Opus ads tout the return of the flightless bird. (via clay.)
South African Chicken wars- "In complaining to the ASA, KFC submitted that the ad was "disparaging in the extreme as it shows the colonel to be listless and somewhat impotent until he eats Chicken Licken." (via clay.)
Foster's new TV ad, which masquerades as a wildlife documentary, shows a reporter having his head bitten off by a pelican, with the endline "don't lose your head". Shown during daytime sports coverage during the weekend, the ad sparked 15 complaints to the Independent Television Commission, mostly from parents who considered it too graphic for their children to watch. The ITC ruled the ad can't be shown before 7.30pm. See their other ad, showing "Big Doug" making a bungee jump from a crane above a river, only to have a crocodile lunge at him, apparently biting his head off as he hits the water. It ends with the voice-over: "New Foster's hit tap. Don't lose your head." Aired before Jurassic Park in theatres, it received 180 complaints. (via Dab & Clay.)
Colgate vs. P&G over whiteners - "Colgate-Palmolive Co. sued Procter & Gamble Co. Monday, alleging P&G is misleading consumers with new advertising comparing the companies' do-it-yourself tooth whitening products. The federal suit accuses P&G of lying in commercials that say its Crest Night Effects and Crest Whitestrips products are "clinically proven" more effective than Colgate's Simply White Night and Simply White products. New York-based Colgate also claims P&G used questionable measuring tactics to reach results showing its products make teeth several times whiter. The suit seeks unspecified damages and asks a judge to order P&G to pull the advertising -- including TV ads, newspaper inserts and cardboard coffee-cup holders."
Sainsbury's online shopping service, Sainsbury's to You, has a new TV spot not featuring Jamie Oliver, but his parents. Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO is the agency for Sainsbury, and has a longstanding contract with Oliver, who is credited with boosting sales at the supermarket chain. "This ad is one of 14 executions being run by Sainsbury's in the run-up to Christmas. In the ad, Jamie's mother opens the door to a delivery driver, but by the surprise on her face, viewers realise she is not expecting the delivery, and she presumes that Jamie's father, Trevor, has made the order. It turns out that their Christmas decorations have sprung to life and have ordered the food in their excitement at Christmas. Penny Slatter, head of online marketing for Sainsbury's, said: "This is the first time we have advertised online shopping nationally. We hope the ad will encourage more shoppers to shop online and make shopping at Sainsbury's more convenient, especially towards Christmas time." Jamie Oliver has roped friends and family, including his grandmother, to appear in ads for Sainsbury's." Does anyone else find this a bit odd? I mean, it's one thing to have the celeb, but to have their family and friends in the ads, alone, is kinda weird. Why are we supposed to care what their friends and family do? Seems like a bit of a stretch to me.
A nice little article from CA about if it's possible to find a creative solution within creative confines, including budgets and other restrictions.
McDonalds fries magazine ad will not run again. It attempts to alert the public that their french fries are made from real potatoes and not reconstituted stuffs. The ASA felt that "material parts of that process were omitted from the advertisement, the authority concluded the advertisement was misleading." Follow to see the ad.
Mazda is hoping Britney Spears and Madonna can achieve what Celine Dion has conspicuously failed to do for Chrysler: reverse a decline in car sales. In the promo the Spears drives up to a nightclub in the Mazda sports car and then goes inside for a spot of dirty dancing with Madonna that doesn't quite culminate in another kiss.
Tesco's ad doesn't score with Mrs. Wilkinson - "As PR gaffes go, they don't come much bigger than offending the sporting hero of the moment. But that's just what Tesco has managed to do by splashing a photograph of Jonny Wilkinson's mother across eight national newspapers without her permission.
But today the company was forced to apologise and make a donation to charity after it emerged that, in the excitement, it had failed to ask permission to use Mrs Wilkinson's picture in its adverts. "Obviously we were very excited about Jonny Wilkinson's mum being in one of our stores," said a Tesco spokeswoman today.
"We should have telephoned the family first but we telephoned Jonny's agent once we had run the advert and he wasn't happy about it. Heh. Whoopsie! Follow the link to the see the ad.
Caffeinated posts from a Creative Director/Copywriter/Strategist.
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Monday, November 24, 2003
Morning ad shizzle
Dion- the Diva who can't sell cars- From the Adage article: "One year after signing a three-year contract with Dion for a reported $14 million, Chrysler is all but pulling the plug on the French-Canadian chanteuse. The advertising campaign that featured more Dion than cars has been a disaster for Chrysler. Dealers complain that the branding campaign did more to sell the singer than it did the new Pacifica. It is not as though Chrysler wasn't warned. Sources say Chrysler's ad agency, BBDO of Troy, Mich., discouraged its client from using the singer for its commercials. Still, the campaign went ahead despite test numbers showing that Dion appealed to a much older audience than Chrysler wanted." Yeah. Trying to use Dion to market to a young audience was stupid. And since even the agency attempted to stop this celeb disaster, all the blame can fall on the guy who pushed them to use her. Plus, why do you need a celeb to push a new product? There's an overuse of celebs in advertising and most of the time, the product or service has nothing to do with them. It's a blatant excuse for the client, agency, or creatives to work with someone they admire, get a hard on for, or whatever. Rarely is it to use them effectively as a spokesperson for the brand, product, or service. It could be because I'm "in" the ad biz and I see through a lot of the gimmicks and games and the sort, but if the consumer doesn't give a rats ass about the celeb, or see a connection to what is being sold, it's not going to be effective. No matter what your research tells you.
Y&R EMEA Ads of the Month- Some cool stuff from Y&R agencies around the world. It also includes a nice archive too.
Tech clothing includes shirts that can track what you purchased and pants that could lead to intrusive advertising.
Gay marriage advocates launch PSA TV ad campaign in Canada. The concept is promoting tolerance as same-sex couples cope with daily life, just like "mixed" sex couples.
Check out the Dentsu Advertising Museum here.
Seasons greetings (pie) ad and other viral fun. (ty dab!)
Recycling ads for profit. Yeah, this was done before. It's not new. But where is Admine now? Sure it worked for a while but retro-fitting ads doesn't usually work. And if a client has a budget of 5K, how are they going to afford to pay for the media costs of TV? Just another way to screw the creatives out of getting work and being able to make a living doing what they do. Because I don't endorse what this guy is doing, I'm not mentioning his name or the company name. If you want that info, follow the link. The economy for creatives is bad enough right now, and doing this kind of thing, in this kind of economy, is just perpetuating it. (ty Clay for the link.)
Y&R EMEA Ads of the Month- Some cool stuff from Y&R agencies around the world. It also includes a nice archive too.
Tech clothing includes shirts that can track what you purchased and pants that could lead to intrusive advertising.
Gay marriage advocates launch PSA TV ad campaign in Canada. The concept is promoting tolerance as same-sex couples cope with daily life, just like "mixed" sex couples.
Check out the Dentsu Advertising Museum here.
Seasons greetings (pie) ad and other viral fun. (ty dab!)
Recycling ads for profit. Yeah, this was done before. It's not new. But where is Admine now? Sure it worked for a while but retro-fitting ads doesn't usually work. And if a client has a budget of 5K, how are they going to afford to pay for the media costs of TV? Just another way to screw the creatives out of getting work and being able to make a living doing what they do. Because I don't endorse what this guy is doing, I'm not mentioning his name or the company name. If you want that info, follow the link. The economy for creatives is bad enough right now, and doing this kind of thing, in this kind of economy, is just perpetuating it. (ty Clay for the link.)
Friday, November 21, 2003
Silly Salamadars Slither Stealthily
Family Guy might return in January 2005. "As many as 35 new episodes could return in January 2005, marking the first time that a canceled series has been revived based on strong DVD demand and ratings in syndication. A decision to restart the show suggests a reversal from the old TV business model, in which a network hit predicts a profit windfall in syndication. This time, the promise of DVD and syndication gold could justify a show's return even if low network ratings didn't. But canceled favorites aren't likely to rise from the grave en masse. Family Guy has one major advantage: With no actors and no sets, it can simply be drawn back into existence." Um, yeah there are actors, voice actors. If they don't bring back the original voices, they might have some angry fans on their hands. Now all FauX needs to do is bring back Futurama, and I'll stop hating them as much.
These folks want to ban Comic Sans. Against the wishes of the Comic Sans Appreciation Society and Illustrated History of Comic Sans.
Jones Soda's Turkey & Gravy flavored beverage will be available for sale on Friday, November 21st at 9 a.m. (PST) on www.jonessodastore.com. The beverage will only be available in limited quantities, and on a first come, first serve basis. Jones Soda Co.announces today that due to the incredible response to the Turkey & Gravy flavored beverage, and the requests from across the country, Jones Soda will sell its Turkey & Gravy flavored beverage online with all proceeds going to Toys for Tots, a national charity for children. Eww. Must be popular as a gag gift, pun intended!
Oodles of Marketing Blunders. Stuff that gets lost in the translation. Heh.
These folks want to ban Comic Sans. Against the wishes of the Comic Sans Appreciation Society and Illustrated History of Comic Sans.
Jones Soda's Turkey & Gravy flavored beverage will be available for sale on Friday, November 21st at 9 a.m. (PST) on www.jonessodastore.com. The beverage will only be available in limited quantities, and on a first come, first serve basis. Jones Soda Co.announces today that due to the incredible response to the Turkey & Gravy flavored beverage, and the requests from across the country, Jones Soda will sell its Turkey & Gravy flavored beverage online with all proceeds going to Toys for Tots, a national charity for children. Eww. Must be popular as a gag gift, pun intended!
Oodles of Marketing Blunders. Stuff that gets lost in the translation. Heh.
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Going addy on your arse
Coors is introducing a low-carb beer to the market. "Adolph Coors Co., the No. 3 U.S. brewer, said Wednesday it was introducing a low carbohydrate beer to gain market share with health-conscious drinkers. The new beer, called Aspen Edge, is designed to compete with products such as rival Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc.'s Michelob Ultra. Aspen Edge will be sold in 10 states starting on March 1. Coors said in a statement it plans to make the product available across the United States by the end of 2004."
"New research by NBC finds support for the premise that despite clients' skittishness to keep advertising during national crises, Americans want and really need to see advertising soon after a major national trauma like 9/11 or a military conflict like the war in Iraq." "They feel advertising is a part of the American way of life," said Janet Gallent, director of primary research at NBC."
Developed by Laird+Partners, Gap's creative agency, the new Gap holiday campaign features nine artists, including Al Green, Melissa Etheridge and Kelly Rowland singing an exclusive recording of "Put a Little Love in Your Heart," which is the musical backdrop for four :30 spots. The set for the ads recreates an old-fashioned, Main Street, USA look and feel. They feature familiar faces such as models Nastassja Kinski and Frankie Rayder getting into the holiday spirit alongside their family members including Kinski's children and Rayder's sisters. "Each of the four TV spots uses music and emotion to express the meaning and magic of the holiday season," said Kyle Andrew, vice president of Gap Marketing. "We hope these ads and the special song we recorded will evoke the loving spirit of the holidays, while continuing to reinforce the emotional connection we're building with our customers."
The advertising watchdog has banned an advertising campaign for Rizla cigarette papers after ruling it could be seen as condoning the use of cannabis.
A TV campaign for Burger King that showed a woman covered in bite marks has been cleared by watchdogs despite attracting dozens of viewer complaints, including one from a victim of domestic violence. Complaints came in at 83 causing the ITC to launch an investigation even after Burger King voluntarily withdrew the advert last month.
Controversial KFC ads get pulled due to their health claims. "In situations like this there ought to be corrective advertising to correct the information that they have propagated, but it's a good-faith gesture to nip this almost in the bud," he said. Adage had written an editorial about how these ads should be pulled off the air. And Bob Garfield wrote a blurb about KFC's claims being slippery. FCB won the $200 million KFC account in September. This could be an interesting situation, depending on who takes the fall for this. I'll be glad to see the stupid "You've gotta KFC what's cookin'" line gone. If I never hear it again, it will be too soon. Talk about bastardizing the English language. It doesn't even make any sense. A client who buys a line like that, and the whole campaign, needs to reevaluate who they've got in their marketing department giving out the stamp of approval for this sort of thing.
"New research by NBC finds support for the premise that despite clients' skittishness to keep advertising during national crises, Americans want and really need to see advertising soon after a major national trauma like 9/11 or a military conflict like the war in Iraq." "They feel advertising is a part of the American way of life," said Janet Gallent, director of primary research at NBC."
Developed by Laird+Partners, Gap's creative agency, the new Gap holiday campaign features nine artists, including Al Green, Melissa Etheridge and Kelly Rowland singing an exclusive recording of "Put a Little Love in Your Heart," which is the musical backdrop for four :30 spots. The set for the ads recreates an old-fashioned, Main Street, USA look and feel. They feature familiar faces such as models Nastassja Kinski and Frankie Rayder getting into the holiday spirit alongside their family members including Kinski's children and Rayder's sisters. "Each of the four TV spots uses music and emotion to express the meaning and magic of the holiday season," said Kyle Andrew, vice president of Gap Marketing. "We hope these ads and the special song we recorded will evoke the loving spirit of the holidays, while continuing to reinforce the emotional connection we're building with our customers."
The advertising watchdog has banned an advertising campaign for Rizla cigarette papers after ruling it could be seen as condoning the use of cannabis.
A TV campaign for Burger King that showed a woman covered in bite marks has been cleared by watchdogs despite attracting dozens of viewer complaints, including one from a victim of domestic violence. Complaints came in at 83 causing the ITC to launch an investigation even after Burger King voluntarily withdrew the advert last month.
Controversial KFC ads get pulled due to their health claims. "In situations like this there ought to be corrective advertising to correct the information that they have propagated, but it's a good-faith gesture to nip this almost in the bud," he said. Adage had written an editorial about how these ads should be pulled off the air. And Bob Garfield wrote a blurb about KFC's claims being slippery. FCB won the $200 million KFC account in September. This could be an interesting situation, depending on who takes the fall for this. I'll be glad to see the stupid "You've gotta KFC what's cookin'" line gone. If I never hear it again, it will be too soon. Talk about bastardizing the English language. It doesn't even make any sense. A client who buys a line like that, and the whole campaign, needs to reevaluate who they've got in their marketing department giving out the stamp of approval for this sort of thing.
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Living in a material world
Barnardo ads get complaints. This is a powerful campaign. And that's why it's causing such complaints. No one wants to really see what the problems are. They'd rather turn a blind eye, or just hear about it, not see the nitty gritty details of what is *really* going on. Last week a South African ad aiming to promote the importance of education was pulled off the air by the ASA. That situation is similar to this. If the ad is making people cringe that it's going on, then the ad is working. Just because people don't want to see it, well that's sort of the whole point of the ads. To get the fact that these things are happening out there to those who live in their own little worlds, and to show that there is a way to stop these things from happening. If the ads aren't going to be seen by kids who would be scared or scarred by them, then I don't see a problem with them at all. You can't close your eyes to the horrors going on and wish them away. Life isn't a Disney movie. (I'll get off my high horse now.)
Apple G5 ads pulled. Eight...yes eight complaints got Apple's G5 ads pulled. The claim that it is "the world's fastest, most powerful personal computer" is what did it.
The commercial that Norway is using to try to sell more of their fish to Japan. "Cheesy japanese dubbed food shots! fun!" (Via Dab.)
A new Greenpeace spot from HHCL/red cell has aliens pondering an invasion of Earth. Aliens include Eddie Izzard, Joe McFadden, and Jim Broadbent. I love the reaction to the line "Who is their top man, surely he can pull them together." ;-)
VW Touareg can't do what the ads say it can do. Someone's going to get into some hot water for this one.
Boone/Oakley auctions superbowl ad on eBay was up to $350,000 USD as of Monday. But because they included the agency's phone number (apparently an ebay no-no) they had to start over again. Sucks for the winning bidder.
Apple G5 ads pulled. Eight...yes eight complaints got Apple's G5 ads pulled. The claim that it is "the world's fastest, most powerful personal computer" is what did it.
The commercial that Norway is using to try to sell more of their fish to Japan. "Cheesy japanese dubbed food shots! fun!" (Via Dab.)
A new Greenpeace spot from HHCL/red cell has aliens pondering an invasion of Earth. Aliens include Eddie Izzard, Joe McFadden, and Jim Broadbent. I love the reaction to the line "Who is their top man, surely he can pull them together." ;-)
VW Touareg can't do what the ads say it can do. Someone's going to get into some hot water for this one.
Boone/Oakley auctions superbowl ad on eBay was up to $350,000 USD as of Monday. But because they included the agency's phone number (apparently an ebay no-no) they had to start over again. Sucks for the winning bidder.
Friday, November 07, 2003
Life in the ad world
Find out which companies are sponsoring and supporting the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
A South African ad aiming to promote the importance of education was pulled off the air by the ASA. The ads were created by Saatchi & Saatchi. One spot begins with a young boy taking to the camera: "Hello my name is Thomas. In 10 years time we will meet at a stop street, I will walk up to your car and put a gun to your head, if you don't get out of your car I will shoot you." Another spot shows a boy saying that in a few years he'll be begging at a shop, and that he'll attack and stab the person who walks away from him when he asks for money. The ads end with the line: "With no education, this is a likely future. Educate. Educate. Educate." With almost twenty four complaints to the ASA, the complaints were upheld. The complaints said the ads promoted hijacking and justified criminal behaviour and showed insensitivity to victims of hijackings, making the ads distasteful. The ASA said that the public was "very sensitive to issues of crimes such as murder, rape and violence which are committed against the person". Hmmm. You think? Geez. It's not like the ads are trying to say that all kids will end up this way or that every person in dire straits will commit crimes like these. It's a powerful way to get the message across. And apparently it worked if people are cringing at it. No one wants to admit that these kinds of things happen and by pulling the ads off the air, it's just another example of society wanting to close their eyes to the situation. And that's not going to change anything. I'll get off my high horse now.
FlyTed- "United Airlines won't 'fess up, but its fingerprints are all over the quirky "Ted" advertising campaign saturating Denver this week. Chatters on airline message boards first made the connection Thursday after local news reports focused on the "teaser" campaign in Denver. The marketing scheme includes men riding human transporters wearing signs that say "I'm not Ted," orange-and-blue stickers, and even sod spelling the word "Ted" in a field in Eaton, but few clues as to who Ted is. But United (or Uni-Ted?), which unveils details of a new low-cost carrier later this month, left digital fingerprints. The airline can be traced to a site called www.flyted.com , claimed in September by an intellectual property law firm that works for United. The server that hosts the site, which hasn't yet been launched, is registered with United Loyalty Services, a division of United parent UAL Corp."
The new carrier - part of United's strategy to exit bankruptcy next year - will seek to wrest customers from Denver-based rival Frontier. It will match the lowest fares in the marketplace. There's some info at the Meet Ted website (flash). Plus check out their gallery which shows some of the teaser campaign bits that were, are being done.
Napster cat takes on "the man" in short flash animations. (found at boingboing.net)
A South African ad aiming to promote the importance of education was pulled off the air by the ASA. The ads were created by Saatchi & Saatchi. One spot begins with a young boy taking to the camera: "Hello my name is Thomas. In 10 years time we will meet at a stop street, I will walk up to your car and put a gun to your head, if you don't get out of your car I will shoot you." Another spot shows a boy saying that in a few years he'll be begging at a shop, and that he'll attack and stab the person who walks away from him when he asks for money. The ads end with the line: "With no education, this is a likely future. Educate. Educate. Educate." With almost twenty four complaints to the ASA, the complaints were upheld. The complaints said the ads promoted hijacking and justified criminal behaviour and showed insensitivity to victims of hijackings, making the ads distasteful. The ASA said that the public was "very sensitive to issues of crimes such as murder, rape and violence which are committed against the person". Hmmm. You think? Geez. It's not like the ads are trying to say that all kids will end up this way or that every person in dire straits will commit crimes like these. It's a powerful way to get the message across. And apparently it worked if people are cringing at it. No one wants to admit that these kinds of things happen and by pulling the ads off the air, it's just another example of society wanting to close their eyes to the situation. And that's not going to change anything. I'll get off my high horse now.
FlyTed- "United Airlines won't 'fess up, but its fingerprints are all over the quirky "Ted" advertising campaign saturating Denver this week. Chatters on airline message boards first made the connection Thursday after local news reports focused on the "teaser" campaign in Denver. The marketing scheme includes men riding human transporters wearing signs that say "I'm not Ted," orange-and-blue stickers, and even sod spelling the word "Ted" in a field in Eaton, but few clues as to who Ted is. But United (or Uni-Ted?), which unveils details of a new low-cost carrier later this month, left digital fingerprints. The airline can be traced to a site called www.flyted.com , claimed in September by an intellectual property law firm that works for United. The server that hosts the site, which hasn't yet been launched, is registered with United Loyalty Services, a division of United parent UAL Corp."
The new carrier - part of United's strategy to exit bankruptcy next year - will seek to wrest customers from Denver-based rival Frontier. It will match the lowest fares in the marketplace. There's some info at the Meet Ted website (flash). Plus check out their gallery which shows some of the teaser campaign bits that were, are being done.
Napster cat takes on "the man" in short flash animations. (found at boingboing.net)
Ad blather
This "gem" of a quote came from this article:"The problem with most marketing is that it has been perverted by creative people whose goal is not to sell products but to produce advertising that wins awards."
Oh please. A couple months ago while waiting in a line at a book signing, I thumbed through a few books while standing in the "marketing" section of the bookstore. I happened to pick up this guys "Your Marketing Sucks" book and when I read, "If you have an advertising agency that applies for any kind of an award (Clios, whatever), fire them immediately. They shouldn’t be in the business to win ego awards for beautiful ads. They should be creating ads that sell. Period! If they talk about building “mind share,” fire them immediately as well. That’s just another way of saying they’ll camouflage their failure to generate sales behind an intellectual smoke screen." (quote from the book is on amazon.com.) It made me laugh out loud.
I don't disagree that advertising has to do some work, and does need to be more than just pretty images, creative copy and all that. But, to tell people to fire their agency for entering in awards shows? Seems a bit dramatic and over the edge to me. Besides, entering and winning awards creates free press for the company. Think Honda Cog, think Ikea Lamp, and even Volkswagen's numberous ads. The client that doesn't realize that an agency also needs to create press for itself is stupid. Not only that, but agencies that win awards attract the top talent, because they want to work at the better places. Which means better people working on the clients accounts. Not only that but, many agencies look at the awards on by the creatives to see how good they are. It's a measure of their skills by their peers (more or less, yea this can be argued too but generally it's true.) The author of this "book" claims that a good ad would be the Walmart Smiley face ads. Um, sure. Since the economy went down the toilet it seems that there has been a lot of advertising bashing coming from PR and marketing folk. And it all seems to me that because there's less money being put into the marketing and advertising areas, there's more people fighting over who gets that money. Companies start to wonder if they should just stick with advertising, or promotions, or PR rather than do multiple layers as they had been doing. All it does is create angst among the various parties. And that's not good for anyone's business. I'm sick of hearing that pr works better than advertising and yadda yadda. It's not true and if they show you figures, well figures can show you anything you want them to.
From the NYT: The Pepsi-Cola Company division of PepsiCo said yesterday that it would replace "The joy of Pepsi," its advertising theme since 2000, with "Pepsi. It's the cola," beginning with commercials set to appear around Thanksgiving. Dave DeCecco, a spokesman at the Pepsi-Cola North America division of Pepsi-Cola in Purchase, N.Y., confirmed reports of the decision this week in Adage.com and Adweek. "We're having a really successful year," Mr. DeCecco said, "and want to bring some of that momentum to brand Pepsi." The new campaign, like its predecessors, will be created by the longtime Pepsi-Cola agency, BBDO Worldwide in New York, part of the Omnicom Group. The initial commercials will focus on promoting that Pepsi-Cola goes well with food. "The joy of Pepsi" replaced a similar theme, "The joy of cola," which was introduced in 1999. Coca-Cola changed ad themes in January, replacing "Enjoy" with "Coca-Cola . . . Real."
Baby Spice, um, I mean Emma Bunton will be one of the celebs appearing in holiday ads for Mark & Spencer. Emma will be Cinderella in lingerie, Will Young plays a handsome prince who fights his way into Sleeping Beauty's bedroom only to find her quilt more attractive than her lips, Evil Queen Zoe Wanamaker asks the mirror on her wall who's the fairest of them all, and gets the answer: "I am - but I do love your shawl," and June Sarpong distracts a hungry wolf with champagne and roast turkey as Red Riding Hood. The ads are narrated by Patrick Stewart.
Oh please. A couple months ago while waiting in a line at a book signing, I thumbed through a few books while standing in the "marketing" section of the bookstore. I happened to pick up this guys "Your Marketing Sucks" book and when I read, "If you have an advertising agency that applies for any kind of an award (Clios, whatever), fire them immediately. They shouldn’t be in the business to win ego awards for beautiful ads. They should be creating ads that sell. Period! If they talk about building “mind share,” fire them immediately as well. That’s just another way of saying they’ll camouflage their failure to generate sales behind an intellectual smoke screen." (quote from the book is on amazon.com.) It made me laugh out loud.
I don't disagree that advertising has to do some work, and does need to be more than just pretty images, creative copy and all that. But, to tell people to fire their agency for entering in awards shows? Seems a bit dramatic and over the edge to me. Besides, entering and winning awards creates free press for the company. Think Honda Cog, think Ikea Lamp, and even Volkswagen's numberous ads. The client that doesn't realize that an agency also needs to create press for itself is stupid. Not only that, but agencies that win awards attract the top talent, because they want to work at the better places. Which means better people working on the clients accounts. Not only that but, many agencies look at the awards on by the creatives to see how good they are. It's a measure of their skills by their peers (more or less, yea this can be argued too but generally it's true.) The author of this "book" claims that a good ad would be the Walmart Smiley face ads. Um, sure. Since the economy went down the toilet it seems that there has been a lot of advertising bashing coming from PR and marketing folk. And it all seems to me that because there's less money being put into the marketing and advertising areas, there's more people fighting over who gets that money. Companies start to wonder if they should just stick with advertising, or promotions, or PR rather than do multiple layers as they had been doing. All it does is create angst among the various parties. And that's not good for anyone's business. I'm sick of hearing that pr works better than advertising and yadda yadda. It's not true and if they show you figures, well figures can show you anything you want them to.
From the NYT: The Pepsi-Cola Company division of PepsiCo said yesterday that it would replace "The joy of Pepsi," its advertising theme since 2000, with "Pepsi. It's the cola," beginning with commercials set to appear around Thanksgiving. Dave DeCecco, a spokesman at the Pepsi-Cola North America division of Pepsi-Cola in Purchase, N.Y., confirmed reports of the decision this week in Adage.com and Adweek. "We're having a really successful year," Mr. DeCecco said, "and want to bring some of that momentum to brand Pepsi." The new campaign, like its predecessors, will be created by the longtime Pepsi-Cola agency, BBDO Worldwide in New York, part of the Omnicom Group. The initial commercials will focus on promoting that Pepsi-Cola goes well with food. "The joy of Pepsi" replaced a similar theme, "The joy of cola," which was introduced in 1999. Coca-Cola changed ad themes in January, replacing "Enjoy" with "Coca-Cola . . . Real."
Baby Spice, um, I mean Emma Bunton will be one of the celebs appearing in holiday ads for Mark & Spencer. Emma will be Cinderella in lingerie, Will Young plays a handsome prince who fights his way into Sleeping Beauty's bedroom only to find her quilt more attractive than her lips, Evil Queen Zoe Wanamaker asks the mirror on her wall who's the fairest of them all, and gets the answer: "I am - but I do love your shawl," and June Sarpong distracts a hungry wolf with champagne and roast turkey as Red Riding Hood. The ads are narrated by Patrick Stewart.
Wednesday, November 05, 2003
Slippery slingshots
Boys and Beefcake- "A decade or so ago, 10-year-old boys couldn't have cared less about their physiques. "Today more boys than we know or can imagine are as affected by the physical attributes they see in media and advertising" as girls are, says psychologist William Pollack, author of "Real Boys" and "Real Boys' Voices." "
Crossover Creative - From Volkswagen to Procter & Gamble to McDonald's, major advertisers are increasingly looking to use their ethnic advertising to reach the mainstream market as the lines among consumer groups are starting to blur, experts said Monday.
Known as ''crossover creative,'' the trend is forcing general market agencies and multicultural specialists to cooperate in developing advertising campaigns, said panelists at a multicultural-marketing conference held by the Association of National Advertisers.
The driving force is demographic, experts said: Minorities make up a growing percentage of the U.S. population, and companies seeking a global reach must also appeal to consumers of multiple cultures.
''This is one of the hottest topics in advertising,'' said Laurel Wentz, international and multicultural editor of Advertising Age trade journal. "We are seeing more and more clients making this part of their strategy from the beginning.''
Big Ass Fan and their ads have people's panties in a knot. I think it's great! (Danke Clay)
A sexually suggestive campaign for the lads' magazine FHM that appeared to show a woman performing oral sex on a man has been banned by the advertising watchdog.
The Advertising Standards Authority said the advert, for spin-off fashion title FHM Collections, was "likely to cause serious or widespread offence" and ordered the magazine not to use it again.
The offending image showed two scantily clad women dancing together at a glamorous party and another woman kneeling in front of a male partygoer in the background."
See it here.
From the press release: "General Motors OnStar is turning its successful, award-winning "real stories" advertising campaign into a 30-minute documercial that will air on HGTV, The Food Network, Discovery Channel and TLC beginning Nov. 8. The documercial, titled "Tales from the Road" -- allows viewers to experience the significance of OnStar's safety, security and peace of mind services using emotionally compelling stories of real-life OnStar subscribers."
Aren't these things usually called "infomercials"? What's with the name change? Do they really think it's going to make someone more willing to watch it?
An ad campaign for Fagg`s, "the great straight coffee", is not homophobic an advertising complaints board has ruled. The New Zealand coffee company ran afoul of gay rights groups over a billboard showing a local television personality enjoying a cup of Fagg`s coffee under the slogan "Not as Ponsonby as the name suggests". Ponsonby is Auckland`s gay neighbourhood.
Complainants to the Advertising Standards Complaints Board said that the ad was "seriously offensive" because it "exploited the fear that Ponsonby is full of fags".
Faggs, which has been a household name in New Zealand for almost a century and is named for its founder, argued that in this context of the ad, ‘straight’, was not the opposite of `gay` but rather the opposite of 'pretentious'. Maybe this coffee company might want to consider changing the name of their coffee. Seems the easiest way to avoid such confusion. Granted it has been around for ages. I'm not sure what I think of this.
Can you really compare ad culture to Islamic militant culture? Weird.
Crossover Creative - From Volkswagen to Procter & Gamble to McDonald's, major advertisers are increasingly looking to use their ethnic advertising to reach the mainstream market as the lines among consumer groups are starting to blur, experts said Monday.
Known as ''crossover creative,'' the trend is forcing general market agencies and multicultural specialists to cooperate in developing advertising campaigns, said panelists at a multicultural-marketing conference held by the Association of National Advertisers.
The driving force is demographic, experts said: Minorities make up a growing percentage of the U.S. population, and companies seeking a global reach must also appeal to consumers of multiple cultures.
''This is one of the hottest topics in advertising,'' said Laurel Wentz, international and multicultural editor of Advertising Age trade journal. "We are seeing more and more clients making this part of their strategy from the beginning.''
Big Ass Fan and their ads have people's panties in a knot. I think it's great! (Danke Clay)
A sexually suggestive campaign for the lads' magazine FHM that appeared to show a woman performing oral sex on a man has been banned by the advertising watchdog.
The Advertising Standards Authority said the advert, for spin-off fashion title FHM Collections, was "likely to cause serious or widespread offence" and ordered the magazine not to use it again.
The offending image showed two scantily clad women dancing together at a glamorous party and another woman kneeling in front of a male partygoer in the background."
See it here.
From the press release: "General Motors OnStar is turning its successful, award-winning "real stories" advertising campaign into a 30-minute documercial that will air on HGTV, The Food Network, Discovery Channel and TLC beginning Nov. 8. The documercial, titled "Tales from the Road" -- allows viewers to experience the significance of OnStar's safety, security and peace of mind services using emotionally compelling stories of real-life OnStar subscribers."
Aren't these things usually called "infomercials"? What's with the name change? Do they really think it's going to make someone more willing to watch it?
An ad campaign for Fagg`s, "the great straight coffee", is not homophobic an advertising complaints board has ruled. The New Zealand coffee company ran afoul of gay rights groups over a billboard showing a local television personality enjoying a cup of Fagg`s coffee under the slogan "Not as Ponsonby as the name suggests". Ponsonby is Auckland`s gay neighbourhood.
Complainants to the Advertising Standards Complaints Board said that the ad was "seriously offensive" because it "exploited the fear that Ponsonby is full of fags".
Faggs, which has been a household name in New Zealand for almost a century and is named for its founder, argued that in this context of the ad, ‘straight’, was not the opposite of `gay` but rather the opposite of 'pretentious'. Maybe this coffee company might want to consider changing the name of their coffee. Seems the easiest way to avoid such confusion. Granted it has been around for ages. I'm not sure what I think of this.
Can you really compare ad culture to Islamic militant culture? Weird.
Monday, November 03, 2003
Monday ad stuffs
Chefs pose nude with their favorite blender. "...asked by Vita-Mix to help convey just how awesome the Vita-Prep blender is, I knew that the best way was for one chef to look another in the eye and say "this is the blender you want." I wanted an ad that would grab your attention and make you say "man, these chefs really do love their blender." I called Jean-Louis and told him I wanted him to do a full page ad in Food Arts for the Vita-Prep. "But," I told him, "you'll have to be completely naked." "When do you want me there?" he said.
Some 40 famous chefs have since appeared in the ads. It has, as you know, become the most talked about campaign in our industry. And, I think it says something about the passion we all have for what we do. To thank Jean-Louis for being so talented, supportive, and passionate about his profession, Vita-Mix is donating proceeds from this calendar to the Jean-Louis Palladin Foundation."
Vita-Mix has a gallery of ads on their site as well, although not all of them are of this campaign.
Seems dangerous ;)
Classic Web Design Client Quotes which were posted originally back in 2000. Sadly I'm sure they still apply. (hat tip to Clay)
Some 40 famous chefs have since appeared in the ads. It has, as you know, become the most talked about campaign in our industry. And, I think it says something about the passion we all have for what we do. To thank Jean-Louis for being so talented, supportive, and passionate about his profession, Vita-Mix is donating proceeds from this calendar to the Jean-Louis Palladin Foundation."
Vita-Mix has a gallery of ads on their site as well, although not all of them are of this campaign.
Seems dangerous ;)
Classic Web Design Client Quotes which were posted originally back in 2000. Sadly I'm sure they still apply. (hat tip to Clay)
Saturday, November 01, 2003
Once upon a meme
Unconscious Mutterings: I say ... and you think ... ?
1. Roadtrip:: Map
2. Honey:: Sweet
3. Flanders:: Ned
4. Vampire:: Fangs
5. Justice:: Righteous
6. Marine:: Ocean
7. Protractor:: Math
8. Rubber:: Condom
9. London:: Tower
10. Jerry:: Tom (&) ;-)
Thumb Twiddlin'
1. Is it ever all right to seek revenge? What determines the rightness -- the nature of the offense, or the nature of the retribution? Yes. And a little of both I think, although mostly the first one.
2. If you could go back in time and live through any five-year period of history, what (when, where) would it be? Either the Renaissance in Europe or pre-historic England during the time when Stonehenge was being built (to find out the why and all that around it).
3. If you could write a sequel to any movie, what movie would it be? Hmm. The Princess Bride.
Thursday Threesome ::Cheap wax treatment::
Onesome: Cheap-- Cheap thrills? Are you and yours doing anything for Halloween? Parties? Trick or treating? Staying home with the lights out and an axe visible in the window? We contemplated going to a raging party, but neither one of us felt up to it. And no one felt like battling the drunk drivers on the road and that kind of thing either.
Twosome: wax-- Hey, are you a 'candle person'? I mean, is that one of your decorating motifs? ...or does this fall under something like the "No Sharp Objects" rule in your life? I don't know about decorating motifs, since I don't really have a motif perse at this point, but I do love candles. I love the way they give ambiance to a room. There's something soothing about candle light. Not to mention, everyone looks better in candle light :D
Threesome: treatment-- Speaking of treatments: do you decorate for Fall? Halloween? Thanksgiving? ...or just pretend that deceased plant in the corner really just lost its leaves for the winter? hah. The last couple years I've gotten pumpkins around Halloween, but other than that, I really don't do much seasonal decorating.
Weekly Wrap-Up
1. Do you like scary movies? Why or why not? Not really. Either they are cheesy and make me laugh or freak me out too much that I spend the next week sleeping with the lights on. ;) Although usually it's the first for most of them.
2. What was the first scary movie you remember seeing? How old were you? What in that movie scared you the most? I think it was Twillight Zone the Movie. I must have been 5 or 6 or around there. I did fine until it got to the part where the boy who had the special powers was showing the woman around his house and she sees his sister without a mouth. That freaked me out.
3. How scary is that movie now to you? Why? Not at all. heh. I guess because now I know it's all makeup and make-believe.
4. What scary movie did you not find scary? Why? What scary movie did you find too scary to finish or, if you did finish, bothered you days later? Why? A lot of them I don't find scary. One in particular was Blair Witch. It didn't bother me at all. I actually found it somewhat boring. Um, can't think of one I found too scary, although I'm sure there is one.
5. Select 3-5 scary movies for a Halloween marathon. Why did you pick these titles? Scary Movie. The Evil Dead. Army of Darkness. Because they are funny scary movies. :D
1. Roadtrip:: Map
2. Honey:: Sweet
3. Flanders:: Ned
4. Vampire:: Fangs
5. Justice:: Righteous
6. Marine:: Ocean
7. Protractor:: Math
8. Rubber:: Condom
9. London:: Tower
10. Jerry:: Tom (&) ;-)
Thumb Twiddlin'
1. Is it ever all right to seek revenge? What determines the rightness -- the nature of the offense, or the nature of the retribution? Yes. And a little of both I think, although mostly the first one.
2. If you could go back in time and live through any five-year period of history, what (when, where) would it be? Either the Renaissance in Europe or pre-historic England during the time when Stonehenge was being built (to find out the why and all that around it).
3. If you could write a sequel to any movie, what movie would it be? Hmm. The Princess Bride.
Thursday Threesome ::Cheap wax treatment::
Onesome: Cheap-- Cheap thrills? Are you and yours doing anything for Halloween? Parties? Trick or treating? Staying home with the lights out and an axe visible in the window? We contemplated going to a raging party, but neither one of us felt up to it. And no one felt like battling the drunk drivers on the road and that kind of thing either.
Twosome: wax-- Hey, are you a 'candle person'? I mean, is that one of your decorating motifs? ...or does this fall under something like the "No Sharp Objects" rule in your life? I don't know about decorating motifs, since I don't really have a motif perse at this point, but I do love candles. I love the way they give ambiance to a room. There's something soothing about candle light. Not to mention, everyone looks better in candle light :D
Threesome: treatment-- Speaking of treatments: do you decorate for Fall? Halloween? Thanksgiving? ...or just pretend that deceased plant in the corner really just lost its leaves for the winter? hah. The last couple years I've gotten pumpkins around Halloween, but other than that, I really don't do much seasonal decorating.
Weekly Wrap-Up
1. Do you like scary movies? Why or why not? Not really. Either they are cheesy and make me laugh or freak me out too much that I spend the next week sleeping with the lights on. ;) Although usually it's the first for most of them.
2. What was the first scary movie you remember seeing? How old were you? What in that movie scared you the most? I think it was Twillight Zone the Movie. I must have been 5 or 6 or around there. I did fine until it got to the part where the boy who had the special powers was showing the woman around his house and she sees his sister without a mouth. That freaked me out.
3. How scary is that movie now to you? Why? Not at all. heh. I guess because now I know it's all makeup and make-believe.
4. What scary movie did you not find scary? Why? What scary movie did you find too scary to finish or, if you did finish, bothered you days later? Why? A lot of them I don't find scary. One in particular was Blair Witch. It didn't bother me at all. I actually found it somewhat boring. Um, can't think of one I found too scary, although I'm sure there is one.
5. Select 3-5 scary movies for a Halloween marathon. Why did you pick these titles? Scary Movie. The Evil Dead. Army of Darkness. Because they are funny scary movies. :D
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