jtherkal: Normally, I wouldn’t think to bring a SPAM-type email into the fold here, but I think Spirit’s recent “campaign” warrants some attention. First, for context, if you somehow have missed the news and/or The Daily Show for the last two weeks, we’re currently being inundated with news about Congressman Anthony Weiner’s twitter dick shot and scandalous online sex affairs. So, in timely fashion, Spirit Airlines has apparently jumped into the fray with these cheap “weiner” gag emails.
As if people didn’t already think Spirit is despicable–with their nickel and dime flight booking rape trickery scheme–now they have to go low brow on their advertising? I’m sure someone, somewhere at Spirit thought this was funny–some assistant AE in charge of overseeing the email campaign that no one with a real job gives a shit about. But I can’t believe they thought this would fly. Get it, fly? Airplane? Fly, weiner? Not all attention is good attention. F this.
sjbooher: I’m not as up in arms about it, but I don’t get it… how does the hot dog even relate to the sale? Weird. D+
jtherkal: Fifty girls in bathing suits, running around, holding beers. Sounds like a winner. But it’s not. I can’t put my finger on why this is bad. Maybe because it seems cheap and poorly made, like a straight-to-dvd comedy. Maybe because the girls aren’t in bikinis, but instead are wearing unattractive one-pieces. Maybe it’s because they showed me a can shaped like a bottle. Maybe because they’re trying to launch tastepoints.com, a program that’s bound to fail. Suuuuure, after putting down ten Miller Lites, what I want to do is go online and register my cans for some Miller Lite flip-flops. It seems like beer advertising should be easy, but apparently it’s not. D+.
sjbooher: ARE. YOU. KIDDING. ME. What’s next Jeffrey Dahmer for Heinz ketchup? Osama Bin Laden for Water Babies suntan lotion? How about throwing Kim Jon-Il in the adidas “All In” campaign? Look, I am a Michigan alum and a Carolina fan since a young kid, so I know I’m biased. But the Duke basketball team is one of the most hated, if not the most hated, team in college athletics! And they are personified most by either Hurley or Christian Laettner! And THAT is whom you pick as your spokesperson? Good thinking. I’m guessing a lot of people felt the same way, because by Duke’s second tourney game this weekend they had switched this spot out for one featuring Magic Johnson. Amazing. What are you doing? F.
jtherkal: I didn’t dislike this ad when I first saw it. Probably because I didn’t remember it. And I didn’t remember it because I didn’t notice it. So that’s not a good start. However, if the tag line is “comfortable in your own skin” it makes perfect sense. Bobby doesn’t care that you don’t like him or that you hate Duke. He’s comfortable being that guy. Bobby knows, haters gonna hate. But that doesn’t mean he can’t use soap. That being said, this felt cheap. Like some college kid made it with iMovie. Maybe Bobby was the only person those college kids could get. D+.
sjbooher: I hope Dove is comfortable in it’s “selling less product” skin.
jtherkal: Amazing, when I was clicking into this entry that’s exactly what I was going to write. But probably just as “boring.” It’s almost as if we’re on opposite sides of a border, and we both want to say how boring a commercial about our job would be, so we give an ad the same grade. D+. Now back to work.
jtherkal: Well, no one thought this was very funny. And my criticism is almost the same as it was for HomeAway. This is such a great, simple product, and somehow they managed to make it way more difficult to understand than it should have been. Of course, now the ads have been pulled due to people being offended, so I can’t watch them again to make sure I’m right about this. I wasn’t offended at all, and in fact I don’t mind the gag, but it isn’t a clear illustration of the power of groupon or how it works. Now we won’t even get to see the Elizabeth Hurley rain-forest/Brazilian wax joke, which may have been better for a Super Bowl audience anyways. D+.
sjbooher: Nothing says Super Bowl star power like Timothy Hutton! I was going to give an F, but they somehow managed to create a controversy which is the only way I would have remembered this service. C. No doubt the Hurley jammy would have been better for this event. Here it is for good measure:
sjbooher: Cars! Cars! CAARRRRRRRSSS!!! BUY CARS!!!! DRIVE CARS!!!! SELL CARSS!!!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! F. If someone buys a car because it interfaces with their Facebook account, well, they are an idiot.
jtherkal: I’m not going to disagree with that. However, since most of America is addicted to Facebook, this would be like saying “Chevy Cruz, now with a keg included and a hose that runs into your mouth so you can keep your hands on the wheel” to an alcoholic. Some people don’t care about much more than simple little features. D+.
jtherkal: Aside from the fact that this is just not a good commercial, it’s one of the worst products known to man. $1 to get an answer to a text question? If you ever use this service, they should put you on a list of people who should not be allowed to be in charge of anything, ever. I’m sure there were a stack of funny scripts involving some sort of race to avoid physical pain by answering a question, I’m just not sure how this one was the winner. Product, F. Ad, D+.
sjbooher: And the fatal flaw? As my wife pointed out, the second guy should have obviously repeated exactly what the first guy said. F.
sjbooher: Talk and words. The title says it all. F.
jtherkal: I looked where the arrow said to. It said Sony. And maybe I paid too much, but I never have to look at my TV and think man, I bought a shitty Vizeo TV. I don’t even know what that is. That being said, it got me to look at where my TV says Sony. And that made me happy. D+.
sjbooher:Last year, I thought the NFL story ad incorporated the good aspects of a “based on a true story” movie — not so much this year. If last year’s version was a wide-release, nationwide movie, this year’s is a made for TV joint. The interview portions are engaging and interesting, but the scripted portions are garbage. D+.
jtherkal: Agree. Totally. Someone probably said, “let’s make it more exciting.” Which translated into trash. Booooooo. D.
sjbooher: I sort of like the drawing whatever you want concept, but don’t like the actual execution of it, here. Drinkability, itself, as my cohort said, is sort of dumb. Blah. D+.
jtherkal: I hate the drawing concept. Seems like something that sounded good on paper and turned out to be awful and boring in execution. And “Drinkability” is the worst, though it seems to be catching on as a joke. I’ve heard people talking about it. This particular ad is terrible, but I can’t deny enjoying watching the skier crash through all the tables. D+.
