaign, “Keep the World Flawed” (also directed by Rousselet), leans hard into the subject matter. Think of the first ad as a manifesto. This new piece takes it further, illustrating just how hopeless it is to hide your flaws in the first place.

Remember that ad-turned-fake-news-meme about a woman who supposedlyhad so much plastic surgery that, when all of the flaws came out in her children, her husband sued?“Keep the World Flawed” tugs on our collective memory of that bizarre drama, which ultimately ruined the reputation of the model who appeared in the ad. Here, though, the fault goes two ways: When “Keep the World Flawed” opens, an insecurity-crippled man gets surgery to pin back his “elephant ears” (a surprisingly common procedure).He falls in love at a laundromat, and what follows is a classic Levi’s-style progression of young, lusty love blooming into pregnancy and progeny, at which point we discover the woman’s had an operation of her own. (Rhinoplasty! Fun fact: You can learn how to perform these online. The tutorials make it seem very easy.)It ends with the happy family walking off into the sunset, and closes on their son, his strong little face framed by adult-sized ears and a prominent nose. “Flaws always win,” the copy triumphantly concludes.The work promotes Diesel’s 2018 Spring Summer Collection, which people are encouraged to clash and contrast in grungy ’90s style, an ambiance that can be felt throughout the production.And its celebration of flaws goes deeper than the storytelling and into its smaller details, too: It’s packed with Easter eggs. When the guy is pushing his change into the laundry machine, a sticker that reads @wantedsocks drives users to an Instagram account that encourages mismatched pairings.

http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/diesels-new-ad-celebrating-flaws-has-great-storytelling-that-flies-off-in-all-directions/