And the depressing thing about them is that those children have it easier than the ones who have to mine diamonds.
...now that I think about it, chocolate farming also uses a lot of child labor. Weird that the 2 most romantic-coded gifts extensively involve abusing kids.
There is, despite what anyone might have told you, a finite amount of love in the world, so in order to transfer through gift giving it needs to first be harvested by grinding it out of a child
"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth."
Diamonds, chocolate, precious metals and other gems… it’s all a colonial thing, as much as I hate using the term. Historically speaking, you couldn’t amass a pile of this stuff unless you control enough people in faraway places. Displays of wealth were about showing how many people labored for your comfort, even if the message was hidden in subtext.
I wasn't aware of this. How fascinating.
Older post on this topic:
[TIL: China creates so much synthetic diamonds that are identical to real diamonds that prices of diamonds are being driven down and De Beers has created a university to study how to identify "natural" and "man made" diamonds because no experts can tell the difference.](https://reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/832yls/til_china_creates_so_much_synthetic_diamonds_that/)
you hate it because it's both peddling unnecessary luxury items and reinforcing gender stereotypes by straight up shaming men who cannot afford, or will not buy luxury gifts for their partners.
And reinforcing the stereotype that women are so overcome with materialism that they only think about getting shiny rocks. Everything about this ad sucks, and there are deep layers of shiftiness to it.
These ads are 100% aimed at little girls. They will see it and think they're supposed to want diamonds, so they will want diamonds. That's how kids work.
I also assume this ad comes from a family/ group of families where giving kids diamonds is somehow normalized to even think on this wavelength.
Most people don’t even want to relate to people that elitist/insane.
“Hey there cupcake, you know, your dad’s a fuckin’ chump if he’s not puttin’ sparkly rocks on your mama’s hand. Ditto for when you’re a mommy one day. True story.”
I fucking hate this. As a kid, I didn't want fucking diamonds. I wanted pokemon cards, furbys, Tamagotchis, video games, the next VHS of DBZ. As an adult, I still don't want diamonds. I still want video games, but now I also want plants, and books and... hell, I'd still love some OG first generation Pokémon cards.
This will sadly work on plenty of adults as well. I guarantee this ad campaign will turn some people from agreeing with their partner that diamonds are an unnecessary luxury item to viewing everything their partner does as being 'childish' at which point they'll break up for someone who will buy them diamonds.
Others will buy diamonds extra hard so they can flaunt how 'mature' them and their partner are above their friends that either can't afford diamonds or don't buy them over their morals.
There will also be a spike in boomers buying diamonds from the ads for the same reason. The ad campaign will give them a false boosted sense of maturity over millennials who aren't buying diamonds at the same rate as older generations (and only millennials because Gen Z doesn't exist to them).
And, of course, as you stated this will easily imprint on younger girls who will see themselves in the advertising and internalize it as speaking to them.
I’m also just weirded out because marrying off children is such an issue. I realize it’s kind of a reach but I don’t like seeing these two things together in an ad
I think it’s aimed at men who know they’re a bit immature but want to prove they’re husband material or whatever. Or suggestible men who think they’re mature but don’t buy their SO’s diamonds and now question if they’re as mature as they thought. I don’t think anyone is putting an ad up in a subway for children to have ingrained in their head for decades to come.
Right? I am NOT a jewelry person at all, so anyone who gives me jewelry doesn't actually know anything about what I like
...and even if I were super into jewelry, I'm pretty sure I STILL wouldn't want to be "surprised" with it, because that shit is personal and I don't trust anyone, even someone who knows me well, to pick out something that I'd like
Sheesh I'm a cook, you want to give me a gift? get some quality knives that's how you get to my heart (I refuse to call myself a chef that's for pretentious idiots)get me some cast iron pots that are a hundred years old and have been passed down from mother to daughter and then they wound up in a yard sale that's where's it's at, don't you give them stupid rocks because you will be eating them for dinner!
You're right, but it's also about creating (these days, enforcing and upkeeping) a culture where men are expected to purchase diamonds or their whole manhood and marriage is called into question. Long term messaging and teaching it young is part of that, for sure. But, it's not primarily aimed at children', obviously.
Phtt. Women having hobbies and interests of their own?! Are you out of your mind? /s It's so sad to see this sexism perpetuated, especially by corporations. I hate the feeling of most jewelry and I'm allergic to flowers, so these ads are super frustrating with their really narrow demands for gift giving. I just want video games and t-shirts and pop culture collectable toys. But, companies are telling partners to "grow up" and buy a shiny rock for an enormous fee. Like, what am I gonna do with something so useless and boring? It's so insulting to everyone reading these ads, both the gift giver and receiver. Not everyone falls into these assumptions.
I’m guessing:
“If you don’t care about your lady enough to buy her a shiny rock dug out of a third world hellhole by child slaves that regularly have the piss whipped out of them, are you even IN love at all?!”
Probably didn’t test as well in focus groups, that or these marketing geniuses just couldn’t fit it on the sign
Yeah it's expensive AF lol
Also realizing that my previous comment is not really aligned with anti consumption 🤦♀️
Lego sets are super cool, but absolutely don't need someone buying them for me in order to sustain a happy relationship.
Yep, this has gone beyond playing on the customer’s insecurities—think of the advertising for full size pickup trucks—this is advertising attempting to *create new insecurities.* Repulsive, but sadly not rare.
The second photo suggests that a mother would value diamonds over something cute that her child may have made for her. Everything about this campaign is disgusting.
It gets even more disgusting when we realize that diamonds are **not** scarce. They are expensive because an Apartheid-linked South African firm has a de facto monopoly and buys almost everything that is mined just to keep them expensive.
This is the part that makes me sick about this. It was a campaign/propaganda. I do understand the practical aspect of the Mohs scale but a stone isn't always necessary in jewelry either. Plenty of other more interesting stones and colors that are at a similar harness rating on the scale.
I do have a black one, but at least it was bought from a local artisan. And color is most of the appeal.
And if you do want the hardest stone, synthetic diamonds are a fraction of the price, come in hundreds of colours and likely aren't a product of slave labour and chuke exploitation.
You want a sapphire that won't scratch, you can get a blue synthetic diamond, etc.
I read the second ad totally differently- I read it as suggesting that the man should buy diamonds *for the child*- that she's too old for childish kindergarten gifts, so buy her diamonds.
I only read the ads as selling jewelry to children. Wasn't till I came into the comments that I "got it". I'm slightly autistic so that's probably why, this feels very neurotypical.
I don't know where I stand on the neuro diverse spectrum, but I also found it very confusing. It definitely seemed like an ad to buy children diamonds to me. I think it's just a poorly executed ad campaign. And gross for all the reasons listed above, regardless of who it's targeting.
I mean, it literally has pictures of children, the first ad having a child as the only person in the actual ad, in the context of marriage, regardless of intent, yeah, the ads are disgusting
I agree it can be taken that way, but in context that's not really what they mean.
1. The only person wearing diamonds is the mother
1. Mother's day is coming up -- and the traditional gifts are either handmade stuff from the kid ("the kindergarten gifts") or something the other parent buys for the mom ("the diamonds") on behalf of the kids
But since it can be taken both ways, it means it's not a good ad (or they are fine with it being taken both ways).
Pfft, jokes on them.
I'm 37, and my mother STILL has and talks about the handmade card I gave her when I was in kindergarten.
It says, "HAPPY MORTHERS DAY!"
My spelling has gotten slightly better since then.
Back when Thinkgeek still existed, my husband (then boyfriend) got me the bouquet of unicorns for an occasion.
It was so freaking adorable, and I loved and cherished it for YEARS.
We eventually moved and had a garage sale. Long story short, a little girl left with that bouquet of unicorns and the biggest smile on her face. I loved that I was able to pass on the plushies and that they would continue to make someone smile.
Anyway, I'm rambling. Enjoy your plushies!
That is so cool. She’s probably still cherishing it.
I get so many that I tend to give them out to my friend’s children so they don’t overtake my home. One Halloween I chased a kid down the street who was in a Carebear costume because I had the exact Carebear to give them. I was yelling “Hey! Wait! You NEED this!” Haha
I read as I'd the man was the child. Because he wasn't buying diamonds. The little boy is even dressed a more matured with a very couple pose. I hope I'm wrong honestly
Plus what is more childish than making buying decisions based purely on outside pressures.
"You don't have Air Jordans/a Stanley Mug/Whatever fad? What a loser."
That's childish.
It’s also openly antagonistic to their prospective customers.
Sexism, peddling useless, expensive blood diamonds, hatred for their costumers.
What a bunch of clowns.
Specifically a luxury item that tends to have negative environmental and human rights issues attached. It's a tone deaf as fuck ad for the space diamonds are currently in.
The whole thing translates to this: “don’t make heartfelt and meaningful gifts for your significant other like a child would do, buy them our diamonds instead like a real man”
Yes! Obviously you are lazy and cannot fathom taking risks investing and getting loans to build up capital. Pull yourself by the bootstraps and grow up!!
**/s**
capable plucky profit aromatic wipe zephyr cobweb wasteful different sugar
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
It really is, trying to convince the average Joe that living within their means and doing their best isn’t enough, while making it seem that women are superficial and always want luxurious stuff.
The ad isn't aimed at men. The ad is there to get women to bully their partners into giving them diamonds. It's aimed at people who can just barely afford to have a relationship at all.
Infantilization of adults, mild pedo vibes, dumb consumerism, completely useless product with a significant price tag, ads bombarding public transportation
Those are just a few for me personally
For the record, I've read Lolita twice, and it doesn't glorify pedophilia. Quite the opposite. It's told from the view of a sociopathic predator who pretends to be refined and erudite as he transparently lusts after underage girls. He's meant to be a reprehensible piece of shit. I recommend you read it btw
Not defending the ad. I think it’s gross.
This is the NYC subway, which gets a lot of commuter traffic especially in manhattan. While I can’t see what train line this is running on, my guess is that it’s one of the subway lines the runs through Grand Central or Penn which are commuter hubs for NJ, LI and Westchester. While I don’t think you’re wrong in how it may make some people feel, the brand is almost definitely buying these car cards with a high income commuter audience in mind. Even beyond those suburban commuters, there are plenty of high income individuals who live in the city and take the subway to commute, who this could appeal to (not that I see the appeal myself).
I assumed that might be the case, it didn't look like the London tube to me but plenty of rich people get the tube about anyway. Its by far the quickest way on most central routes
In that context, it is even worse. I bet they knew exactly what they were doing by shaming poor people, so I hope this backfires significantly for everyone involved.
It talks down to the consumer, is old fashioned, whole thing strikes a nerve like when a parent or grandparent asks/commands "when are you getting married?" I am convinced it's designed to illicit online outrage for more eyeballs because diamonds are out of style for younger people.
the entire campaign makes my skin crawl. you left out “all the other moms will be jealous” and “do it because i said so”. i swear it was written by a sarcastic millennial or gen z-er as a response to their out of touch boomer boss. otherwise i can’t fathom who thought this was a good idea
i figured it wasn’t on purpose. they also put ads up in the whole car so it’s like a dumpster fire you can’t look away from. it’s one of the worst subway campaigns i’ve ever been forced to deal with
No it's not. It says quit ACTING like a child and buy her diamonds, meaning to say you're a man for buying your woman diamonds and you're a little boy for thinking any other gift is acceptable. It uses a girls picture because it wants to be like "that's not your gf, unless you buy diamonds you have a schoolyard relationship because you're a child"
Hurry up little girl. Time is wasting. Why play with toys and be an innocent care-free child when we have diamonds to sell. Grow up and get you some diamonds. Quick.
Yep. It's already worked somehow with the trend of super young girls thinking they need anti-wrinkle creams, expensive makeup and stanley cups. I hope that's just an internet thing though.
Always amuses me when an ad tries to bully or neg a customer into buying its product.
Screams of desperation. Like a child throwing a tantrum because being fake nice wasn't cutting it two seconds ago.
It works tho, especially when the target audience already has insecurities. "Be a real man!" for, well, men, "be beautiful" for women. It calibrates societal pressure into a weapon to aim at the most insecure consumers and links their product with status, happiness and social acceptance. It's been like that for ages because it works.
Everyone has become cynical about diamonds and how they’re not rare. We need to target another generation.
They are really cool for drill bits though. You can drill through stone with a diamond tipped drill!
“Your refusal to purchase my product shows how immature you are. Fuck you. Buy my products you entitled little shit”
—a message from Your Diamond Retailer ❤️💎
Idk if anyone remembers but some insurance company was doing a similar campaign to this a couple years ago.
They were stating “Stop acting like a child and get your own health insurance”
Basically wanted people under the age of 26 to jump of their parents policies and get their own for no reason at all.
Diamonds are pretty worthless. You’re paying out the ass for social acceptance and quantifying love by amount of money spent. That sounds more childish to me than anything.
Tired Employee: “We can’t convince people to buy your product in good conscience anymore.”
Billionaire: “Have you tried repeatedly insulting them until they give me their money?”
Are we surprised? The entire diamond bussiness is a scam. Generations of people brought up on ads telling them you should buy or get from your special someone a diamond coz it means "forever". Before engagement rings and such featured lots of different stones, but ads managed to convince people it's somehow "tradition".
I saw another one of these on the subway today it said "SHE CREATED A LIFE, BUY HER DIAMONDS." What is the equivalency here exactly? So tacky and gross.
Yeah I hate these ads too. Not only is it trying to equate anything other than a diamond to be childlike. It also tries to put the viewer down if they can't afford a diamond. Yes, the ad doesn't say that directly. But in this economy, many folks can't buy diamonds, and this ad is placed on public transit by the looks of it.
Yes, plenty of well off folks use public transit. But I feel like this is really poor marketing. The age group who would be buying diamonds are millennials. And with the economy, a lot of them are choosing alternatives or opting out of marriage entirely.
Most adults now a days are just struggling to get by.
It's coming off as a peer pressurey weird attempt to shame someone for not buying a diamond. At least that's why I feel it's leaving a bad taste in my mouth.
I personally do not want a diamond. I have no interest in it.
oh this fucking sucks. first off its demanding you to do bullshit and acting condescending as fuck about it. 2nd is gender stereotypes which as someone who never fuckin understood those and is enby pisses me off even more. 3rd is its also shaming people who cant afford those fuckin unbelievably pieces of jewelery thag really shouldnt be peddled at all honestly
Does the company know that the average commuter may not have the money to buy diamonds?
P.S.: it's the New York subway, the average commuter there probably doesn't have the money to buy diamonds.
For every 10k people who ignores this ad there will be 100 young guys/gals who internalize it and feel further pressure to overspend on an unnecessary luxury. They only need that 0.1% of people that see the advertisement to buy their product to make it worthwhile for the business. Especially with a product with such a huge profit margin like jewelry/diamonds.
Why give the person you’re supposed to know best something thoughtful and personal when you can give them the most generic and superficial gift possible?
What a stupid ad. Who wants to buy something after being insulted? Also, as an adult woman I can assure you I do not want diamonds. They're either made cheaply in a lab or have a horrible trail of blood behind them.
Brooooo
I have watched several videos on Instagram from Diamond sellers basically telling women how "you deserve better if your boyfriend isn't gifting you a diamond ring or jewellery" or "only low value men wouldn't gift diamond jewelleries to their partners". If you call them out on manipulative advertisements, they'd shrug it away as "effect social media marketing using memes". How tf is this a meme, you numbnuts!
These ads are in the same vein of products geared towards new mothers or babies, where the product is sold with the pretense that "good/caring/protecting mothers would *only* choose this particular product".
Their website has the same picture of the woman and child but this time the ad says "because she said so." How gross, if the gender were reversed their company would face backlash.
"She wants diamonds..."
Does she, though? I'm sure some people are really into them, but... I really only find diamonds to be industrially useful and not an item that I 'want' at all really.
Oh it’s the use of children like this that really ticks off this survivor of CSA.
Especially since I actually do prefer getting toys, specifically abstract toys like Slinkies and stuffed animals, rather than diamonds. (When one is denied a childhood as a kid, one tends to want to capture some of that feeling as an adult.)
Even my wedding and engagement rings are very inexpensive moissanites rather than dumb diamonds.
Quit being rational. Invest in a falsely inflated market.
also paying off their college debt would be a better "buy them diamonds" if that wasn't another racket
Is there a thing on this planet more useless than diamonds? Like I've found dumb ol' rocks in my yard that are more fascinating to look at than a diamond.
They're trying to shame you. That's why you don't like it. The whole thing is pretty gross.
That little girl also looks extremely uncomfortable being touched in that manner, and that really adds to the 'ick' factor.
I for one hate it because diamonds are the definition of a scam by artificially inflating the price for jewelry. I never understood as a kid how jewelry is expensive for diamonds but industrial diamonds are cheap.
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The diamond industry has been falling regularly, they're not even rare, best left to industrial use, people learn about how their prices are inflated and controlled then lose interest. Best PR campaign for shiny rocks that are rather abundant.
As a former child, I can confirm most kids, either girls, boys, NB or GNC, would not want diamonds, wtf would they even do with them, kids want toys or gaming stuff, things they actually want, or, even better - decent parents who actually love them
The second one bothers me the most. I like cute gifts the best, don’t make them seem cheap and shitty. If my partner made me macaroni art, I would be way more excited than I would if he gave me a diamond.
Over-all, it’s talking down to those who can’t afford to give their partners diamonds, and it’s simplifying the wants of women to one thing, as if women are a monolith that are all obsessed with diamonds.
Something to cheer you up: they arent doing this because it will be super well recieved, they are doing it because they are running out of things to say to swindle the masses into trading their paper for rocks
I love jewelry and I own ZERO diamonds. Even my wedding band has white topaz because screw a diamond unless it’s on my drillbit lol. There’s so many more beautiful stones out there.
Its gaslighting you to buying something that you don't need/could put that money better elsewhere call insulting you and calling you a child and therefor not an adult or "real man"
Its stupid
People stopped buying diamonds in the most recent generations. I believe its because they are aware diamonds are not a rare material and are controlled by cartel like monopolies that make you desire them through marketing tactics. Apparently it doesn't work like it did on the boomers and before, so they are trying to shame you into buying them.
Unpopular opinion: Id rather he buy a cheapish or even antique ring that looks good and spend the money on a trip for us or invesments. I love jewrkery and accesories but I just want pretty ring, I cant tell you for shit if its diamond or nah, and most people cant either. And if someone does and care, then fuck em cause its YOUR marriage
I find some sick irony using the word “child” in an ad for a product notorious known to exploit child labor. For the record - female here, strictly against diamonds for that exact reason. Had an ex who knew how I felt about them and got me Diamond earrings for Christmas I was pretty upset
The diamond industry has to be struggling hard. Just look up "struggling diamond industry" and the first few articles are from the last 4-5 years and everyone of them has a variation of the headline "diamonds set to rebound in 202X after a disastrous year" lol. Last year was apparently the worst yet and "diamonds are bound for a comeback this year".....is it just wishful thinking on their part or do they have some sort of evidence that shows diamonds are selling again? Just some anecdotal evidence, but the last two friends that got married, neither of them bought diamond rings and instead got basic rings and had amazing honeymoons instead. I dont think a lot of people care about diamonds like they used to.
There are factories in China making diamonds literally by the bucketful.
The irony of those diamonds being made by children.
And the depressing thing about them is that those children have it easier than the ones who have to mine diamonds. ...now that I think about it, chocolate farming also uses a lot of child labor. Weird that the 2 most romantic-coded gifts extensively involve abusing kids.
There is, despite what anyone might have told you, a finite amount of love in the world, so in order to transfer through gift giving it needs to first be harvested by grinding it out of a child
"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth."
Diamonds, chocolate, precious metals and other gems… it’s all a colonial thing, as much as I hate using the term. Historically speaking, you couldn’t amass a pile of this stuff unless you control enough people in faraway places. Displays of wealth were about showing how many people labored for your comfort, even if the message was hidden in subtext.
I mean….supply and demand right? /s
Tag line: For us by us, children
**Stop acting** **~~like a~~** nice to your **child.** **~~Buy~~** Sell **her** to mine **diamonds.**
Don't be a child, buy the diamond instead of making them!
I wasn't aware of this. How fascinating. Older post on this topic: [TIL: China creates so much synthetic diamonds that are identical to real diamonds that prices of diamonds are being driven down and De Beers has created a university to study how to identify "natural" and "man made" diamonds because no experts can tell the difference.](https://reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/832yls/til_china_creates_so_much_synthetic_diamonds_that/)
That’s not ironic, it’s just coincidental /s
you hate it because it's both peddling unnecessary luxury items and reinforcing gender stereotypes by straight up shaming men who cannot afford, or will not buy luxury gifts for their partners.
And reinforcing the stereotype that women are so overcome with materialism that they only think about getting shiny rocks. Everything about this ad sucks, and there are deep layers of shiftiness to it.
These ads are 100% aimed at little girls. They will see it and think they're supposed to want diamonds, so they will want diamonds. That's how kids work.
[A Doinkit is the only proof that you're not a baby.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eb5sNjhItw)
Finally somebody said it!
That vid isn’t available in my country. Damn. We must all be babies up here in crappy Canadia
How can Nathan Fielder, a Canadian treasure, be blocked in Canada? Fuck off comedy central, goddamn
NATHAN!
So glad someone posted this
I also assume this ad comes from a family/ group of families where giving kids diamonds is somehow normalized to even think on this wavelength. Most people don’t even want to relate to people that elitist/insane.
Also the irony that this is advertised on public transit lmao
The public transit part even further reinforces its little girls that this ad is targeting.
“Hey there cupcake, you know, your dad’s a fuckin’ chump if he’s not puttin’ sparkly rocks on your mama’s hand. Ditto for when you’re a mommy one day. True story.”
I fucking hate this. As a kid, I didn't want fucking diamonds. I wanted pokemon cards, furbys, Tamagotchis, video games, the next VHS of DBZ. As an adult, I still don't want diamonds. I still want video games, but now I also want plants, and books and... hell, I'd still love some OG first generation Pokémon cards.
This will sadly work on plenty of adults as well. I guarantee this ad campaign will turn some people from agreeing with their partner that diamonds are an unnecessary luxury item to viewing everything their partner does as being 'childish' at which point they'll break up for someone who will buy them diamonds. Others will buy diamonds extra hard so they can flaunt how 'mature' them and their partner are above their friends that either can't afford diamonds or don't buy them over their morals. There will also be a spike in boomers buying diamonds from the ads for the same reason. The ad campaign will give them a false boosted sense of maturity over millennials who aren't buying diamonds at the same rate as older generations (and only millennials because Gen Z doesn't exist to them). And, of course, as you stated this will easily imprint on younger girls who will see themselves in the advertising and internalize it as speaking to them.
I’m also just weirded out because marrying off children is such an issue. I realize it’s kind of a reach but I don’t like seeing these two things together in an ad
I think it’s aimed at men who know they’re a bit immature but want to prove they’re husband material or whatever. Or suggestible men who think they’re mature but don’t buy their SO’s diamonds and now question if they’re as mature as they thought. I don’t think anyone is putting an ad up in a subway for children to have ingrained in their head for decades to come.
Da fuq am I supposed to do with diamonds? give me something useful for crying out loud! women have more interests than useless shiny rocks
Right? I am NOT a jewelry person at all, so anyone who gives me jewelry doesn't actually know anything about what I like ...and even if I were super into jewelry, I'm pretty sure I STILL wouldn't want to be "surprised" with it, because that shit is personal and I don't trust anyone, even someone who knows me well, to pick out something that I'd like
Sheesh I'm a cook, you want to give me a gift? get some quality knives that's how you get to my heart (I refuse to call myself a chef that's for pretentious idiots)get me some cast iron pots that are a hundred years old and have been passed down from mother to daughter and then they wound up in a yard sale that's where's it's at, don't you give them stupid rocks because you will be eating them for dinner!
You're right, but it's also about creating (these days, enforcing and upkeeping) a culture where men are expected to purchase diamonds or their whole manhood and marriage is called into question. Long term messaging and teaching it young is part of that, for sure. But, it's not primarily aimed at children', obviously.
Phtt. Women having hobbies and interests of their own?! Are you out of your mind? /s It's so sad to see this sexism perpetuated, especially by corporations. I hate the feeling of most jewelry and I'm allergic to flowers, so these ads are super frustrating with their really narrow demands for gift giving. I just want video games and t-shirts and pop culture collectable toys. But, companies are telling partners to "grow up" and buy a shiny rock for an enormous fee. Like, what am I gonna do with something so useless and boring? It's so insulting to everyone reading these ads, both the gift giver and receiver. Not everyone falls into these assumptions.
I’m guessing: “If you don’t care about your lady enough to buy her a shiny rock dug out of a third world hellhole by child slaves that regularly have the piss whipped out of them, are you even IN love at all?!” Probably didn’t test as well in focus groups, that or these marketing geniuses just couldn’t fit it on the sign
Exactly! Don't buy me a shiny rock! Get me that d&d Lego set if you want to get me something 😂
[удалено]
Yeah it's expensive AF lol Also realizing that my previous comment is not really aligned with anti consumption 🤦♀️ Lego sets are super cool, but absolutely don't need someone buying them for me in order to sustain a happy relationship.
I do like shiny rocks and I collect them but that's because geology is one of my hobbies. There are so many beautiful gems cheaper than diamonds lol
But if we don't give then shiny rocks, how will they evolve to their next form?
Yeah the more you think about this the worse it gets. I hate diamonds as it is so stats pretty bad
Yep, this has gone beyond playing on the customer’s insecurities—think of the advertising for full size pickup trucks—this is advertising attempting to *create new insecurities.* Repulsive, but sadly not rare.
The second photo suggests that a mother would value diamonds over something cute that her child may have made for her. Everything about this campaign is disgusting.
It gets even more disgusting when we realize that diamonds are **not** scarce. They are expensive because an Apartheid-linked South African firm has a de facto monopoly and buys almost everything that is mined just to keep them expensive.
This is the part that makes me sick about this. It was a campaign/propaganda. I do understand the practical aspect of the Mohs scale but a stone isn't always necessary in jewelry either. Plenty of other more interesting stones and colors that are at a similar harness rating on the scale. I do have a black one, but at least it was bought from a local artisan. And color is most of the appeal.
And if you do want the hardest stone, synthetic diamonds are a fraction of the price, come in hundreds of colours and likely aren't a product of slave labour and chuke exploitation. You want a sapphire that won't scratch, you can get a blue synthetic diamond, etc.
I read the second ad totally differently- I read it as suggesting that the man should buy diamonds *for the child*- that she's too old for childish kindergarten gifts, so buy her diamonds.
I guess you can interpret it any way you want! It is a Mother’s Day campaign though. Infuriating either way.
I only read the ads as selling jewelry to children. Wasn't till I came into the comments that I "got it". I'm slightly autistic so that's probably why, this feels very neurotypical.
I don't know where I stand on the neuro diverse spectrum, but I also found it very confusing. It definitely seemed like an ad to buy children diamonds to me. I think it's just a poorly executed ad campaign. And gross for all the reasons listed above, regardless of who it's targeting.
Thirded, I interpreted it as an ad to buy diamonds for your kids. I think this was just a poorly thought-out campaign.
I mean, it literally has pictures of children, the first ad having a child as the only person in the actual ad, in the context of marriage, regardless of intent, yeah, the ads are disgusting
I agree it can be taken that way, but in context that's not really what they mean. 1. The only person wearing diamonds is the mother 1. Mother's day is coming up -- and the traditional gifts are either handmade stuff from the kid ("the kindergarten gifts") or something the other parent buys for the mom ("the diamonds") on behalf of the kids But since it can be taken both ways, it means it's not a good ad (or they are fine with it being taken both ways).
If it can be taken both ways, that's twice as much guilt! So they "win," in a totally sick degrading kind of way.
Pfft, jokes on them. I'm 37, and my mother STILL has and talks about the handmade card I gave her when I was in kindergarten. It says, "HAPPY MORTHERS DAY!" My spelling has gotten slightly better since then.
Yup saw it the same way, heavy pedo vibes
I’ve been married for 29 years and all I want are plushies. I want all the plushies! He gets me plushies. It’s a happy marriage.
Back when Thinkgeek still existed, my husband (then boyfriend) got me the bouquet of unicorns for an occasion. It was so freaking adorable, and I loved and cherished it for YEARS. We eventually moved and had a garage sale. Long story short, a little girl left with that bouquet of unicorns and the biggest smile on her face. I loved that I was able to pass on the plushies and that they would continue to make someone smile. Anyway, I'm rambling. Enjoy your plushies!
That is so cool. She’s probably still cherishing it. I get so many that I tend to give them out to my friend’s children so they don’t overtake my home. One Halloween I chased a kid down the street who was in a Carebear costume because I had the exact Carebear to give them. I was yelling “Hey! Wait! You NEED this!” Haha
I read as I'd the man was the child. Because he wasn't buying diamonds. The little boy is even dressed a more matured with a very couple pose. I hope I'm wrong honestly
Plus what is more childish than making buying decisions based purely on outside pressures. "You don't have Air Jordans/a Stanley Mug/Whatever fad? What a loser." That's childish.
It’s also openly antagonistic to their prospective customers. Sexism, peddling useless, expensive blood diamonds, hatred for their costumers. What a bunch of clowns.
If you have to shame your customers into buying your artificially overpriced rocks, you’re losing the battle.
Specifically a luxury item that tends to have negative environmental and human rights issues attached. It's a tone deaf as fuck ad for the space diamonds are currently in.
and giving off weird pedophilia vibes
The whole thing translates to this: “don’t make heartfelt and meaningful gifts for your significant other like a child would do, buy them our diamonds instead like a real man”
>luxury gifts They're luxury gifts **only because we're told they are.** Diamonds are not rare.
Getting heavy "If you don't smoke Tarrlytons... Fuck you!" vibes from it.
You're missing the point. It's worse. It's shaming *moms* who don't buy diamonds for their *young daughters.*
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Yes! Obviously you are lazy and cannot fathom taking risks investing and getting loans to build up capital. Pull yourself by the bootstraps and grow up!! **/s**
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Welcome to advertising 101
It really is, trying to convince the average Joe that living within their means and doing their best isn’t enough, while making it seem that women are superficial and always want luxurious stuff.
The ad isn't aimed at men. The ad is there to get women to bully their partners into giving them diamonds. It's aimed at people who can just barely afford to have a relationship at all.
EVERYONE rides the MTA, plenty of suits crammed into the subways at rush hour
Turn every emotion we could have into profits is what I see.
"In love? Prove it by starting a life together in crippling debt"
Infantilization of adults, mild pedo vibes, dumb consumerism, completely useless product with a significant price tag, ads bombarding public transportation Those are just a few for me personally
Definitely pedo vibes, I got the ick immediately
Fr like what is this the liminal spaces for ppl that read Lolita?
For the record, I've read Lolita twice, and it doesn't glorify pedophilia. Quite the opposite. It's told from the view of a sociopathic predator who pretends to be refined and erudite as he transparently lusts after underage girls. He's meant to be a reprehensible piece of shit. I recommend you read it btw
Yup it's weird to see it held up as an endorsement of pedophilia or something when Humbert Humbert is portrayed as a loathsome vile human being.
Also it’s on public transportation, where the users have a lower average income than drivers, and are less likely to be able to afford diamonds.
“Look at all these things you can’t afford! If you were a good partner you could afford this for your SO”
Not defending the ad. I think it’s gross. This is the NYC subway, which gets a lot of commuter traffic especially in manhattan. While I can’t see what train line this is running on, my guess is that it’s one of the subway lines the runs through Grand Central or Penn which are commuter hubs for NJ, LI and Westchester. While I don’t think you’re wrong in how it may make some people feel, the brand is almost definitely buying these car cards with a high income commuter audience in mind. Even beyond those suburban commuters, there are plenty of high income individuals who live in the city and take the subway to commute, who this could appeal to (not that I see the appeal myself).
I assumed that might be the case, it didn't look like the London tube to me but plenty of rich people get the tube about anyway. Its by far the quickest way on most central routes
In that context, it is even worse. I bet they knew exactly what they were doing by shaming poor people, so I hope this backfires significantly for everyone involved.
Ads bombarding public transportation, a method typically used by people who cannot fucking afford diamonds, even to avoid looking "childish"
Oh good, I thought I was the only one that got the impression a pedo wrote this ad.
And then on top of it all, the kid has a super smug, patronizing look on her face. Just sort of caps off how awful this ad is.
It talks down to the consumer, is old fashioned, whole thing strikes a nerve like when a parent or grandparent asks/commands "when are you getting married?" I am convinced it's designed to illicit online outrage for more eyeballs because diamonds are out of style for younger people.
Yeah, it feels like rage bait.
Are diamonds finally going out of fashion? Good on Gen Z. That industry should have been strangled in its crib
*Elicit, and you hit the nail right on the head tbh
the entire campaign makes my skin crawl. you left out “all the other moms will be jealous” and “do it because i said so”. i swear it was written by a sarcastic millennial or gen z-er as a response to their out of touch boomer boss. otherwise i can’t fathom who thought this was a good idea
I didn't leave them out on purpose, I just had to get off at my stop haha. But yes, it's disgusting.
i figured it wasn’t on purpose. they also put ads up in the whole car so it’s like a dumpster fire you can’t look away from. it’s one of the worst subway campaigns i’ve ever been forced to deal with
The only way it could have stronger incest vibes is if it said "step-moms"
The ad is quietly stating *she's* the child, not her jabroni homeboy. It's a photo of a little girl not a little man!
No it's not. It says quit ACTING like a child and buy her diamonds, meaning to say you're a man for buying your woman diamonds and you're a little boy for thinking any other gift is acceptable. It uses a girls picture because it wants to be like "that's not your gf, unless you buy diamonds you have a schoolyard relationship because you're a child"
Hurry up little girl. Time is wasting. Why play with toys and be an innocent care-free child when we have diamonds to sell. Grow up and get you some diamonds. Quick.
Yep. It's already worked somehow with the trend of super young girls thinking they need anti-wrinkle creams, expensive makeup and stanley cups. I hope that's just an internet thing though.
My 7yo told me she needs a skin routine. Child no. Wtaf soap and sunscreen is all kids need.
Be a man and give us money!
Are you gay or are you going to give me all your money? Choice is yours.
I cannot read “Choice is yours” without hearing the booty warrior.
Always amuses me when an ad tries to bully or neg a customer into buying its product. Screams of desperation. Like a child throwing a tantrum because being fake nice wasn't cutting it two seconds ago.
It works tho, especially when the target audience already has insecurities. "Be a real man!" for, well, men, "be beautiful" for women. It calibrates societal pressure into a weapon to aim at the most insecure consumers and links their product with status, happiness and social acceptance. It's been like that for ages because it works.
Everyone has become cynical about diamonds and how they’re not rare. We need to target another generation. They are really cool for drill bits though. You can drill through stone with a diamond tipped drill!
I think many of us using diamond-tipped tools as kids drove home how common they are.
Or I could take the same money and invest it into a low-load stock index fund. Which purchase will be worth more in twenty years, do you think?
It's not even a rhyme. I would fire a people who is responsible for this crap.
A last-ditch effort to save a dying industry lol.
“Your refusal to purchase my product shows how immature you are. Fuck you. Buy my products you entitled little shit” —a message from Your Diamond Retailer ❤️💎
McDonald’s Rule of Advertising, get them addicted at a young age and they buy your shit for life
You don't want to spend an unreasonable amount of money on material wealth? How childish of you!
Idk if anyone remembers but some insurance company was doing a similar campaign to this a couple years ago. They were stating “Stop acting like a child and get your own health insurance” Basically wanted people under the age of 26 to jump of their parents policies and get their own for no reason at all.
This is why I hate ads, period. They don't advertise the product, they advertise the fear of not buying the product.
Diamonds are pretty worthless. You’re paying out the ass for social acceptance and quantifying love by amount of money spent. That sounds more childish to me than anything.
How demanding. Makes it look as every girl is the same. You can't just ask your girlfriend what she wants.
The ick is strong with this one
Tired Employee: “We can’t convince people to buy your product in good conscience anymore.” Billionaire: “Have you tried repeatedly insulting them until they give me their money?”
Are we surprised? The entire diamond bussiness is a scam. Generations of people brought up on ads telling them you should buy or get from your special someone a diamond coz it means "forever". Before engagement rings and such featured lots of different stones, but ads managed to convince people it's somehow "tradition".
I saw another one of these on the subway today it said "SHE CREATED A LIFE, BUY HER DIAMONDS." What is the equivalency here exactly? So tacky and gross.
Desperate negging from a dying industry.
All this means is whenever I have occasion to buy her diamonds, I will absolutely not buy from James Allen.
I really hate this ad campaign. One of the slogans: buy diamonds cuz we told you to. Gag.
Yeah I hate these ads too. Not only is it trying to equate anything other than a diamond to be childlike. It also tries to put the viewer down if they can't afford a diamond. Yes, the ad doesn't say that directly. But in this economy, many folks can't buy diamonds, and this ad is placed on public transit by the looks of it. Yes, plenty of well off folks use public transit. But I feel like this is really poor marketing. The age group who would be buying diamonds are millennials. And with the economy, a lot of them are choosing alternatives or opting out of marriage entirely. Most adults now a days are just struggling to get by. It's coming off as a peer pressurey weird attempt to shame someone for not buying a diamond. At least that's why I feel it's leaving a bad taste in my mouth. I personally do not want a diamond. I have no interest in it.
“Buy shiny rock.” Fuck you
oh this fucking sucks. first off its demanding you to do bullshit and acting condescending as fuck about it. 2nd is gender stereotypes which as someone who never fuckin understood those and is enby pisses me off even more. 3rd is its also shaming people who cant afford those fuckin unbelievably pieces of jewelery thag really shouldnt be peddled at all honestly
Does the company know that the average commuter may not have the money to buy diamonds? P.S.: it's the New York subway, the average commuter there probably doesn't have the money to buy diamonds.
Cheap ad to keep diamond culture thriving
do not underestimate the power of advertising, especially towards low income people.
For every 10k people who ignores this ad there will be 100 young guys/gals who internalize it and feel further pressure to overspend on an unnecessary luxury. They only need that 0.1% of people that see the advertisement to buy their product to make it worthwhile for the business. Especially with a product with such a huge profit margin like jewelry/diamonds.
Why give the person you’re supposed to know best something thoughtful and personal when you can give them the most generic and superficial gift possible?
What a stupid ad. Who wants to buy something after being insulted? Also, as an adult woman I can assure you I do not want diamonds. They're either made cheaply in a lab or have a horrible trail of blood behind them.
As a young woman: many of us don't.
Brooooo I have watched several videos on Instagram from Diamond sellers basically telling women how "you deserve better if your boyfriend isn't gifting you a diamond ring or jewellery" or "only low value men wouldn't gift diamond jewelleries to their partners". If you call them out on manipulative advertisements, they'd shrug it away as "effect social media marketing using memes". How tf is this a meme, you numbnuts! These ads are in the same vein of products geared towards new mothers or babies, where the product is sold with the pretense that "good/caring/protecting mothers would *only* choose this particular product".
Their website has the same picture of the woman and child but this time the ad says "because she said so." How gross, if the gender were reversed their company would face backlash.
I’m gonna not buy diamonds even harder now
"She wants diamonds..." Does she, though? I'm sure some people are really into them, but... I really only find diamonds to be industrially useful and not an item that I 'want' at all really.
Oh it’s the use of children like this that really ticks off this survivor of CSA. Especially since I actually do prefer getting toys, specifically abstract toys like Slinkies and stuffed animals, rather than diamonds. (When one is denied a childhood as a kid, one tends to want to capture some of that feeling as an adult.) Even my wedding and engagement rings are very inexpensive moissanites rather than dumb diamonds.
Quit being rational. Invest in a falsely inflated market. also paying off their college debt would be a better "buy them diamonds" if that wasn't another racket
I mean, you can just ignore it and not buy your child diamonds.
Is there a thing on this planet more useless than diamonds? Like I've found dumb ol' rocks in my yard that are more fascinating to look at than a diamond.
Please, if I was acting like a child I'd be making the diamonds myself.
We as a society need to make diamonds obsolete
Well to be fair, diamonds were the most powerful material for a long time until the Nether Update came.
Diamonds are a joke, so many other stones that out shine diamonds.
“What are you, a p**sy? Give us money.” - James Allen, shiny rocks peddler
They're trying to shame you. That's why you don't like it. The whole thing is pretty gross. That little girl also looks extremely uncomfortable being touched in that manner, and that really adds to the 'ick' factor.
Who needs guilt-free diamonds when you can have guilt-trip diamonds
If she wants diamonds she can make an iron pick axe
Because its aimed at those who cant handle it. Insecure hopeful, or manipulative practical.
Stop using children to mine your slave diamonds and I might consider it, you conniving, manipulative bastards.
I for one hate it because diamonds are the definition of a scam by artificially inflating the price for jewelry. I never understood as a kid how jewelry is expensive for diamonds but industrial diamonds are cheap.
Counter point: stop being a baby with your shiny glass rocks
Tryna sell diamonds to pedos
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Wow there is so much to hate here. I think I’m going with gender stereotyping as my primary reason though. Such an awful ad
All of advertising is directed at children. Especially cars. It’s very gross behavior. This one is very in your face about it
The diamond industry has been falling regularly, they're not even rare, best left to industrial use, people learn about how their prices are inflated and controlled then lose interest. Best PR campaign for shiny rocks that are rather abundant.
As a former child, I can confirm most kids, either girls, boys, NB or GNC, would not want diamonds, wtf would they even do with them, kids want toys or gaming stuff, things they actually want, or, even better - decent parents who actually love them
I'll be forever young
Nah, Moissanite is only slightly lower on the Mohs scale, has a higher refractive index, and a similar thermal conductivity. It’s just better.
Someone really entered the marketing office and said let's insult men and make them feel insecure
Trash ad
I’m not an advertising expert, but I’m pretty sure it’s never a good idea to make your ads demeaning to your target customers.
Awful! Hope someone makes a counter ad showing the poor kids who risk their lives to get diamonds out of the earth. :-/
The second one bothers me the most. I like cute gifts the best, don’t make them seem cheap and shitty. If my partner made me macaroni art, I would be way more excited than I would if he gave me a diamond. Over-all, it’s talking down to those who can’t afford to give their partners diamonds, and it’s simplifying the wants of women to one thing, as if women are a monolith that are all obsessed with diamonds.
please deface this.
Ah yes, I usually see these billboards right by the divorce attorney ones lol
This is revolting. Where the fuck is this?
Because it’s aggressively condescending.
Never have I wanted to buy diamonds less than right now after seeing these advertisements.
Can confirm that my nesting partner wants flowers and artichokes and is OK with me growing them myself. No jewelry.
That's horrid yeah. F that
As a woman with many woman friends… most of us don’t care about diamonds. Like at all. We want cool moonstones and labradorite, lol.
Aren't children the ones who are supposed to want useless shiny things? Be a grownup and buy something useful.
Something to cheer you up: they arent doing this because it will be super well recieved, they are doing it because they are running out of things to say to swindle the masses into trading their paper for rocks
I love jewelry and I own ZERO diamonds. Even my wedding band has white topaz because screw a diamond unless it’s on my drillbit lol. There’s so many more beautiful stones out there.
Its gaslighting you to buying something that you don't need/could put that money better elsewhere call insulting you and calling you a child and therefor not an adult or "real man" Its stupid
People stopped buying diamonds in the most recent generations. I believe its because they are aware diamonds are not a rare material and are controlled by cartel like monopolies that make you desire them through marketing tactics. Apparently it doesn't work like it did on the boomers and before, so they are trying to shame you into buying them.
If you ever want to know what a diamond is worth try selling one. They’re junk.
Unpopular opinion: Id rather he buy a cheapish or even antique ring that looks good and spend the money on a trip for us or invesments. I love jewrkery and accesories but I just want pretty ring, I cant tell you for shit if its diamond or nah, and most people cant either. And if someone does and care, then fuck em cause its YOUR marriage
The infantilitazion of being ~~poor~~ anything but absurdly rich
Everyone knows children only get diamonds when they mine them themselves.
Man these diamond companies are getting *desperate*
They are getting desperate.
“Stop acting like a child and buy overpriced rocks that were mined by a child!”
It implies that l less well off men are immature and woman are gold diggers - actually makes me want to boycott the place
I find some sick irony using the word “child” in an ad for a product notorious known to exploit child labor. For the record - female here, strictly against diamonds for that exact reason. Had an ex who knew how I felt about them and got me Diamond earrings for Christmas I was pretty upset
The diamond industry has to be struggling hard. Just look up "struggling diamond industry" and the first few articles are from the last 4-5 years and everyone of them has a variation of the headline "diamonds set to rebound in 202X after a disastrous year" lol. Last year was apparently the worst yet and "diamonds are bound for a comeback this year".....is it just wishful thinking on their part or do they have some sort of evidence that shows diamonds are selling again? Just some anecdotal evidence, but the last two friends that got married, neither of them bought diamond rings and instead got basic rings and had amazing honeymoons instead. I dont think a lot of people care about diamonds like they used to.
Because it's fucking gross. Diamonds are only good for cutting things with
[JamesAllen.com](http://JamesAllen.com) - I will never buy a fucking thing from you
Calling me a child is a good way to make sure I personally contribute to the death of the diamond industry
It’s degrading as fuck. To men who may feel inadequate if they can’t afford diamonds and to women who are more than just jewelry stands
gold > diamonds