The CEO of Zappos wants to know what people think of their new TV spot: Tweet your thoughts (@Zappos on Twitter) and let us know, too!New Zappos TV commercial - What do you think? How would you rate it on a
scale of 1-10? - http://bit.ly/ztvad
Sunday, February 8, 2009
New Zappos Spot: Tweet Your Approval
The CEO of Zappos wants to know what people think of their new TV spot: 
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Sprite Goes Old With New Logo
Via Brand New, my favorite source for the latest logo redesigns, Sprite is the latest in the soft drink industry to revamp their logo. I'm pretty much always against starbursts, but I agree with Brand New's assessment of the interaction of the letters with the lemon-lime illustration and the starburst offers an opportune way to split the lemon-lime. I still don't particularly like it, but a little further research showed that starburst actually appears to be a kind of retro update.
Check out that old startburst! Overall, I don't mind the new one, though if they were going to go the retro route, I wish they would have taken it a step further so the new logo had a retro feel beyond the starburst. The starburst element alone doesn't feel retro without the comparison and I would love to see them resurrect some of that funky old type.What do you think?
Monday, February 2, 2009
Were The Super Bowl Ads Super?
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.
Other favorites included the USA Characters spot, and while it's over a year old, I still love GE's Capture the Wind Ecomagination spot.
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 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.
Other favorites included the USA Characters spot, and while it's over a year old, I still love GE's Capture the Wind Ecomagination spot.
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?
Friday, January 30, 2009
Pepsi Strives To 'Refresh' Us
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!
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!
Cash For Gold to have Super Bowl Ad
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Happy Birthday To 1984!
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.
A 14+ Hour Ad?
Yep, that's right, a 14 hour and 40 minute ad (online of course) to promote Emirate Airlines non-stop 14 hour and 40 minute service from Dubai to Sao Paulo. Okay, so this is a bit out dated since it ran in 2007, but hey, the Creative Cooler didn't exist then! The concept is still great. Fernando talks about everything Brazilian, from music to food and sports with no edits, no cuts and no breaks. Fernando starts talking at 5:30 a.m. and video above will start at whatever time code syncs with your computer's internal clock although you can skip ahead or go back to whatever section you like. Check it out!
(via Jaffe Juice)
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
KGB Steps Into ChaCha's Territory With Some Great New Ads
The other night I saw an intriguing ad for KGB. No, not the Soviet Union Secret Police KGB, although the name did make me sit up and pay attention. I'm referring to the Knowledge Generation Bureau. The spots themselves are very well done. They have a great mysteriously serious, yet funny tone to them, though they don't spell out exactly what the company is or does. They just hint at it, and ask you to text a question.
So what is KGB? It's a two-way text messaging information service. Essentially, you can text any question you may have while on the go to this number and an 'agent' or 'guide' will answer it. The people on the other end are mainly college students and stay at home moms who are looking for some extra cash. When I first saw the KGB ads, I wondered if ChaCha renamed itself and launched a big new campaign. For those of you unfamiliar with ChaCha, it launched last January with exactly the same services. You didn't see ads for it though, or at least I never did. It was one of those sevices mostly spread by word of mouth and blogs. A little googling soon revealed, however, that these are not the same company at all, they're competitors.
So what's the difference? I can't speak to quality, as I have not used KGB yet, but with some more digging there is a price difference. ChaCha is free, up to a certain number of questions per month and KGB charges 50¢ per message, though that is not listed anywhere on their site, they text you back that info. KGB has been around under different names and launched a similar service in the UK in 2007 and other text messaging services in the US for the past couple years and just started their two-way texting information service in the US this month.
KGB clearly has some better marketing. They're great spots. ChaCha has been around longer but has no or few ads (as far as I know). ChaCha appears to be a start up with only this specific service in mind compared to KGB which is a global telecommunications company with multiple text information services. But ChaCha is a free service and KGB charges (and rather deceptively), so which one will do better? We'll have to wait and see. What do you think?
So what is KGB? It's a two-way text messaging information service. Essentially, you can text any question you may have while on the go to this number and an 'agent' or 'guide' will answer it. The people on the other end are mainly college students and stay at home moms who are looking for some extra cash. When I first saw the KGB ads, I wondered if ChaCha renamed itself and launched a big new campaign. For those of you unfamiliar with ChaCha, it launched last January with exactly the same services. You didn't see ads for it though, or at least I never did. It was one of those sevices mostly spread by word of mouth and blogs. A little googling soon revealed, however, that these are not the same company at all, they're competitors.
So what's the difference? I can't speak to quality, as I have not used KGB yet, but with some more digging there is a price difference. ChaCha is free, up to a certain number of questions per month and KGB charges 50¢ per message, though that is not listed anywhere on their site, they text you back that info. KGB has been around under different names and launched a similar service in the UK in 2007 and other text messaging services in the US for the past couple years and just started their two-way texting information service in the US this month.
KGB clearly has some better marketing. They're great spots. ChaCha has been around longer but has no or few ads (as far as I know). ChaCha appears to be a start up with only this specific service in mind compared to KGB which is a global telecommunications company with multiple text information services. But ChaCha is a free service and KGB charges (and rather deceptively), so which one will do better? We'll have to wait and see. What do you think?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
MillerCoors Takes Super Bowl Ads to the Extreme
It's 1.20.09 and, here in the United States, all thoughts are on one thing and one thing only: The Super Bowl.
OK, OK, I'm joking. We all know today will live on in history as a new president moves into the White House. But seriously, it's less than two weeks until the Super Bowl, the day everyone watches to see what the world of advertising has in store. I know today's presidential inauguration was particularly of interest to everyone everywhere, but it seems the ads set to debut during this year's Super Bowl have been completely forgotten.
What I'm really trying to tell you is that Miller Brewing Company (now MillerCoors, I think) will run some brand-new 1-second ads in local markets during the pregame on Feb. 1. The message? According to High Life Senior Brand Manager Kevin Oglesby:
OK, OK, I'm joking. We all know today will live on in history as a new president moves into the White House. But seriously, it's less than two weeks until the Super Bowl, the day everyone watches to see what the world of advertising has in store. I know today's presidential inauguration was particularly of interest to everyone everywhere, but it seems the ads set to debut during this year's Super Bowl have been completely forgotten.
What I'm really trying to tell you is that Miller Brewing Company (now MillerCoors, I think) will run some brand-new 1-second ads in local markets during the pregame on Feb. 1. The message? According to High Life Senior Brand Manager Kevin Oglesby:
"Miller High Life is all about high quality and great value, so it wouldn't make sense for this brand to pay $3 million for a 30-second ad. Just like our consumers, High Life strives to make smart choices. One second should be plenty of time to remind viewers that Miller High Life is common sense in a
bottle."
Or, as AdAge puts it, the spots, via Saatchi & Saatchi, are meant to poke fun at competitor Anheuser-Busch and the dominance they have in Super Bowl advertising.
The video below gives background behind the 1-second ad. You need to check out the actual site, 1secondad.com, to watch all of the spots. They're hilarious.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Hyundai Is Banking On Job Security
Hyundai has a very interesting new promotion running these days, if you lose your job within a year of purchasing a new car from them, they'll take it back. Well, that's what the commercial says anyway. It's an interesting new gimmick from the auto world (you can find out more from this Q&A on YouTube with Hyundai's VP of Sales or on their website). We've done the cash back, the employee pricing, etc. but these days car sales are way down, like everything else, and a three to five year commitment seems out of the question for many people who fear they could get laid off any day now. Brilliant.
I have no idea whether this gimmick will work, but it's an interesting development in today's economy. My brother wanted to sell his 5 year-old car over the holidays. He's busy and didn't want to bother with a private sale, so he took it to the dealer and to CarMax to see what they'd offer. It wasn't good. He soon learned the reason his offer was even lower than expected was due to a large influx cars, new cars. The lot had a disproportionate amount of 2008 models whose owners could simply no longer afford them. That reality makes this tactic seem like it's hitting the right spot.
What do you think?
I have no idea whether this gimmick will work, but it's an interesting development in today's economy. My brother wanted to sell his 5 year-old car over the holidays. He's busy and didn't want to bother with a private sale, so he took it to the dealer and to CarMax to see what they'd offer. It wasn't good. He soon learned the reason his offer was even lower than expected was due to a large influx cars, new cars. The lot had a disproportionate amount of 2008 models whose owners could simply no longer afford them. That reality makes this tactic seem like it's hitting the right spot.
What do you think?
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