*This Blog Post was written during my Masters Degree*

Halloween is over, so now I feel like it is perfectly socially acceptable to start talking about Christmas! You may have noticed the slow introduction of Christmas adverts on TV, or you could be thinking about what Christmas presents to buy or simply looking at what the Christmas party clothes you want to get for the festive period. 

Companies have already started with the introduction of the Christmas jumper, and one brand in particular was trending when they released this seasons womens Christmas jumper. 

This is a Christmas jumper from FatFace’s 2019 Winter collection. You may be thinking okay cool, that’s a pretty standard Christmas jumper. But, if you are like most of us and can’t help but see the dirty side of a Christmas jumper, you may have spotted that the patterns looks like….well she has boobs going across her boobs. 

I should have apologised in advance because when you spot it, it’s hard to ‘un-see’ it. As you can imagine social media was very quick to point out this design flaw, or planned design depending if you like boobs on you jumper. 

People were quick to call FatFace out but FatFace took this in their stride and turned this blooper (boober?) into a marketing opportunity.  

Whoever does the marketing for FatFace needs a round of applause, because not only have they used this as free public advertising but they have now assigned 10% of the sale of the jumper to be donated to breast cancer. 

This marketing technique that was used here is covert advertising. Covert advertising is where the product is placed covertly so the consumer will observe them indirectly. This can be seen here as the intended purpose of the post was to advertise the product, but the post has a greater emphasises on the charity donation that would be given once the product is purchased. Therefore making the consumer more aware of the charitable aspect rather than the advertisement of the Christmas jumper. 

FatFace has also been clever by not only creating a campaign based on public buzz, but also by linking that jumper to a charitable campaign. If a brand holds a similar value to that of their consumers, their consumers will choose them over another brand. This means that when consumers are doing their Christmas jumper shopping, they will be more likely to purchase this FatFace jumper as they believe they have the same values as this brand. 

Lastly, not only is the jumper associated with a charitable campaign but it is also Christmas related. Christmas time often evokes goodwill, generosity and altruism, and research has shown that consumption can be driven by these feelings. FatFace happen to be in the perfect situation, where their product is Christmas themed which then consumers will often purchase more items due to feelings of goodwill. But also combined with the fact that consumption will be doing good by buying the jumper it can only encourage more sales. 

Christmas also brings on an array of emotions of  nostalgia, research has found that nostalgia increases charitable donations among consumers. This means that consumers will be more likely to buy the jumper as they will have higher feelings of nostalgia and they feel that buying the jumper is a charitable donation. 

One thing we can take from this article is that with the right post, a social media mistake provides a great tool for advertisers. One trending item can help boost a brand’s ad campaign, and that one boob related jumper can provide consumers with a feeling of goodwill! And to end on a high note check out M&S Christmas Jumper Advert!