It's almost shameful that I wasn't aware of this ad until last week when my non-advertising boyfriend showed me this ad shown to him in a presentation on branding at work. (I'm maintaining it's because it's a french brand—I think). It's a four year old ad that's brilliant—with a great follow through component as well. Check it out:
I'm not a big fan of the video game-like graphics for the animation, but it makes sense with the online game conclusion. It's a testament to the ad that it's still running and relevant over four years after it's inception. It's also a testament that as a girl who's razor brand knowledge stopped at Gillette, that I now know and remember Wilkinson as a brand.
Maybe it's because the ad strikes the a true note—even for someone without kids. I played this ad for a friend with a 3-year-old son. She kept laughing and saying, "It's so true though!"
The online game is pretty fun too—you can fight with such devilish weapons as pillows and teddy bears. It definitely had my non-gaming boyfriend playing it for some time. Check it out at Wilkinson's website!
This is a tad delayed, but I recently watched some of the popular ads from the Cannes Film Festival and this one struck a cord. It was entertaining, original and made it's point well. It falls into what you would probably classify as a mini-movie ad in that's it's a few minutes long—but well worth it!
What do you think? When this type of advert started coming out a number of years ago, I was a little skeptical that they'd fly since most commercials are not entertaining enough to hold a viewer's attention for that long. The few that I'd seen didn't fall into that category—few commercials do. This one, however, I wanted to watch a few times—not unlike the famous IKEA Lamp commercial (watch it if you haven't before).
To fully appreciate the commercials, it helped to be at least passingly familiar with “Almost Famous,” “Back to the Future,” Roseanne Barr, Busby Berkeley, Justin Bieber, Adrien Brody, David Bowie, Diddy, the “Dogs Playing Poker” paintings, Howdy Doody, early video games, Thomas Edison and Eminem (who turned up in two spots, for Chryslerand Lipton Brisk).
In the realm of soda advertising, a few of the plethora of Pepsi Max commercials managed to completely offend my parents. Even I found them in rather poor taste. Buying that many Super Bowl spots doesn't help your brand if they're a total turn off. Coca Cola's 'Open Happiness' commercials were good, though underwhelming compared to some of their classics like the Happiness Factory from a few years ago.
Below are the best of the lot (in my humble opinion):
Motorola
Motorola took a stab at Apple with it's 'Empower the People' 1984 reminiscent spot to introduce its rival to the iPad. Only this campaign is turning the tables to make Apple the drone-creating big brother company. (Check out the original Apple 1984 commercial here.)
Bridgestone
Okay, so the Bridgestone beaver ad is a little cliche and a little reminiscent of the Geico squirrel ad from years ago, but it still made me smile.
Chrysler
The best car commercial of the lot, in my opinion, and one of the only celebrity uses that seemed fitting, was Chrysler's 'Imported from Detroit'. There was something about this commercial that reminded you of the American Pride that Detroit used to represent. Something that reminded you that Detroit is part of our country and it's survival is important to the rest of the country too. It was a refreshing car commercial and Eminem, while not necessary for the spot's impact, exemplified working class Detroit and money at the same time, so at least his placement made sense and had some meaning.
Has Volkswagen set a new trend? The Pre-Super Bowl Super Bowl ad release on the internet? Volkswagen 'leaked' its Super Bowl ad for this year a few days early. Personally, I think that's a trend that's going to catch on. I mean, millions of people watch the Super Bowl. Most people watch it for the game and continue to enjoy the usually high quality ads that accompany the game, as well as a few people that just watch it for the ads.
The trouble is, when watching 3+ hours of television, often at a party or bar, are you really going to have your eyes glued to the TV the whole time? Of course not. Which is why, inevitably, you miss 'that really good' commercial because you ran into the kitchen for a beer or more chips or whatever, and have to wait until the following day (when they're all on YouTube) to catch up with the spot everyone is talking about. Why not release the ad early, to the internet crowd and have them drum up excitement for its airtime on game day? Think about how many people will mention to friends, 'Did you see the VW Darth Vader spot? It's so cute—watch for it!' Plenty.
Granted, some of the talk will dissipate if more and more brands pre-release, but it is a good way to make sure you're spot is seen and remembered. What do you think?
Check out Volkswagen's pre-released tiny Darth Vader spot below. It's pretty cute.
A friend suggested that I blog about this commercial a few months ago, and I realize I'm a bit late in the game for commentary on this Walt Whitman Wieden + Kennedy Levi's campaign, but it's a really great commercial.
At first view, I noted the exceptional execution and artistry of the ad, completely aside from content. It's gritty, moving and a bit nostalgic. It becomes that much cooler when you learn that the voice recording is supposedly an actual recording of Walt Whitman reading his poem.
If you visit the commercial on YouTube, however, dozens of comments blast the spot as trying to be too deep for a spot that just sells jeans. If this were a commercial for a new denim brand like 7 for All Mankind I would agree, but this is Levi's. They have an iconic and historical significance to America. Did you know Levi Strauss and his partner, Jacob Davis, patented the use of copper rivets to strengthen stressed seams creating the rivet style that is an essential part of being jeans today? Traditionally, jeans were the working man's attire and eventually became a symbol of rebellion in the 1950s and then an American wardrobe staple. Levi's as a brand was a large part of that progression in American fashion history and culture, so I don't think the tone of this ad is out of place for the Levi's brand.
Actually, I think this new direction for W+K is much more fitting to Levi's than their last campaign, Live Unbuttoned. Slate offers the opinion that the shift in tone is due to the economic downturn and I'm sure that's party true, but I'd also like to think that maybe Levi's realized a generic pop ad, however upbeat it may be, doesn't help differentiate them much. Levi's has a lot more to draw on than many jeans companies and while its desirability in the fashion world may oscillate over the years, it's managed to hold strong long term.
I'm not a cell phone expert. I do not have an iPhone (though I want one) and while I'm usually aware of what hot new phone has come out, I don't necessarily know all the details about it or what little features make it distinct. Being in advertising, however, I do pay attention to all the cell phone service and phone commercials.
Over the weekend, I was pointed to two different phone commercials for smart phones meant to rival the iPhone. This first spot (above) is brilliantly done. It's emotional and pleasing to watch and moves to the instrumental rhythm of Sinnerman. The only complaint I have is that it seems to be an ad for a specific phone, but instead it's actually an ad for the company that makes the phone, HTC. Who is HTC? Good question. A little googling revealed that they're a manufacturing company that has previously done contract work for Palm and Compaq, but chose to branch out and launch it's own phone last year—the Android. Remember that Google phone from T-Mobile that everyone was talking about last year as being a major competitor to the iPhone and then promptly forgot about it a couple months after its release? That was made by HTC. This new campaign is their attempt to make themselves a phone manufaturing household name, like Motorola or Nokia. The trouble is, as cool as this commercial is, I don't understand that's what it's advertising. Maybe it's just to be memorable and get HTC in the consumer's head, in which case, it might be doing a great job. What do you think? Did you remember the HTC call out at the end? Did you wonder who or what it was?
Similarly, the other commercial called to my attention this weekend was for Verizon's new Droid phone. Droid? That sounds a lot like Android. Hmm. Well apparently it's another Google phone (the Google phones, unlike my initial and incorrect assumtion, are not actually made by Google, they're just using Google software) this time made by Motorola. The spot for the Droid phone, is also very good, but takes a hard hitting, and cleverly done, line against the iPhone pointing out all the things the iPhone iDon't. Make no mistake, this phone is intended to be a serious iPhone competitor from Verizon and Motorola. Will this Google phone actually compete this time? I've read arguments both ways. One says, yes, this phone finally has the right processor to compete with the iPhone's speed while another says Droid won't be intuitive or smooth enough to ever really compete with the iPhone. Well, Droid comes out in November, so we will see. You can find out what Droid Does on the website.
UPDATE: Just a day after this post, I stumbled across a great blog post comparing all the features of the new Droid phone to the iPhone. Definitely worth checking out.
Direct TV is currently airing a commercial that features the late Chris Farley in a scene from his 1995 movie, Tommy Boy. The spot also features Farley's Tommy Boy costar, David Spade, in the 'Fat Guy in a Little Coat' scene. It's a memorable scene in the movie and in the commercial, David Spade turns and speaks directly to the camera about Direct TV while the scene continues with Chris Farley in the background. Watch the spot below:
Some controversy popped up when fans of Farley thought the spot was in bad taste for featuring the late comedian. Farley died of a heart failure from a drug overdose in 1997. Recently David Spade told People that he didn't think the spot was inappropriate and that he agreed to do it because it thought it was funny and something he though Chris Farley would have agreed to as well. According to the People article, the Farley family agrees, but some fans are still offended and think David Spade was just using Farley's funny bit for a paycheck.
Personally, I don't think the spot is in bad taste—it's amusing and far enough removed from Farley's death that it shouldn't be offensive. If someone used Marilyn Monroe in a TV spot would it be offensive to anyone? I doubt it. Perhaps the offense is whether David Spade is using Farley's memory for a paycheck. It's possible, but I think I'd agree with Spade's statement that Farley would have agreed to do the spot too.
This global warming ad in Britain has caused a number of complaints that it's 'too scary.' It features a father reading a story to his daughter about 'a strange land' with too much CO2 and the potential disastrous consequences lack of action could result in. Apparently half the complaints were about the ad being too scary and half were about the science presented—which is pretty general and widely assumed by most, I thought. In the end, the girl asks if there's a happy ending.
My question is why shouldn't an ad about global warming be scary? Global warming and it's consequences are a potentially very scary future for the planet. Besides,if you want to talk about scary, haven't these people seen the PSA aboout texting?
Bud Light's Drinkability campaign has been out for awhile now and I find it one of the most irksome campaigns around. I know I'm not the only one. It's been around about a year now and I'm just kind of trying to patiently wait it out until an actually interesting campaign replaces it.
Drinkability. What is that? Since it's a made up word, I have to assume that it means 'easy to drink.' Cool. Okay. That'd be a great direction for a new flavor of cough syrup, but for a beer, all it says to me is 'I taste like water.' And I'm reminded that, yes, Bud Light tastes a lot like water. Carbonated alcoholic water, but water nonetheless. Now maybe that's because I'm the type of girl that actually likes beer—real beer—like microbrews, IPAs and belgian whites. Don't get me wrong though, I went to college in Budweiser's hometown and definitely had my fair share of Bud Light during that time, but since those college years, I guess my taste (and budget) have matured a bit.
I can only think of a few of instances where you might prefer a watery beer—when you're drinking it after a physical activity, when you're drinking for quantity or if you really don't like beer very much and you want something pretty bland. Are those the audiences Budweiser is after in this campaign?
The commercials are also pretty bad. Budweiser has a historic reputation for some truly great advertising, but I'm sorry to say everything I've seem come out of this campaign strikes me as trying too hard and not really very entertaining or likable. The commercial posted here—which was one of the spots used to introduce the campaign—seems to be poking fun at a beer drinker who dares to assume all light beers taste the same. Well, um, they kinda do. I mean Miller Light has a bit more flavor than Bud Light and Coors Light and Natural Light have a bit less, but when you really get down to it, they're all pretty similar. Especially if you're comparing them to a non-light beer.
Drinkability? More like Stupidability. Let's move on Budweiser and launch a new campaign already. Please.
This little Hansel and Gretel ad for AT&T's GPS feature is adorable. No, it's not mind blowing creative, but it's simple, clear and memorable. Very cute!
CP+B is in the news again with a new sexualized ad for Burger King that plays off Sir Mix-a-Lot's classic song Baby Got Back. The commercial has spawned a lot of controversy—is it funny or is it inappropriate? Everyone familiar with the song (in other words, my entire generation) knows the song centers around Sir Mix-a-Lot's admiration of large female butts. This isn't the first time Sir Mix-a-Lot's famous one hit wonder has hit the commercial waves, but this particular commercial is aimed at kids.
The BK spot features Sir Mix-a-Lot and Sponge Bob since BK is offering Sponge Bob toys in their kids meals. The controversy comes when the images of Sponge Bob are mixed in with music video like images of Sir Mix-a-Lot and women in tight mini dresses with phonebooks shoved up them. Sir Mix-a-Lot consequently sings about liking square butts.
I was very undecided on where I stood on this commercial. On the one hand, it's funny to an adult audience, but I can definitely understand concerned parents as well. Sponge Bob is one of those cartoons, beloved by children but also capable of being genuinely entertaining to adults as well. Believe it or not, Sponge Bob has some adult fans—I've even met a few that didn't have kids. The problem is that this commercial is clearly aimed at children. It's on at times when kids would be watching tv and advertises Sponge Bob toys.
I'm a bit delayed on this post, I know. There have been many news reports and blogs discussing the issue. I was very undecided on where I stood and felt ill equipped to say anything without being a parent myself, so I solicited opinions from friends and relatives who are young parents. Not completely surprisingly, I got responses on both sides. Mothers who were disgusted by the commercial and others who shrugged their shoulders and laughed at it. There were a few stuck in the middle though too, finding the commercial funny themselves, but not quite appropriate for their children. I suppose the main consensus, however, was that this spot is not really child appropriate.
But where did CP+B cross the line? The concept is funny and oddly appropriate. Who cares that it's about butts? I mean kids talk and laugh about butts all the time. But one of the responses I received nailed the problem I have with this commercial on the head:
... as the father of a young daughter, what I do find to be troubling are the sexual images of young women. (They should have been consistent and had a row of people dressed in SpongeBob mascot outfits, quite frankly.)
Exactly! Would the commercial have lost anything to have both men and women with phone book butts in slightly looser clothing? I really don't think it would. I realize the original song is very sexual, but it could be just as humorous to adults while staying appropriate for kids. After all they are marketing a kids meal. I think the real humor of the concept is playing off Sponge Bob's square butt. He has one. It's funny. They half mention the fact in the title of the show—Sponge Bob Square Pants.
Overall, I think the concept of the spot was brilliant, but the execution was off. A tamer version could have kept the integrity of the concept while quelling the concerns of parents, but then again maybe all the media attention was exactly what CP+B and Burger King were aiming for. What do you think? Would a tamer version be capable of walking the line between funny and child appropriate?
Jet Blue has a fantastic little series of commercials called The CEO's Guide to Jetting.This series of three spots walks CEO's through the transition of flying on their own corporate jets to flying on the next best thing: Jet Blue. The spots are very funny and well executed. Just slightly unpolished enough in spots to pass for a real instructional video.
While my blog partner continues her thoughtful discussions and critiques, I'll do my best to add lighthearted posts like this:
Love the new Chef Boyardee commercial. Parents everywhere can relate to this scenario. Watch closely--the mother's facial expressions are perfectly executed. When I first saw this spot a few days ago, I literally LOL-ed.
While I love the spot, it doesn't make me want to buy the product. And just because it contains a full serving of vegetables, I don't feel it's necessarily "nutritious" as the tagline would have you think. Next time I'm at the store, maybe I'll have a look to let you know just how nutritious it is.
P.S. Happy St. Patrick's Day! 'Boyardee' could be Irish, no? :)
I saw this commercial last week and it immediately struck me as odd. Maybe it's because of the shift I feel our society taking towards more sustainable living (or at least the appearance of it). I see people around me cutting down on plastic bottles and disposable dishes. Between gas prices and global warming, our culture seems to be on a bit of a green trend whose effects are starting to spread out from just recycling to trying to use less overall. The rough economy doesn't hurt that mantra either; why buy paper cups when I can wash these glass ones I already have? For some people, I'll bet cost is starting to win out over convenience.
Either way, this Dixie Cup ad for disposable coffee cups struck me as jarringly out of place. First of all, those cups are easily recognized as the type you get at the coffee stand in a convenience store or waiting room, not something many people buy for their homes. Bottled water sales started to taper off last year, so it makes you wonder if the public's environmental and economic concerns have started to take their toll on other plastic and paper goods as well.
You've all seen the Comcast spots by now: an illustrated world of part animation, part real life, all imagination. And they've got print ads to match.
You can move into Comcast Town, the virtual world of imagination Comcast has created, and get in on the fun. They also have four of their TV spots (with lyrics) posted at the site. Adfreak has a review of this as well, and a bunch of new Comcast spots posted here. It seems to be getting good reviews.
I have to admit, the spots definitely entertain. The music is oh-so-catchy (think Juno soundtrack) and the graphics don't fail to hold attention. However, all of this has very-late-in-the-game Second Life feel to it. Maybe it's just me. I won't be moving to Comcast Town anytime soon. But I'm slightly curious about the "prize-loaded design contest" they mention on the Web site. And I will continue to hum along with the tune they've now got stuck in my head.
Axe, in selling body products for men, has always used a wet 'n wild approach to cleaning up "dirty" boys. Their latest attempt sets a pig free in a crowded mall in search of hair that needs washing.
They've also set up a "Hair Crisis Relief" Web site that aims to help guys get "girl approved hair." Anyone want to tell them they missed the hyphen in girl-approved? There's not much content on the site--it's mostly three or four repeated blog-type entries.
What do you think? Personally, I kinda like my man disheveled. Oh, and their latest spots don't impress me much, either.
I've heard people go both ways on this year's lot of Super Bowl ads. Personally, I think many of them were trying too hard, and which of the 'trying to be funny' ads were actually funny seems to vary person to person. There were a few, however, that seemed to stand out a cut above the rest of the rest and a few that fell flat no matter who was viewing them.
The Winners I'm usually a sucker for funny spots, but this year Coke's charming Heist spot took the cake. It was wonderfully executed with great art direction who's Peter and the Wolf soundtrack charmed me on the spot.
My next two favorites were the Alec Baldwin Huluwood and Pedigree's Crazy Pets, even though the latter probably falls into the 'trying too hard' category.
The Losers There are always a few spots that make you cringe (or yawn). MacGruber is by far the most cringe-worthy in my book. When I saw the first few seconds I was actually excited for a McGyver spoof, but it was so inconceivably bad, I can't imagine anyone out there actually liking this spot. Seriously.
GoDaddy.com went their typical route with big breasted women, which makes it the most yawn-worthy. Okay, their spots may have been amusing the first year, clever when they couldn't get their spot aired the next, but now it's just boring. We've seen the same ad over and over again—get a new concept already, I'm bored.
Finally, Bud's Clydesdale spots were cute but only okay, while their Drinkability spots just make me want to drink anything but a Bud Light. Probably not the reaction they're going for. This is more of a beef with the whole Drinkability campaign than their Super Bowl spot, but really? Are you trying to promote that your product tastes more like water than beer?
What do you think? Are there some favorites out there that I missed?
The other night, this entertaining Pepsi commercial caught my attention. I mostly thought it was a fun concept, maybe a little too similar to the recently run Heineken Share the Good spots in direction and tone, but fun nonetheless. The spot ends with a call to action to 'refresh' our generation, fitting with the optimistic sentiment that seems to fill the air these days despite being in the middle of a recession. I thoroughly enjoyed the spot.
But after seeing the spot, I went to the Refresh Everything website to see what else was connected to this campaign and I can't say I'm sold on it. The site appears to be a New Year Campaign for 2009, focusing on 'Refreshing the World.' Pepsi offers the site as a place with 'opportunities to change the world into a fresher, funnier, much better place.' Change, huh? Jumping on the Obama bandwagon are we? Even if you're game with Pepsi trying to change the world, the campaign seems a bit oddly disjointed, combining hopeful videos to our the president to and online Super Bowl Party all under the same loose 'refresh' campaign.
But the different 'refresh' ideas don't seem to jive together. An online Super Bowl party with Will Arnett idea is interesting on its own, but I really don't see what's refreshing or remotely fresher and funnier about it. The page is still tagged with "Every generation refreshes the world. Now it's your turn." but how exactly are we refreshing the world with an online Super Bowl Party?
The video uploads as letters to the president fit a little better with what appears to be an all-embracing 'positive change' tone to the campaign, but again, it's not so refreshing really. How many other companies are doing similar stunts? According to AdRants IKEA has a "Welcome Obama!" guestbook and Facebook and the New York Times have a Presidential Suggestion site, so the upload your video isn't so original.
I guess I wouldn't mind either tactic on their own, but thrown together into one campaign on one site that feels chaotic and disjointed just isn't grabbing me. The concept really should, I'd like it to inspire me, the very spot that took me to the site inspired me, but once I got there, it just fell flat. Check out the site for yourself and let us know what you think!
Today is the 25th anniversary from when Apple ran their famous ad for Macintosh computers. They ran it nationally only once, during the superbowl in 1984. If your in the ad world, you know this commercial, it's famous. If not, check it out, since it's a great spot. Find out more about its history here.
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