Rankin: Pamela Anderson is Perfect Val Day Pin-up

‘Fuck Valentine’s Day’ says Pamela Anderson in Coco De Mer’s newest anti-Valentine’s Day spot.

Created by Rankin’s agency The Full Service, the endline was conceived by Rankin himself as a way of purposefully challenging the typically overdone and cheesy ads that clutter the loved-up holiday.

Instead of parading chocolates and flowers in front of consumers, the spot follows Anderson as she prepares for a sexy solo evening in, marking her new role as the brand’s ambassador and empowering women through breaking stereotypical conventions.

shots caught up with Rankin to find out how the idea came about; why Pam was the perfect anti-Valentine’s Day pin-up and how they ended up collaborating creatively too.

What was the brief for the project and at what stage did you get involved?

I’ve been working with Coco de Mer since X and although they’re a small brand - which means they don’t have much budget for advertising - they’re a great client and very open to trying new ideas. I’d been thinking about Valentine’s Day and Christmas campaigns; they’re always pretty cheesy and naff. It’s almost always the same ideas put out there. I'd had the straightforward idea of ‘Fuck Valentine’s Day’ as an endline. I pitched it to the Coco De Mer team, but even considered doing it ourselves as it seemed like it would be fun to do. Once I pitched the idea to their MD Lucy Litwack, she immediatedly thought Pamela Anderson should take the lead. Ads take on a life of their own when it's that sort of collaborative group especially when we're all so opinionated. My original idea was to portray sexuality in a more forceful way but Pam wanted to soften it, so it kind of became a shared film. And that’s the way I like working.

Having worked previously with Coco De Mer, how would you define the brand's advertising style?

When we decided to collobrate with Coco De Mer, I was already very much in their headspace having worked on previous projects. Their style is about people being open, empowerment, sexuality not just sex. X (below) was all about experimenting. One of the best comments that I received about X was something a friend of mine said about it feeling like watching her life was flashing before her eyes when she watched it; that it touched on real truths. I’m very lucky to work with a brand that doesn’t play by the rules. 

You do well to keep the spot stylish. What were the biggest challenges in ensuring it didn’t appear seedy given the fact that you are essentially featuring a woman pleasuring herself?

A lot of people didn’t actually realise it was Pam at the beginning, which was intentional. If you're working with a sexy icon, you don’t need to spread it too thick on the bread; she's an ingredient in the mix. Pam didn’t want it to be overt. I love her for her in-your-face work. She’s super smart and gets her brand and herself; which is why she wanted me to approach sexuality more subtly in the film. Like anything, the film needed to be treated with balance. It’s all implied.  

A lot of your previous work seems to sexually empower and liberate women. Is this something you like to consciously direct?

I always fear the repercussions of taking pictures where anyone thinks im trying to do anything demeaning or treat them as a subject. There’s a lot of political correctness at the moment and a lot of people are very concerned about nudity. Its not the right approach to life. There are female photographers taking male nudes too. If someone is interested in the male or female form, then why shouldn’t they explore it? If I empower anyone, that’s a huge compliment. I’ve surrounded myself with strong female women – and I try to listen to them. It’s too easy to over step the line and present the male gaze and I'm very conscious of that.

What was it like working with Pam on the project?

Kind of nuts really. But it’s the sexiness of people; their personality that interests me most. I tried to avoid objectifying her in the film – there are hints of Pam; rather than full-on body and sexiness. Her brain is what’s sexy; she’s really a very interesting person and it was a great pleasure working with her. I was also surprised that she arrived on set alone; without any entourage. She’s 100% unique – she completely trusted Lucy and I from the get-go. Of course, there were disagreements and moments of misunderstandings in production but it made me like her even more as she was very clear about how she wanted to be present herself.