Thursday, January 31, 2008

The big game...

Since we are once again on the heels of the Superbowl, I would like to take a look back at a few of the commercials that I've enjoyed over the years. I've already looked back at the 1984 Super Bowl ad that Apple created. But just last year, there was one that tugged on our little heartstrings. It was a story about a poor little yellow robot, who couldn't live up to the GM standards of quality...



The commercial is not perfect, of course. There were complaints about robots taking employees jobs, but it was much less controversial that the Snickers commercial which also aired last year.

If comedy is more your thing, let me remind you of the Blockbuster mouse commercial which also aired last year... Don't remember it? Well, here you go!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Whopper Freakout

By this time most people have seen the Whopper Freakout commercials on television. Unless you happily use Tivo or a different DVR (more of Tivo advertising later). In this commercial, they tell 'actual customers' that the Whopper is no longer being served, and then film the reactions. Although this campaign makes a good point, the Whopper is the keystone of the Burger King menu, it is not a favorite of mine. Perhaps it is because I'm not a Whopper fan, or maybe because there was a director on site and I prefer more spontaneous viral videos. What I did find interesting was the history of the Whopper.
Here are some facts from the WikiPedia article. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whopper

The Whopper was created in 1957 by Burger King founder James McLamore and sold for 37 cents.

One of the original slogans of the Whopper advertised by Burger King was There are 1024 ways to have a Whopper; the claim is based on the math formula of whether the sandwich has the ingredient or not, a binary number of 0 or 1, raised to the power of number of possible ingredients at the time, ten, thus 210 =1,024. This claim was later expanded to There are 221,184 possible ways for a customer to order a Whopper sandwich. Other slogans include It takes two hands to handle the Whopper and Burger King: Home of the Whopper.

Here is the 2007 advertising campaign...

Monday, January 28, 2008

Brawny Man Update

I noticed that the brawnyacademy.com link no longer connects with videos. The proper link now is http://brawny.iti.fallon.com/brawny_academy/brawnyacademy.html

Happy Watching!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Tea Partay 2.0

So apparently one video was not enough! Although, it's not as good as the original, they do manage to work in a new product. Green Tea this time, instead of the Raw Tea. As an attempt to capitalize on the success of the Tea Partay, it's only a mediocre attempt. It is not nearly as well known, and I only stumbled upon it when searching for the original. Regardless... Enjoy!



One thing I do appreciate is the amount of time and work that went into the creation of both videos and their corresponding website: teapartay.com

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Snapalope Hunting...? Say What?

The Snapalope campaign put together by Slim Jim is another campaign that I like. The campaign is built around the hunting of a fabricated creature called the "Snapalope" a cross between an Antelope and a barrel of Slim Jims. The Snapalope Hunting Association of America or the SHAA (www.shaa.com) has entire hunting guides devoted to how to catch the illusive prey. On the website, they also include copies of the commercials which have run nationwide. Here is one example:

Monday, January 21, 2008

The Culture of Apple

One of the most popular videos of my collection in VodPod is the 1984 Apple Commercial. Of course, I wasn't around in 1984, but I was introduced to that video by my Integrated Marketing Communications teacher. Apple is a very fitting company to demonstrate IMC. From the top of the company to the bottom they represent the creative. The unique.

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think They can change the world, are the ones who do. —Apple Computer


Friday, January 18, 2008

Tea Partay

For one of my classes we have to create a short promotional video for an on campus service. This has made me think about what makes a good commercial stand out from the rest. Is it humor? Is it shock tactics? What really breaks through the clutter and makes a commercial like this stand out:

So what do you think? What quality or qualities makes a commercial be so different from the rest that people will actually look for it on youtube and tell their friends about it?

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Burrito, Big Burrito

Imagine building an entire marketing campaign around one signature product. With lines such as "Burrito? or Body pillow?" and "Burrito's so big they should be called Burros" one company has done just that. Created in 1993 Chipotle (pronounced chi-POAT-lay) has grown to more than 500 stores, across the United States.

I had been doing research for a McDonald's project, and remembered that McDonald owned shares in Chipotle, which of course led me over to their site. Once there, their ads called to me. 149 ads using a burrito and a tag line. And no, I don't mean 149 ads showing different types of burritos with glamor shots of the ingredients. I mean 149 ads showing the same simple silver wrapped burrito as above.

The image that comes to my mind is a scene of a conference room with the entire marketing staff sitting around it. In the middle of the table sits the burrito. Then, they are asked to come up with as many tag lines as possible. No idea is pushed out as being horrible. This leads to such great lines as, "Donde esta la casa de big-ass burritos?" and "It's like one of those Freaky dreams where everything is really big." What amazes me about Chipotle is that they are so on target with their target market, the 18-24 year old category.

With everything from t-shirts to a burrito costume contest, Chipotle easily portrays a fun environment with good quality food. Even their website conveys this. When you go to visit the ads area (and I highly suggest you do) their icons fall down like Tetris tiles! So far as I can tell, the smallest detail has not been overlooked. The one bad press thing I've heard about Chipotle is that they are tied to McDonald's.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Innovative and creative commercials are needed to break through the clutter. This is one I've found, which I enjoy every time I see it.


Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Brawny Man!

There has been a lot of talk about viral marketing lately. Here's one business that I think is doing it right, Brawny! It's an unusual concept, but they've created a show where the Brawny Man teaches 8 men how to be men, and good husbands. What I like about the show is that they offer all the options an internet savvy person could want. You can add it to your rss feed, you can have them email you updates, high and low bandwidth viewing, and even send to a friend.

www.brawnyacademy.com

There are a few things that I would add though. Perhaps a blog, posted by the brawny man, and a place for watchers to converse.

Here's some other fun things they have on their www.brawnyman.com website.

Brawny Man Fun Facts

He's not over the hill yet: the Brawny Man™ turns the big 3-0 October 2, 2004.
He's still a hit with the ladies: in 2002, more than 30,000 women logged on to www.brawnyman.com to create a virtual Brawny Man. That same year more than 4,000 women nominated someone they thought to be a real-life Brawny Man in the brand's "Do You Know a Brawny Man?"™ contest.
He owns more than one shirt: While most people associate the Brawny man with his red plaid shirt, he has, in fact, worn six different shirts ranging from purple plaid to blue denim.
He knows what looks good on him: Okay, he's worn different shirts, but in the end he went back to the tried and true red plaid shirt.
He never had an ax to grind: This lumberjack may have looked like he was carrying an ax in the 1970s but, in fact, he carried a peavey, a wooden lever used by lumbermen to handle logs.
He's had hair issues: The original Brawny Man underwent two makeunders during his nearly thirty year tenure. The first, in 1984, was a slight haircut; the second was a side part in 1991.
He's a fan of NASCAR: Involvement of the Brawny Man with the sport dates back to 2001 when the brand first sponsored a car. Since then, the Brawny Man has been prominently featured on car #45.
He doesn't mind sharing the spotlight: In nearly thirty years of service the Brawny Man has happily stepped aside twice, allowing other deserving men to appear on the packaging. The first was NASCAR superstar Richard Petty who appeared on the "Petty Pack," a commemorative pack of paper towels in 2002.

The second was Mario Cantacessi, a Los Angeles County firefighter who won the "Do You Know a Brawny Man?" contest and appeared on the packaging in 2003.
He's as strong as he is sensitive: 40 percent of women who created their "virtual Brawny Man" online in 2002 say their ideal Brawny Man spends his free time helping around the house.

Ta Da 2.0

It has finally arrived.... My second attempt at a business blog. Since I enjoy the Ad industry so much, I thought I would dedicate an entire blog just to critiques of the latest ads.

One professor in particular has inspired me to enjoy the world of advertising. So many thanks to Professor Bennett! He continues to inspire students daily as he teaches Integrated Marketing Communications.

For a little about me... I'm particularly interested in Marketing, more specifically E-Commerce Marketing (sometimes called e-marketing). I am a recent graduate from the University of Missouri - Columbia.

I'm always looking for new writing material, so if you have a lead on the newest ad feel free to let me know. I'll start off this blog with a few posts about previous ad campaigns I've enjoyed.