While the weather in Québec these days might not be conducive to bikini wearing, I thought I’d post something about the bikini.
I came across this 'History of the Bikini' in the latest issue of Time Magazine where I learned an interesting bit of trivia that will add to your pool party conversations.
In 1946, French engineer and fashion designer, Louis Réard officially invents the 'bikini.' He names his creation after Bikini Atoll, the site of nuclear weapon tests in the Marshall Islands, predicting that his suit will cause explosive excitement.
In 1973, twenty-five years after Louis Réard’s creation caused a sensation and just when the Brazilian thong became popular, Air Canada and its agency BCP ran a campaign that has become a classic of Québec advertising. It featured a bikini clad Dominique Michel on the beaches of the Caribbean dancing with the locals.
The song’s lyrics have become part of the Québec French
lexicon. The expression ‘mon bikini ma brosse à dent’ (my bikini and my
toothbrush) is well known in the province. There’s even a swimwear retailer in
Ste-Hyacinthe called Mon Bikini Ma Brosse A Dent Inc.
According to PMB 2008 data, Quebeckers purchase more women’s swimwear than Canadians in the ROC (15% of Quebeckers bought one or two items in the past year compared to 12% or an index of 121 compared to 95). It’s hard to know if they’re bikinis but the omnipresence of Bikini Village retail stores across the province and the merchandise mix suggest most aren’t one-piece bathing suits…
If you think this is a rather frivolous post for a marketing blog, read on. It gets a bit more serious.
Bikinis were the subject of a very serious study recently published in the Journal of Consumer Research (June 2008). Titled ‘Bikinis Instigate Generalized Impatience in Interporal Choice’, the study ‘demonstrates that bikinis cause a shift in time preference: Men live in the here and now when they glance at pictures featuring women in lingerie. That is, men will choose the immediately available rewards and seek immediate gratification after sex cue exposure’. You can read more about this fascinating topic on ScienceDaily.com.
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