AdNausea

So… recently I read an interesting article regarding subliminal advertising. I’m sure everyone has heard this term before, but just for verification, this is what my trusty (although not always reliable) source says:

 ”A subliminal message is a signal or message embedded in another medium, designed to pass below the normal limits of the human mind’s perception. These messages are unrecognizable by the conscious mind, but in certain situations can affect the subconscious mind and can negatively or positively influence subsequent later thoughts, behaviors, actions, attitudes, belief systems and value systems.”

In terms of advertising,  in 1957 James Vicary said that flashing a message quick enough on a movie screen that it couldn’t be conciously seen could still persuade the subconcious. He “proved” this in movie theaters over a 6 week period by flashing the words “Drink Coca-Cola” and “Hungry? Eat Popcorn” and said that sales in a New Jersey theater of these two products increased by up to 57%.

These claims were promoted in various books and, of course, led to a public panic. “OMG, if people can TELL us stuff without us knowing, who knows what we’ll do? Companies will urge you to buy their product without you knowing it, they’ll urge you to buy a gun and shoot your neighbor without you knowing it, and they’ll encourage our young angels to have sex all the time, all without us knowing it.” It was a very understandable concern at the time. However… 5 years later Vicary confessed that his test results were false and the whole thing was a marketing scheme. This has since been re-tried and comes back with no hint of success.

Despite multiple studies and reports of this not being an actual concern since it doesn’t actually work… it has been repeatedly tried and used in various forms:

1978 - Kansas TV Station ran a subliminal message with permission of the local police trying to encourage a killer in the area to turn himself in -no increase in leads resulted.

2000 - US Presidential TV campaign for George W. showed words going from the foreground of the screen to the background. During the word “BUREAUCRATS” one frame only flashed “RATS” - no penalties were ever assessed by the FCC.

In a mocking manner, in British comedy “The Young Ones” a number of images were repeated during various episodes as a response to the outcry of subliminal messages in television. These included a gull landing and a tree frog jumping. These are included on the US Boxset.

2007 - An image of the McDonald’s logo flashed for one frame during an episode of Iron Chef America - sales did not rise and Food Network says it was a glitch.

2007 - Sprite started a campaign cashing in on this “phenomenon” when they did Sublymonal Advertising.

In “Cloverfield”, three pictures are seen during various parts of the film and are flashed very quickly. They are frams from classic monster films such as “Them!”, “The Best from 20,000 Fathoms” and “King Kong.”

As far as advertising goes in print, I’ve included a few examples of hidden images that are meant to be “sensed subconsciously” and, in a worst case scenario, encourage you to feel certain things. I tend to think, however, that it was someone’s last day on the job and they just wanted to eff the company over in a small way. Take a look:

Hidden within the ice cubes could be a number of images, the most realistic and probably intentional highlighted.

This appears to be a clip from a KFC commercial introducing their snackers. Not sure what the message is or how real this is as I can not verify it with any sources.

This one has a hidden message in the ice cubes as well. This type of message (”SEX” in the ice cubes”) has been done over and over again by many different products and companies.

This same type of thing, sexual messages trying to fly “under the radar” has also happened in movies such as Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladin” and many others. Which ones have you, the readers, seen, heard about or heard rumors of?

My next post will be about exciting developments in the world of subliminal messages, although not related to advertising, it’s still very big news and will have implications toward advertising if found true.

Now… I am usually against animals used to sell things. I hate the Taco Bell dog, don’t like the Cottonelle puppy, or the bears for that other brand either. But when I saw that R&R Partners put chinchillas as the main attraction in this new advertisement for Las Vegas… I had to give it a chance. You see, I have two chinchillas at home and I really love them (kung-fu training and spear sharpening included), so I thought this may be the one to change my mind.

How wrong I was. Watch it and see…

Part 1

Part 2

Here are my problems with this:

1. Unless I’m mistaken, part 1 celebrates this day because the Chinchillas were defeated. Part 2 celebrates because Chinchillas saved the village from bad guys. Isn’t this contradictory? Am I missing the point?

2. They couldn’t get better looking fake chinchillas? They look more like a cross between a groundhog and a mouse than they do chinchillas.

3. I don’t like that it’s called Chinchilli Day. It annoys me, I think.

4. Yes, I get it. Vegas is making the point that even if you make up a fake holiday, you should take some extra time off to go visit the City of Sin, but therein lies the problem - Something cute and fuzzy should not be associated with Vegas. Vegas should go back to the adults only entertainment.

Remember the days of “What happens in Vegas…”?

or…

These aren’t even the best ones. I can’t find them. But what happened to the day of “go to Vegas, do things you wouldn’t normally do.” I don’t like the direction this is going in.

On the other hand, after looking up R&R Partners, looks like they do a lot of work for Las Vegas and tourism. And the work is very good. They do a bunch of non-traditional stuff (like joining up with dry cleaners to sell Utah Opera seats) and turns out, they also did a few of those commercials that I know and love (look at their website for more - they’re great). Also, my favorite of favorites! They did this huge image of a Maxim cover, actually seen from outer space, in the Nevada deserts somewhere. See that little thing down there at the bottom? That’s a car.

So why the sudden downturn in commercial creativity? Chinchilla muppets? Really? Or am I the only one turned off by this. Those commercials don’t make me want to go to Vegas, because I know it’s making hundreds of children want to go, too. They’ll all be screaming “Chinchillis mommy! Chinchillis!” Yuck.

Now, I don’t follow sports much. And I don’t really follow celebrity gossip. But I know lots of people do and this is a perfect example of something that most people don’t think has anything to do with advertising.

Michael Vick, former quarterback for the Atlanta so-and-so’s. He had endorsements that netted him $4 million + a year (including AirTran Airways and Nike) but is probably more famous now for his conviction of being a key person involved with a dogfighting ring. Which did, in fact, take place on his Atlanta property. He, of course, left the team he played for and has since served some prison time (not nearly enough, if you have seen the pictures of the poor puppies involved). And recently he has been restated into the NFL, although no one is sure where, exactly, he’ll play. Understandably he’s kind of a leper to a team’s public image right now. As well as for endorsements.

So how does this tie in with advertising and marketing? Easy. Michael Vick is a brand. Yes, exactly like those brands you see in the grocery store, on the car dealer lot, in television commercials. Tylenol, Jiffy, Saab, Fed-Ex, Re/Max, you name it. Brand names. Just because Vick is a person does not mean he isn’t a brand. Before this scandal, his brand, his name, was associated with amazing football skills, ambition, victory, etc. And his stint in dog-fighting has greatly damaged that brand – because now he’s more associated with prison sentences, lawbreaking, animal abuse and basically, being a criminal. This is hard for a lot of teams (and potential endorsing companies) to swallow – who wants to be linked to someone who is looked down on or who is the subject of quite a bit of controversy?

Interestingly (I hadn’t hear this), Vick has made statements hinting that he might do work on behalf of PETA (animal rights group) and has aligned himself with this group to make up for his wrongs. This might not be such a smart move, as it is pretty transparent. But it is an example of how he’s trying to fix his brand image. Marc Bluestein, president, Aquarius Sports Group says that “Critics will say, “The only reason he’s doing this is because people told him he should do this.”

It may not all be bad news, though, because his image might possibly be able to be saved. Here are what a few sports marketing experts had to say about Vick’s image: (more here )

Ben Sturner, CEO, Leverage Agency: It’s not a lost cause. I mean, look at Kobe Bryant. Kobe comes to mind right away as someone who’s had a tarnished image and is resurrected. A lot of it depends on what happens on the field.

David Schwab, vp, Octagon Sports Marketing’s First Call and managing director of athletes and personalities: It’s a two-part answer: There’s a consumer and a brand answer. I think for the majority of consumers it can be rehabilitated over time. I think there is a hardcore pet lover for whom the issue will never be won over.

Patrick McGee, CEO, ProVentures Group and one of Vick’s former reps at Octagon: I don’t think his image can go further down, so it certainly will be rehabilitated to some degree if he has the right road going forward. As far as sponsors, I think it’s unlikely for major brands, but it’s not impossible that he’ll get an endorsement again.

Who do you think would be interested in sponsoring him now? And why? Dog food companies? Humane Societies? Prison programs? What are your thoughts?

I am definitely one for advertisements that break through boundaries and bring the message they hark to people in a way that is innovative, creative and unexpected. So of course, the joint effort between CBS and PepsiCo would strike my fancy – and probably yours, too.

First the background information: CBS (the television network) has joined with PepsiCo for a one-off collaboration (although an upfront collaboration is in the works between the two for future projects, including the next Super Bowl which CBS will air) to promote CBS’s fall line-up (Including How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, CSI: Los Angeles, Accidentally on Purpose… etc) and Pepsi Max for men. A normal television commercial will probably be seen as will a normal print ad in magazines. But for the lucky Entertainment Weekly subscribers in Los Angeles and New York City, something new is in the works.

A video ad that will run in a print magazine. Yes, CBS is inserting paper-thin video players (interactive, by touch) into copies of the Sept. 18^th issue of Entertainment Weekly to promote the “Monday to the Max” comedies on Sept. 21^st. When people flip through the pages of this magazine, they’ll come across the ad with a small screen that will flicker and load a video. You can select which segments you want to watch – montages from Big Bang, Two and a Half Men and How I Met Your Mother. There’ll be an ad for Pepsi Max and sneak previews of CBS dramas.

This interesting promotion (the first I’ve heard of – a video player in a magzine?) is a great experiment and a step out of the box – and this isn’t CBS’s first step into creative and clever ways to reach viewers where they least expect it.

In 2006 CBS printed promotional messages for shows on eggs in grocery stores (Asking buyers to “Crack the case on CBS” for CSI) as well as ads on meat wrappers at the butcher counter in delis and supermarkets. One of my favorites, though, is for the now-canceled vampire show Moonlight – Ads placed on the frozen food aisle doors that appeared when the door fogged over.

I am really glad to see a company this mainstream stepping outside of it’s normal boundaries and hopefully will continue to see more, because companies are going to need it. Traditional advertising no longer gets the job done.

Original story and more info Here.

So, after yesterday’s post that included a confusing Orangina print advertisement, I did some research. And lo and behold, it’s a drink invented by a Spanish dude, it’s famous for it’s uniquely shaped and textured bottles and it’s controversial advertising.

Now, here’s where the problem lies, these drinks are made and sold mostly for kids. It’s a bubbly, citrus drink in a fun bottle. And the ads are primarily animated commercials and cartoon characters on print. That being said… they’re very raunchy and even a bit dark.

When Orangina Sanguine came out, it was made of blood oranges and to promote the blood part of the drink, they made an animated commercial where the Orangina Rogue hunts down a family in a car and the child asks, “But why is it so evil?” And the family yells, “Because!” In French, of course. Creepy.

And the following are the prints ads - which are a bit risque on their own, but when combined with commercials where female deer are grinding on poles, squirting the drink on fellow female animals’ breasts and riding a big bottle of the drink, which proceeds to explode… one’s gotta wonder who these drinks are really aimed at. Either way… I enjoyed looking at these and thought you might as well.

 A Still from the commercials:

and another…

 Anyone ever drink these, by the way?

I was feeling a bit down and out about creativity recently and thought I would dig around for some new awesome ads. I love doing this. So here we go:

1. Sci-Fi: I know this isn’t a recent ad, because they’ve recently become Si-fi or Sigh-Figh or Syfy or something. Who cares? The print ad is very fun. I love that it looks like an old time horror movie poster and the spin is very fun. And I like the logo in the bottom right - not sure why, but having it with a little depth really helps.

2.  Nikon: This one’s tagline is very small, but it says, “Detects up to 12 faces.” Number one, that’s an awesome feature. Number two, why show it in a straightforward way when you can have fun with it like this? And number three, am I the only one that’s a little creeped out by these guys hiding in the trees? Just a little.

3. This is by the AdCouncil for the Girl Scouts pointing out that science and history can be fun! I never found that out, even though I was in the Girl Scouts, but had I seen this, I might have. I laughed a little, because it’s such a natural thought to someone that age.

4. This one appears to have been done in India, which makes sense, since our market would more than likely be offended by it, at least some of us would. This is simple, effective and very, very smart. No logo. No tagline. Just a quick question, a website and a phone number. It’s clear and simple and I love it. And I do check oranges in a very detailed and in-depth manner, so this sticker would make me step back and laugh first, then think.

5.  This one is very funny. It’s a fairly safe idea… the battery has the ability to find extra life (by recharging) after it’s been used to death. I love it, though, because the image is hilarious. And my dog looks a little like this one. The thing doesn’t even look scared! Just like, “Not again. I’ll wait until you’re done.”

Next for one that confuses me… can someone explain?

7. What the hell? Lol. It’s a scantily clad bear, seductively posed, licking his lips. Granted, he’s a sexy bear, but confusing none-the-less. This is for orange juice, is it not? Because the ad looks more like a notice of a “naturally juicy” furry convention coming to town than it does a nutritious, delicious fruit beverage. And the weirdest thing (besides the slogan of Bubbles - Pulp - Bubbles - Shake) is that he’s sitting on an ice cube. No wonder his hips are thrust forward - he’s freezing his butt off! This can’t be from America… but I love it.

This next one… well, it disappoints me. It’s so boring and bland and… inside the box that it’s kind of a joke. What do you think? At first glance, it looks like a Coke ad with the polar bear, only he’s fallen on hard times (and bad Photoshopping) but upon closer inspection, its for the World Wildlife Foundation or something. I’m hoping this is student work, or someone just messing around, because the idea is so safe, and the work so… boring. Hm, maybe I’m just overly critical?

And last, but certainly not least… I can’t leave on a note like the above mentioned poo. So here is something that makes me happy to the nth degree. It is by no means new, it was a billboard McDonald’s had erected in Chicago (Brilliant Leo Burnett Chicago work!) in 2008, but it somehow got under my radar. Starts off like this:

… continues like this throughout the night… until morning…

and in the morning, ends up like this:

It’s “Fresh Eggs Daily” and it closes back up throughout the day, to do it again in the morning.

McDonald’s, despite their terrible “I’m lovin’ it” slang slogan, has some really good ad agencies behind them… great creative, especially when it comes to the billboards. IMHO, Burger King has the commercials and print DOWN, they’re so amazing, but McDonald’s is rockin’ the outdoor. Way to go.

I want a Big Mac now…

So, after a long hiatus, I am back in all my glory. Yes, yes, it’s true. To make up for my long absence, I thought I would share with you something I am noticing more and more (and if you watch television, you are too, probably). VOICEOVERS. Yes, it seems that the economy is tough on everyone these days - so much so that everyone from Stockard Channing to Zack Braff need a little bit of extra money and are finding it in the world of doing voices for commercials.

Celebrities pushing a product by appearing in a commercial is nothing new (I mean, how many products does Brooke Sheilds actually endorse? Jeesh, she’s in everything besides movies and television shows these days) but I’ve never noticed so many celebrities endorsing products without actually putting in the face time. Yes, my puns will make you laugh.

So, here are the ones I noticed and quite a few more I picked up on a forum here.

Zach Braff - Cottonelle Puppy
Zach Braff - Britta Water Filters
Susan Sarandon-Stouffer’s
Ed Norton - Miller Genuine Draft
Matt Dylan - Pontiac
Gene Hackman - Lowe’s
Gene Hackman - Oppenheimer Funds
David Duchovny - Children’s Hospital in Seattle
John Krasinski - Ask.com
Antonio Banderas - The Nasonex bee
Queen Latifah- Pizza Hut
Sean Connery - Level 3 Communications
Jeff Bridges - Duracell
Patricia Clarkson - BMW
Patricia Clarkson - Milky Way Lite
Donald Sutherland - Volvo
Will Arnet - Lamisil Toe Fungus
Gilbert Gottfried - the AFLAC duck
Mario Cantone - Sunsilk Haircar
Christian Slater - AutoTrader.com
Ruby Dee - New York Life
Stockard Channing - AIG
Patrick Dempsey - Life cereal
Kiefer Sutherland - Apple Intel
Kiefer Sutherland - MCI
Kiefer Sutherland - Verizon Wireless
David Duchovny - dog food (Purina?)
Christian Slater - Panasonic
George Clooney - Budweiser
Kelsey Grammer - Disney World

That’s a pretty big list, but I know there are more out there. Who has seen or heard any of these? Who knows of more? Or correct ones I might have wrong. Let’s kick this new post off with a bang!

I have fallen in love with a new radio commercial I discovered and just found out there are television commercials. Everybody knows all about Chuck Norris and his vast collection of jokes (if you WoW, then you definitely know them) and we all laugh at them, at least once. “Superman wears Chuck Norris under-oos.” Stuff like that. Well, here’s something better.

According to Dos Equis (doo-sek-ees) the most interesting man in the world, it appears, is not Chuck Norris. It’s a rugged, beautiful man, played and voiced (in radio commercials) by Jonathan Goldsmith. The radio commercials are freaking awesome - featuring funny quotes about the most interesting man in the world, who is never given a name. Here are a few of the lines from these commercials.

Even his parrot’s advice is insightful.

If there were an interesting gland, his would be larger than most men’s entire lower intestines.

His shirts never wrinkle.

He is left-handed. And right-handed.

Even if he forgets to put postage on his mail, it gets there.

He once knew a call was a wrong number, even though the person on the other end wouldn’t admit it.

You can see his charisma from space.

His blood smells like cologne.

When he orders a salad, he gets the dressing right there on top of the salad, where it belongs…where there is no turning back.

He once had an awkward moment, just to see how it feels.

The announcer reads off a few of these lines with perfect timing and at the end, MIM (most interesting man) says, “I don’t always drink beer. But when I do, I prefer Dos Equis. Stay thirsty my friends.” It’s that simple. And this is an idea that can transfer to commercials, print and an immersive and amazing website (staythirstymyfriends.com) where you can play games, learn how to say funny lines in different languages, complete quizzes, etc. It’s pretty fun, indeed.

The television commercials area all over the YouTubes, so you can look up those, but they aren’t nearly as good as the radio commercials in my opinion. The thing that is so innovative about this, is that it’s a hark to advertising ideas past. A long, long time ago, in a land with older advertising and lots of print ads, lots of products were creating this same thing… “icons.” People and cartoons that represented everything the company stood for and engulfed and embodied that. Like…

The Pillsbury Doughboy

Ronald McDonald

The Energizer Bunny

Betty Crocker

The Marlboro Man

The Man in the Hathaway Shirt

The Schweppes Man (Commander Whitehead)

There’s a reason these campaigns have been so successful, and it’s been a LONG time since the last successful icon, in my opinion. I think MIM is well on it’s way to joining the ranks. Have you heard these? Do you like them, hate them, spoof them? Leave comments or email me your spoof videos or links and we can all enjoy!

Now, if you’re like me and you’ve ever lived in a place where you were given the “choice” of one Internet Service Provider, and that service provider happened to be Comcast, chances are you, like me, hope there’s a special place for Comcast in the pits of service hell. Now, some areas are lucky enough (most actually) to have multiple providers, which forces Comcast, and everyone else, to up their customer service enough that you like them more than the other guy, or lower their price low enough so that you like them more than the other guy. But during the two years spent in Savannah, Georgia, where my boyfriend, SB and I only had the choice of Comcast, they knew it. And they abused it. Being days late for installation, sending a bill after it had already been paid and then forcing us to hold while we tried to fix that, charging us for television that we couldn’t receive and didn’t want, charging us for the actual cable itself and whining and moaning when we canceled the service so we could move out of state. It’s a company that’s infuriated so many people, for various reasons, that it provoked a site dedicated to the hatred Comcast provokes. All of this piles up into one big “I don’t like Comcast” poop-pie. Everytime I see one of their commercials, I know it’s for them, because it has a stink to it. Here, see if you can smell it.

First stinky stink - Everybody Loves Money.

Second smelly video - Out Sick

And lastly, stinkily - Amazing Savings

Why do I hate these so much? Because it takes some stupid little joke that has a small punchline in the end. Well, at least the first and third one do. “Ha ha, she saved him! That was an amazing save! Comcast has amazing savings! I get it.”
Or,”Ha Ha! Those kids are such funny actors. My kids are funny, too. Hey! It’s children in an adult setting… now that’s what I call funny. And cute. And Comcastic.” We get it. Those jokes aren’t that smart, they aren’t that funny and even the neat design treatment at the end doesn’t save these from commercial stink.

Now, with that being said… I’d like to share a little tidbit of information with you. Now, I’m not well-worded enough with the words to have put this together all by myself, so I’ll just copy it from AdAge’s Bob Garfield’s article, Goodby Does Impossible.

—————————————————-

Client walks into Goodby Silverstein & Partners, plops down a suitcase full of money. Says, “You have your choice of three briefs.” Partners say, “OK, shoot.”

“No. 1,” the client says. “Find a noninvasive cure for cancer.”

Goodby says, “We’re an ad agency. That’s completely beyond our capabilities.”

Client says, “No. 2: Conquer the speed of light.”

Silverstein says, “Impossible. What’s the third brief?”

Client says, “Make Comcast seem adorable.”

Goodby says, “Can you tell us the cancer one again?”

——————————————————

I know the joke isn’t that new, but the idea is right on. How do you take a product that most people hate and turn it into something that people enjoy? It’s the same problem Volkswagon faced when charging into an American market. It was done brilliantly and this Comcast reconstructive surgery is just as nice.

The commercial isn’t that original (see the article above for examples) but that doesn’t seem to matter. Because after one or two views, you’ll be singing along in your chair. The art style has an amateurish, sketchy appeal that makes it pleasing to watch and the song itself is pretty fun. The first time I saw this, I enjoyed it so much that I was a bit disappointed when I found it was for Comcast, as I’m sure you were the first time you saw it. This could carry across many media (radio, television and could make some pretty cool print and direct mail ads if they sung to you).

So maybe this post isn’t about rejoicing that Comcast isn’t devil spawn anymore (maybe one step above, now). Maybe this post is just about rejoicing that an advertising agency, namely Goodby Silverstein & Partners, is creative and daring enough to improve on a company’s brand image. A company as hated as Comcast. It’s nice that in this world, with a company that most people quiver with anger when they hear, an ad agency stepped up to the challenge and improved your view on Comcast, if only by a smidgeon. Now, go and enjoy these mono-tone, brightly colored pieces of comercial goodness. It helps if you stop the commercial or change the channel right before the very end.

Comment and tell me what you think about this. And please, share your horror stories about Comcast so I don’t lose all my deserved anger toward them!

Everyone who’s left their house or turned on a television or radio in the past year knows that we’re in a recession. A lot of companies are folding and closing doors because they just can’t cope and lots of things that people consider “luxuries” or “unnecessary” aren’t being bought. One of these things is insurance. yes, it’s the law to have car insurance and it’s nice to have home insurance, etc. But when times are hard, you tend to overlook things like “legal” and forget to buy insurance.

Another thing to note is that a lot of people are losing faith in companies they’ve been with for years and companies they’re thinking about investing in or putting money into. Now, I’ve had Allstate insurance for a long time and I lost faith in them for reasons that had nothing to do with the economy. But after seeing their new commercial today… I have to give them credit. They’re approaching the problem of our recession without skirting around it. I really like this commercial. It has a nice hopeful feeling and if I didn’t hate them for other reasons, the commercial would make me like the company even more.