jtherkal: I rarely pull a 180 on an ad, but maybe I was in a bad mood when rating this the first time. I’m not coming around to an A+, but the fact that I sing along with the song and that I look forward to seeing that lumberjack and his madcat laughter means this deserves better than a C+. I still don’t really like Heineken. Skunky-ass beer. B+.
sjbooher: Another victory for………….. LIQUID GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jtherkal: First, does anyone under the age of 40 know who Meatloaf is? And more importantly, if they do, is there anything endearing about Meatloaf, aside from his ridiculous name? There’s absolutely nothing I like about this ad. The song is terrible, the people in it look like no one I’d ever want to be and it does only a mediocre job telling you what the product is. When that kid moves his head in that strange way, it makes me want to punch his stupid face. This is one of those ads that has me scrambling to change the channel when it comes on. F.
sjbooher: Well, we know who Meatloaf is, and we are under 40. After all, we were even in a fantasy sports group with him! Ha — that just made jtherkal feel like his definition of a “nerd”. I love it. I do not love the ad, but I do think it is pretty good. I like musicals in general, so I automatically skew towards liking this, and I think this particular song is clever. I’m not sure what you are listening too, but all it does is describe the product. Maybe you need to watch it again and, um, sleep on it? B+.
jtherkal: The only thing this has going for it is that is plays on the basic truth that buying a new television is one of life’s great moments. It’s sort of a cheap way in to whatever it is they’re advertising. Aside from the idea that shopping for a new television is exciting, I sort of miss what they’re trying to sell. I walk away thinking that I like the commercial, since I love the idea of getting a giant new television, but when I go back and look closer it’s really sort of lame. C-.
sjbooher: But dude… you can use that there little phone box to find out information about your credit card. I think we take for granted the fact that we can use our phones/computers/etc. to find out information like this, but there is a large part of America that is on the other side of the Digital Divide. I really like this ad, much for the reasons you describe. I too love buying tvs. You are also right that the joy comes from something other than the product, but I think that is the case in much of advertising. B+.
jtherkal: I like these commercials. The concept that hotels go out of their way to ensure you write a good review on Hotel.com is a decent one. Not true, but kind of funny. I was going to say that even though I like them, they don’t really make me want to go to hotels.com, but as I was writing this I realized that I feel that way because I’m not actively looking for a hotel. If I was looking for a hotel, I probably wouldn’t know where to start, so thanks to these I now know to go to hotels.com if I want to read reviews. I guess that makes them pretty good. It’s working. It’s wooorkiiing. B+.
sjbooher: Not a fan. I have not laughed once at any of these, despite seeing maybe 3-5 different ones. It is a decent concept, I just do not think they are funny. I have heard people talking about them, though, so that is saying something. As long as Kayak.com exists, however, I personally am not interested. C.
jtherkal: This is a classic. Famous for being what, at the time, qualified as edgy, I think it’s partially responsible for curbing the popularity of littering. And I say popularity because littering used to be pretty popular. People used to drive down the highway, eat their McDonalds, then dump the whole bag out the window. Hey, someone else will clean it up. How else will drunks work off their community service sentence? Now that type of littering is virtually unheard of. At some point the public’s acceptance of littering turned to a strong aversion. Animals everywhere are a little sad they don’t get our Big Mac scraps.
But you have to wonder, why was the Indian really crying? Perhaps it wasn’t the litter. Perhaps it was seeing the land that was once belonged to his people; the land for which the white man slaughtered his kind and forced them to live in the most inhospitable areas of the country (i.e. Oklahoma), then tried to make him feel better by giving him a casino. Anyways, I don’t remember this particular ad from when I was little, but I do remember “Give a hoot, don’t pollute.” Advertising lesson #113: kids listen to owls. B+.
sjbooher: Wow, they really pulled out the big guns on this one. This sure does make you feel awful. I do not remember ever seeing this either, and I am not so sure how much impact it had on littering… but it was not from lack of effort. Sometimes, as the saying goes, though, you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar — this might be too strong, where people have to try and block it out. It’s like those awful drunk driving PSAs that would air, that ended with some sweet, innocent kid dying… a lot of good those did. Of course, drinking is more fun than littering. C+.
jtherkal: Sing it with me now…Five, five, five dollar foot looooong. I seem to be leaving the jingle-hating period of my life and entering the jingle-loving years. Must be getting old. Anyways, it’s catchy, it’s memorable and best of all, it’s not Jared. Thank you, Subway. Less Jared, more jingles. B+.
sjbooher: I’ll tell you what’s a sign of getting old — my reaction to this campaign is: “$5? That’s supposed to be cheap? Aren’t foot longs cheaper than that as it is?”. This ad meets a lot of my usual criteria — excellent product placement, catchy jingle — but it’s missing the “it” factor. I don’t like some of the cheesy imagery they use, and I hate cops. C.
jtherkal: This one has been running for awhile and I’m not sure why. Personally, I happen to enjoy a bottle of Coors Light from time to time. But I’ve never looked at the bottle to see if anything turned blue, and I never will. Why? Because my hand tells me when the beer is cold. If I have to walk all the way to the fridge to see if it’s cold yet, why wouldn’t I just feel the beer? Call me when you have a bottle that starts shouting “I’m cold! Drink up!” when it reaches the appropriate temperature. As for the ad itself, pitting the old “man’s desire for beer” against the trusted “woman’s desire to reproduce” isn’t all that clever. C+.
sjbooher: I don’t think my associate gets the joke. See, Coors Light has this new bottle with a label that changes color to blue once it reaches a certain temperature. Correspondingly, certain pregnancy tastes turn different colors based on the result — in this case, blue = pregnant. Now, the female in this ad is happy because she sees blue on her test, which means she’s pregnant. At first, she thinks the male is happy for the same reason, but eventually realizes he was talking about the beer bottle. Then, to top it all off, he thinks she has blue eyes! Get it? Hahahahahahahahaha. B+.
jtherkal: I guess they do a good job showing the bright and colorful phones, but I think the song sucks, so I sort of hate the commercial. Boring + bad song = D.
sjbooher: Good graphics, good display of the phone… I don’t really like the song either, but that’s a personal taste question. Do other people like this song? Do the people they want to buy this phone like the song? B+
jtherkal: Are you ready for some football? Are you ready for it all the time, winter, summer, fall, and spring? With this new campaign, ESPN boasts that “Now Every Season Is Football Season.” I’m not sure this is going to send Arena Football viewership through the roof, but not for lack of trying. Arena Football is what it is. The NFL’s younger, less-talented brother who happens to have a wild streak and crazy rules. The campaign was done by my friend and associate GVD, out of Weiden+Kennedy NY. They’re pretty funny and get the point across. The concept is good: You think football season is over? It ain’t.
Lucid Dreaming
jtherkal: Looking at these individually, I’m not going to go easy on Gary. I love the narration about lucid dreaming, but isn’t there something less obvious he could do than trying to fly? Seems like that’s the first idea you’d have, not necessarily the best. B+.
sjbooher: This one is a little too over-the-top for me, with focus seemingly on the “lucid dreaming” joke than on the product. And I didn’t find it particularly funny, but that might just be me. C.
Grandpa
jtherkal: Again, good start. A seemingly crazy old man is fertile ground for great humor, but couldn’t you write some truly wild shit for grandpa to be saying? And the “touchdown” followed directly by “first down”? That don’t even make no sense. Or maybe give him a rabid celebration dance, where he tears off his shirt and marches around the room flexing and shouting “who wants some?” B.
sjbooher: I like this one. It’s funny, and it really focuses on the football aspect. I love the inclusion of vacuum cleaners at the end. I didn’t notice the touchdown-first down combo the first time around though. My associate is right about that. A-.
jtherkal: I didn’t even make the connection between “door to door salesman” and a living room full of vaccuums. In fact, I didn’t even notice the vaccuums at all. Nice subtle humor. Upgrade: B+.
Dog Food
jtherkal: The last one, which I can’t find, is the guy who got eye surgery then eats dog food. My comments are about the same. Decent premise, but is feeding him dog food the funniest gag? Maybe, but I think if you spent a day or two thinking of alternates you could come up with something better. B.
jtherkal: This one is pretty old and backloaded with boring talk about the phone plan, but for some reason I still like it. And by “some reason,” I mean because of the auctioneer talk. If I could talk like that, you best believe I would. B+.
sjbooher: The concept is definitely funny. Get it? They don’t have many minutes, so they have to talk fast… get it? The problem is, what if people don’t think it’s funny and tune out? What if people think it’s so funny that they guffaw their way through the meat and potatoes at the end? Backloading worries me. [In Tim Gunn face and voice] I’m concerned. B-.
