According to an article in the New York Times, the industry’s obsession with using the word “Bold” began a couple of years ago with auto advertisers. I noticed this “boldness” trend while watching this year’s Super Bowl (the commercials are the best part and what I look forward to the most…especially if my team isn’t in it). Butterfinger’s humorous “Bolder Than Bold” commercial with a bull rider jumping out of an airplane on a bull, while eating the namesake candybar, immediately caught my attention. Now I see “boldness” everywhere.

Acura (including many other automakers) uses “bold” styling to entice customers. Butterfinger is “Bolder than Bold.” Boar’s Head has an entire product line of “Bold®” (yes, they even trademarked it, just in case) premium deli meats. A myriad of other advertisers tease customers to “Be bold” and purchase their brands.

Who (or what, for that matter) wouldn’t want to be bold?

Boldness connotes many positive qualities that consumers look for. According to Dictionary.com “bold” is defined as: not hesitating or fearful in the face of danger; not hesitating to break the rules; courageous; beyond the limits; imaginative; striking. Well, what brand wouldn’t want to be described as all of those things?

One of the reasons why so many products or brands out there are now “bold” is because many of those ads were probably created by the same agency or group of agencies. A marketer in one category probably saw a commercial for another client and said “hey, we can use that!”

This “me too!” mentality has led to very uninspiring advertising in national brands, with many products and services losing their distinction and point of differentiation. One reddit user commented online that “unfortunately, everything is bold now. It’s like the word epic or awesome—they don’t really mean what they used to. Not when everything is bold.”

I couldn’t agree more.

By: Ryan Hembree,
Principal, Brand & Creative Strategy