You know your teaser campaign is awesome when people want not only your product, but all the other stuff you used to get them to excited about the main attraction. I want these glasses just to have around the house. You know, just in case.
‘great ads’
1.21 Gigawatts of Cool
Thursday, September 8th, 2011Aretha Fanklin’s Hat
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010These snickers commercials just keep getting better and better. The only thing that might be more awesome than the commercials, is of course, Aretha Franklin’s hat. Because nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is more awesome than Aretha Franklin’s hat.
Be my Guest…
Monday, March 8th, 2010Remember when they came out with the state quarters which were (and still are) completely awesome (or lame if you’re Texas…like anyone really needs a reminder of what the outline of that state looks like)? And remember how just when you thought, this is a great idea, how awesome is this, it got even more awesome when the Muppets got involved? The most exciting change America has ever seen! And how!
These days it’s the census shaking up your expectations of boring old government with fantastic advertising. And good on them. I love the census! It’s such a noble and impossible undertaking. Plus, it happens so infrequently it’s a big honkin’ deal. Add a little Christopher Guest & Co. into the mix and let the magic happen. Tap into AMERICA!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqX2yVID8Ww&feature=player_embedded
To do then now would be retro. To do then then was very…now-tro, if you will.
Monday, June 1st, 2009I saw the new Healthy Choice commercials this weekend on hulu and omg, they are fantastic. Funny, irreverent, not starring an actor portraying a chef or a harried office worker–pretty much everything you would never expect from Healthy Choice. Huge props to my dad who immediately recognized they were the work of Christopher Guest and Co. (of Best in Show, Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind fame).
The ads also continue in the very now-tro tradition of being about something other than the product they’re selling…swoon. Plus, the attention to detail is in top form, check out the movie poster on the wall: 9 Kilometers…look familiar? Multiple layers of meaning requiring repeated viewing to fully get all the jokes…double swoon.
In other news, these ads could not have been more on target for someone who grew up in a household that revered Spinal Tap and taped every episode of Seinfeld, but refused to even consider getting cable until I moved out.
You know what it looks like when you give a dog peanut butter?
It only lasted a year, and that’s good because that’s how you establish a cult…
Where the sun don’t shine
Friday, May 8th, 2009So Sunny Delight has this terrible song in their new commercials with lyrics that go a little something like this “Shine onnnn, Shiiiinnee onnnn.” I believe that’s the entirety of the song. Well hold it right there, we’ve got the makings of an ad campaign face off because Jimmy Dean has been using “Shine on” as their tagline for quite some time now.
As unofficial arbitrator of this head-to-head battle I award Jimmy Dean the point on this one.
First, Jimmy Dean’s commercials are not only infinitely better than Sunny D’s (not a high bar there), but they’re really, really smart. The art direction on the print ads is a nice reinterpretation that evokes the commercials without trying to replicate them. Nicely done. Plus, they make use of costumed people which, though I can think of no examples off the top of my head, is a trend I somehow believe is gaining real traction.
Second, Jimmy Dean told all the haters where they could put it when they said that not using the real life Jimmy Dean as the star of his eponymous sausage commercials was a bad idea. To my knowledge Sunny D has had no such triumphs. In fact, the only Sunny D commercials I could find on youtube are from the 80s and are there purely for comedic effect.
Finally, Sunny D and Jimmy Dean sausages are more than likely both fake foods, but Sunny D seems more fake. (In other news, since when did Capri Sun start marketing itself as a breakfast drink. Come on, America, I think we can do a little better than that.)
Putting the “NO” in innovation
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009Pair a completely boring, tasteless cereal with a great branding concept and suddenly you’ve got a delicious ad. The copy feels like it’s read a bit too rushed and you really have to watch it a couple times to get it all, but it’s totally worth it. In other news, this guy could just as well have been played by Mr. Bookman, the library cop from Seinfeld.