I happened across this ad on slowtwitch.com, the web’s go-to source for all things triathlon.

Most people probably haven’t thought of Avia since the early-90s when they were known for their fitness/aerobics and basketball shoes.  Over the past several years they have made a big push in the triathlon market with some success.  My fiancee (also a pro triathlete) used to train in a pair of their running shoes and actually really liked them.  I have never tried a pair.

The ad is attention-grabbing for sure, but for all the wrong reasons.  What does crashing my bike and losing my front teeth have to do with what I wear on my feet?  Even if these shoes help me recover, from say workouts, how are they going to help a disfigured face?

A few bullet points to summarize my thoughts on the ad:

- close-ups of faces are never a good idea.

- You never want to associate a product with an accident, especially when bike crashes are all too much of a reality for triathletes.  There has been a lot of hit and run car-bike accidents in the news lately and it isn’t something taken lightly.

- It took me a second to realize that the image under the face was a tooth, maybe because the girl lost her front teeth and that tooth is a molar (with some tartar build-up to boot), but hey, I’m no dentist.

- If you’re going to go ahead with the ad at least improve the photo editing.  It looks to me like the graphic artist drew a black square and placed it over the “missing teeth” in Photoshop.  Not too life-like, especially with the obvious fake pink blood on the other teeth.

- Why are we even thinking of teeth in an ad for an athletic product?

Alternate ads:

- Show an athlete in obvious pain after a tough workout (bent over, hands on knees on a track; cringing in an ice bath; or show typical recovery aides, and throw the shoes into the line-up with a quick line about how they work).  Also, if a model is in the ad, show enough of them so that they appear attractive!  I don’t know who the girl in this ad is, but I am willing to bet if it were a full body photo (or even 1/2 body) with just a few cuts and scrapes on her, this ad would have gone over a lot better.  (I’m not the only one who finds it disturbing.  There is a whole thread on the Slowtwitch message board about it.)

I’m also very surprised that Avia has not responded to the complaints and pulled the ad.  I’ve managed an advertising campaign on Slowtwitch and they are very easy to work with.  I’m sure if Avia wanted to create a new ad and swap it out (especially given the circumstances) Slowtwitch would be willing to do it.