I RATE ADS

jtherkal: So today I received these notices that videos had been removed from our YouTube channel due to copyright violations. I had to read them a few times to understand what they were saying, because certainly no company would ever ask you NOT to watch or show their commercial.

In the case of the Viagra Ad, it seems to be the music company that had a problem with us sharing their song without paying for or obtaining the rights. But in the other case it was Toyota, the actual car company, that asked to have THEIR AD taken down. Now, is it just me, or does asking people NOT to show your ad seem like the most ridiculous thing in the history of marketing? It’s FREE ADVERTISING! The whole reason you make an ad is to have people watch it and hopefully notice or remember it. The ultimate win (well, aside from making a sale) is when someone passes on information about your ad, or even better, passes on the actual Ad for others to see. I’m absolutely amazed and confused by this.

jtherkal: Advertising today is going in new and strange directions. Dr. Pepper certainly recognizes the role YouTube is going to play in it all. Until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of Tay Zonday, but a million other people had. Just a guy making a song. For some reason or another, mostly because it’s ridiculous, millions (over 20 million views!) of people watched his video. So what does Diet Cherry Cholocolate Dr. Pepper do? Give him some production dollars and put a video on youtube. Was it a waste of money? Over four million views say no. He moves away from the mic so he can breathe! The only bad thing I have to say about this is the ending. They didn’t need anything more than the bottle being splashed. That terrible cherry chocolate logo, which was apparently created by someone vomiting design elements into a blender, then blending it and pouring it into a “terrible logo” mold, was unnecessary. A-.

And need I mention the strange awfulness of “Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr. Pepper”? I can’t even begin to fathom what that tastes like.

sjbooher: Tay is awesome, “Chocolate Rain” is above and beyond awesome, and the idea of this video is absolutely brilliant. While I cannot say I think the end product is perfect — I would have wanted the product featured a little more prominently and told Mista Johnson he can be in “the next one” — it does not matter. Millions of views are getting the brand out there. B-.