This is a fairly recent commercial for Sun-Maid Raisins.
Huh. The Sun-Maid Raisin girl got a makeover. Weird.
Beyond that, I’m not sure about the Hollywood thing here. First of all, since when is everyone in Hollywood healthy and fit? They don’t look that way to me. The guys maybe, but the girls usually look more anorexic than “healthy and fit”. And I’m not sure how raisins really fit in with the whole entertainment thing. Not since they retired the California Raisins, anyway.
Maybe I’m just confused, but I just don’t understand how raisins could make me a movie star. Especially when I’ve never seen a movie star eating raisins (I rarely see them eating anything). Maybe they should have forgotten the “Hollywood” part of this ad and stuck with the “healthy and fit” part. That might have worked better.
So, the very strange “someone forgot to boost” Minute Maid ads aren’t just print ads, they’re also commercials!
Um… ok… so that was kind of uncomfortable, actually. See, that doesn’t make me laugh. That makes me go “wow, what a jerk.” And no matter how miraculous that smart-making powers of your juice might be, I don’t see it making him any less of a jerk.
The main point is, this certainly doesn’t make me want to buy your juice. I makes me want to stay as far away from the people who made this ad as possible. Especially when taken with the first ad for this campaign that I talked about which showed a guy hurting himself and two people looking at him like he was an idiot and, notably, not helping him. Sorry, but no.
This is an ad for Nestea Red Tea that was found in a men’s magazine.
The text reads:
Thanks to 50 calorie Nestea Red Tea the only difference between me and Michelangelo’s David is that he’s made of marble and my name is Steve.
Is anybody else a little creeped out by the photoshopping in this ad? It’s bad enough that I have to assume they intended it to be really, really obvious, but still… This doesn’t make me think their product will help people achieve such bodies. It makes me think their product will help people believe their own weird delusions.
This is a commercial for Corona Beer and was found on YouTube.
This is a very simple ad, but I think it’s actually pretty effective. It clearly associates the product, Corona, with vacations and relaxing. The cell phone being thrown into the ocean is the perfect symbol of this being an escape, a retreat of sorts. And since the only thing clearly in the frame is the bottle of beer, that’s very much associated with the feeling of relaxation.
This is an ad for Pepsi Max and a mustache growing event to support research for prostate and testicular cancer and it was found in a men’s magazine.
This ad is interestingly designed. It looks like a plastic sheet with plastic mustache shapes that could be popped off. The shapes are supposed to represent different possible mustaches that the viewer might grow, but many are shapes that don’t really grow naturally, but require styling, which few people have bothered to do for a long time. It does make for a striking, graphic image that grabs your attention.
I can’t say that this ad gets me excited about or even interested in any of the things it’s advertising, but since I can’t grow a mustache, it’s not for me. Still, I like the visuals.
This is a commercial for Cadbury Milk Chocolate and was shown during the Super Bowl. I found it on the internet.
So, while I think this is an amusing video along the lines of the weird stuff that can be found on YouTube, I’m afraid I don’t really understand what it has to do with… well… anything. Call me old fashioned, but I like ads to actually be somehow at least tangentially related to the product. Otherwise I have to wonder what the point of using them as advertisements for the product is. And while there is something to be said for having a distinct video, however odd, that simply reminds people of your product because you produced it, this didn’t bring in the product enough to manage that. I’d forgotten what it was for ten minutes after watching it and had to go find out again to write this post. That seems like an advertising fail to me, even if it’s an awesome video on its own. Sorry, Cadbury.
This is one of my favorite commercials ever. It’s a classic holiday cheese commercial from the “the Power of Cheese” campaign.
I think this is one of the most brilliant ads I’ve ever seen. Honestly. Sadly, this was after they changed the slogan from “Behold the Power of Cheese” to “Ahh, the Power of Cheese” and I think that the “Behold” slogan would have been more appropriate for this particular ad. But really, that’s a pretty small complaint for an absolutely brilliant commercial that had many imitators.
You snooze, you oops. Boost your energy with the natural power of real fruit juice plus Yerba Mate. Wake up your best you. Put good in. Get good out.
I really wonder about this ad. It’s very visually arresting – the image definitely makes you stop and look. The problem is that I don’t think that the image really does what they want it to. I didn’t even notice the guy in the control center, despite the “arrow” pointing to him. Consequently, I sat there staring at this wondering why they chose this image, since they are displaying no people and bridges can’t drink juice.
I did notice the guy after a bit, but I’m still wondering how this is an “oops”. Running into a door and making a fool of yourself but not really causing any damage to yourself or the door, that’s an “oops”. Causing a large hole to be punched in what is undoubtedly a several million dollar bridge is not a “oops”, it’s justifiable cause for being fired at best, legal action at worst. It’s definitely bigger than an “oops”, and I’m guessing nobody would say “oh, you forgot to drink juice that morning? That makes sense, forget it then.”
Sorry, Minute Maid, but this one really doesn’t work. Try again.
This is an ad for Dentyne that some friends of mine saw in an airport.
The text reads:
Dentyne
Make Face time.
The Original Instant Message.
Friend Request Accepted.
The Original Voicemail.
I think that this is an extremely interesting ad. It’s linking it’s brand to social media, but also pushing that social media isn’t as good as real, physical contact (which is, of course, facilitated by the brand).
Interestingly, this campaign goes beyond this billboard, too. Their website’s entry page explains that you have exactly three minutes there, and then it will kick you off because “face time” is way better than being on the internet, and so their website is devoted to helping people make such face time. Of course, the timer thoughtfully stops running on any page related to their product. And when the timer does run out, you can request to see one of their pages again, so it doesn’t actually mean much. Still, it’s a cute idea and shows that the campaign extends beyond just posters and commercials (there’s some cute commercials in this vein too).
I’m not sure that I’m convinced that gum will actually have any kind of real impact on socialization, but I really like this campaign. It’s cute, well integrated and attention grabbing. It’s message (beyond the “chew our gum” part) is more positive than that of many other campaigns. I also liked that it, interestingly, doesn’t even have the person with the gum chewing it in all the ads – sometimes they’re making “friend requests” by offering it to people – so it doesn’t even alienate people who don’t chew gum!
I can’t remember where I found this ad, but it’s part of a whole campaign for pistachios.
If you don’t remember, Levi Johnston was the guy who got Sarah Palin’s teenage daughter pregnant. All indications suggest that he’s a pretty big douche. The black guy with him is his bodyguard (he really does go around with Levi everywhere and protect him).
This ad mostly seemed really stupid to me. What does it have to do with pistachios? No clue. And personally I find this guy kind of repulsive, so that’s not helping your cause either. There are several other ads from the same campaign, all with different gimmicks in the same vein. ”Newlyweds do it five times a day”, “dominatrix do it on command”, “beauty queens do it without a clue”, etc. Many of them are pretty insulting in some way – especially to women. But it is clear that for some unknown reason the marketing department for pistachios really likes to say “do it”.
