jtherkal: I’m not sure if this ever aired on television, even in a shortened form. But it’s another example of how YouTube advertising can be effective in driving traffic to a website. I wasn’t sure exactly what this was for, but I love the stop motion version of human “snakes.” It made me curious enough to visit get-out-and-play.com. They have a pretty cool version of the breakout game there, using real people as the paddle, ball and targets. The problem is, even after seeing the video multiple times and visiting the site, I still wasn’t sure what it was for. I just went back to find out. My initial thought was that it’s some sort of public service announcement encouraging kids to get out and play. If that was so, it seemed counter-intuitive to put a video game on the site. Well, it’s not a PSA. It’s for Nokia N-Gage, whatever that is. Some sort of gaming thing you have to download for your Nokia phone, which I don’t have. So ultimately, it’s a cool video that doesn’t really learn me. Plus, typing in that website name with the dashes is really annoying. Someone should have tested that. B-.
sjbooher: Despite his high grade, jtherkal’s argument proves my reason for a low grade. I’m interested for about 15 aseconds, then it becomes AEM that advertises nothing since no one’s paying attention by the end. And then, apparently, you can go to the website and STILL not know what the hell’s going on. F.
jtherkal: Yuck. This commercial makes me want to vomit, then put that bile-filled vomit into my eyes, so they burn and keep me from having to finish watching it. “Don’t use potato peeling tools!” No? You shouldn’t use a kitchen utensil to peel dirty, dead skin off your feet? This is something that should never be spoken of, especially for two minutes on public television. Not only does this make me hate the PedEgg, it lets me know that anyone who owns it watched this terrible commercial and thought, “my feet are really disgusting, I need that.” And anyone with disgusting feet who doesn’t have it is possibly using potato peeling tools? Hold on, I feel a gag reflex coming…F.
sjbooher: Somebody needs to be introduced to the edit mechanism on their video editor. Rule #78 of advertising… NEVER SHOW SOMEONE DUMPING A PILE OF DEAD SKIN INTO A TRASH CAN. That associates your product and brand with vomit. F.
sjbooher: This ad, along with showing the product, is announcing TAG’s new record label, headed by bazillionaire hit-maker Jermaine “Everything I touch turns to gold” Dupri, and it’s first artist, Q. These body spray ads are typically all about getting the girls, and have never (to my knowledge) attempted to appeal to the Hip-Hop audience. As a member of that audience, I like this one. Kinda monumental, kinda epic. TAG body spray gives you the ability to slay MC’s, ya’ll. A.
jtherkal: This is definitely a smart move by TAG, tapping into a huge untapped market. And they’re doing it with more than just ads, they’re embracing the community and becoming a part of it. While my personal feelings about Jermaine Dupri keep me from embracing this movement, I can’t deny his track record. Whatever happens, this is definitely better than the old Right Guard campaign featuring Method Man and Redman (which I searched for, unsuccessfully). You know, the one where they have that giant rubber band that snaps all those bikers? It’ll be interesting to see how this develops over the next year. A for now.
jtherkal: Boom! Here it is. The second debut of the Windows Vista campaign. Apparently this is the real campaign, with rumors flying around that the Seinfeld-Gates ads have been pulled and were only intended to get people talking before the actual release of the “real” campaign. While I seriously doubt that Crispen purposely made boring pieces of shit, this is starting to feel more like what you’d expect. The idea that PC’s have been unjustly stereotyped is one that, while perhaps untrue(I think PCs and Windows have earned their reputation), is at least an idea.
They’re giving people who use PCs something to identify with, something to rally around. They’re trying to make you feel okay to not be hip like Mac, because people like Pharrell (although he’s already being bashed for selling out, after saying he’s a Mac guy), Tony & Eva, Vera Wang, and some guy with a beard are PCs. A lot of people have PCs, so making them feel like they don’t have to rush out and get a Mac is not a bad starting goal.
And, before you can break a stereotype, you first have to get people to acknowledge that there is, indeed, a stereotype. This does exactly that. Call out the stereotype and start to prove it wrong. Plus, “I’m a PC” is the type of phrase that can catch fire in pop culture. It’ll find its way into sketch comedy shows, YouTube videos, t-shirts, etc. Why on earth didn’t they just launch with this instead of shoveling that load of Seinfeld shit out onto the airwaves? We still haven’t seen anything about the product, so it’ll be interesting to see where this goes next. A-.
sjbooher: Now THIS is good. So really, WHAT was that Seinfeld crap? An amazing turnaround, here. They actually used relevant celebrities this time. Good idea! This is the type of ad the young tastemakers of the world are can grab a hold of, as my colleague said. Does the product still suck? Yeah. But if you don’t know that, this can catch your interest. This succeeds as more of a “brand builder”. A.
As for the Pharrell issue… isn’t Microsoft the one getting played here, for paying a guy that is a definite Mac user to hawk your brand? Microsoft already looked like suckers for using N*E*R*D’s “Spaz” in this Zune ad, when on their album, the track immediately preceding “Spaz”, namedrops the iPod repeatedly!
jtherkal: I can’t wait until Lost starts again. Sawyer is the hottest shit on the streets. Whatever he does, I want to do. It says don’t dive, but he dives! Then he does some sort of leaping butterfly stroke. No one actually swims like that! Except for Sawyer. He defies convention. If I ever wore cologne, I would wear this brand, simply because Sawyer wants me to. A.
sjbooher: This ad is absolutely brilliant. For years I’ve seen Cool Water ads in Sports Illustrated, forever imprinting their brand in my head. Blue. Beefcake. Cool. Sex. Water. When the bigwigs over at Davidoff first saw Sawyer in the water during some random Lost episode, they probably couldn’t get his agent on the phone quick enough. He IS Cool Water. Amazing. Few times in life do the stars align so perfectly. The best part for Josh Holloway is he probably did not even have to leave the Lost set. Hell, he may not have even done any special filming for this joint. They easily could have found some “lost” footage from the show, gave it the ol’ cut and splice, and BAM — done. A+.
sjbooher: I think this one is way more line with what Obama has been trying to get across throughout his campaign. No attacking the other side, but instead presenting his side of the story. He lays out the problems he sees and even gets into some specifics about solutions. Of course it is two minutes long and still boring as hell. The funny part is, this is probably the first political ad I’ve viewed in HD, and the only thing gained is the ability to shift Obama a little to the “left” side of the screen? Couldn’t they have given me a better background than the same hotel room in which much of the first season of 24 was shot? C.
jtherkal: I agree with that analysis for the most part, though I have to question the “boring” tag. I mean, I guess they could have thrown in some music and maybe some explosions? Maybe he could have made some jokes? Nope. This is what political advertising should be. Talk about the issues and your plans. Things that affect our country aren’t boring. Was this dry? Yes. But political ads shouldn’t feel like ads. They should feel like the candidates talking to you about things that matter. Congrats to Obama for getting back on track. A-.
sjbooher: At the end of the day though, something is being advertised, right? So the goal is to make someone interested in the product, which in this case is Obama? Is anybody that is not already interested in Obama’s campaign going to pay attention to this? I don’t think so. I don’t have the solution… I only point out the problems. Otherwise, I’d have your job.
sjbooher: Throughout his campaign, one aspect of Obama’s personality that has really struck me, is his ability to take the high road. McCain and his party have continually done the opposite of that, attacking Obama at any and every point. With this ad, criticizing McCain for criticizing Obama… has Barack decided stop turning the other cheek? It’s somewhat disappointing but I guess inevitable. Let mud slinging begin. All-in-all this ad is straightforward, standard and boring, and I have never met anyone who changed their mind about presidential candidates, so I’m not even sure if these things work. C.
jtherkal: This ad had the proportions wrong. 80% should have been focused on the last part, where he calls out McCain’s history of voting with Bush; 20% on McCain’s smear ads. It seems hypocritical to run a smear ad about your opponent running smear ads. Instead, Obama could have simply corrected all of McCain’s misinformation. That would both point out that McCain runs deceptive ads AND show you the positive things Obama stands for. If you’re going to take the moral high road, you can’t be pulling stunts like this. This isn’t change. D for disappointed.
In related news, there was something in the paper this morning about the absurd amount of money spent on political advertising. I have to agree that the whole thing gets a bit ridiculous. In my opinion, political ads are never really about the issues (and if they are, there is generally some sort of false spin on them) and they should be outlawed. Leave the campaigning to the hippie tree-huggers with buttons and bible-toting pro-lifer’s bumper stickers.
jtherkal: If anyone loves things in the future, it’s me. Hell, I once ate Future City french fries. I own Futura Super Socks. But this ad, set in some sort of futuristic gladiator stadium, is about the most useless, drab, unimaginative spot I’ve ever seen in the last week. First, the car isn’t fighting anything in that stadium, what are all of those stupid people so excited about? Second, the copy is terrible. “The totally, completely, 100%, all new Mazda 6.” Only they kept the same shitty tagline? “Zoom Zoom. Forever.” is like the kiss of death for anyone working on Mazda. Zoom Zoom is over. Dead. Buried. Let it go. It’s like Who Let The Dogs Out. Good when it came out, terrible now. This does the opposite of making me want a Mazda. F F forever.
sjbooher: First of all, “Zoom Zoom” was never good. Terrible the minute it was birthed and that horrid faux-Caribbean song ran incessantly in my head. Horrid. Second, I agree that the played out “Mad Max” theme is not very inspiring here, but I am more in the “oh, ok, whatever” position. I’ll go with a solid “meh”. Just another boring, forgettable ad. D.
jtherkal: As my girlfriend would say, “Womp womp.” Which is actually, waaa waaa–some sort of horn noise from television when something funny and deflating happens. It’s a noise you make when the joke is dumb and obvious, a mocking noise, which would be appropriate for this, since it’s not really funny. The old double-entendre “hot” joke, switching up spicy for sexy. Very clever Carl’s Jr. The sandwich even looks sort of disgusting. Fail. D.
sjbooher: This makes me laugh and smile every time. Sometimes a dumb and obvious jokes — “jokes in a can” as I like to call them — can be lazy and boring. Sometimes they are genious, like this one. Either way, whether you think it’s funny or not, it probably at least grabs your eye, and they use their trademark voice over guy, which instantly says “Carl’s Jr.”. I think I would have liked it a little bit better though if it had been slightly more subtle. The hit-’em-over-the-head punchline was unnecessary… or was it? This is mostly dumb America we are talking about. A.
jtherkal: Part two of this mysterious campaign is hitting the airwaves. The above video is actually a 4+ minute webisode, which is miles better than the initial shoe store commercial (F). Whether this one works when cut down to :30 or :60 remains to be seen. You start to get a glimpse of the direction they might be taking with this campaign–trying to humanize Gates and Microsoft, make it seem like Vista is designed with average people in mind. I don’t know if I’m buying it.
Rumor has it, the next spot released in this campaign is going to pay off this setup. The expectations are rocket-ship high for Crispen to nail this, so I’m expecting the payoff to be brilliant; otherwise this’ll be seen as a monumental failure. I don’t know why they didn’t start with this one, the family makes it way more likable. C+.
sjbooher: I’m writing this after seeing 30 seconds… you know, the standard length of an ad? And why would I watch more? There is deafening silence, no jokes, and nothing interesting going on. Seinfeld is still not funny so far, and Bill Gates is still boring. And the rest of that family is absurdly boring. The only interesting aspect is that one of the newspaper guys from the best television show ever made, The Wire, is the dad. F.
sjbooher: Update: I made it through the whole thing. Guess what? There is still nothing being advertised, and they have not even piqued my interest. I don’t care what’s next and I hope never have to see anything else in this series ever again. The “joke-in-the-can” robot dance was halfway funny, maybe, but if I had a dollar for every time I’ve seen the “nerdy white guy does the robot” joke, I’d be… Bill Gates. Still and F.