by mark December 15th, 2005
in Daily Thoughts.
The guy who taught me how to tend bar was a classic New York wiseass who had a crack for everything. So if you said something was “growing on you”, you got the “yeah, like fungus” quip. (Hey, I never said he was Henny Youngman.)
At any rate, that’s definitely how some advertising campaigns work–on me at least. When I first saw this one I remember thinking: “oh great, now the math majors are not only running most corporations, they’re art directing the ads, too.”
Continue reading ‘Like Fungus?’
by mark December 13th, 2005
in Daily Thoughts.
If there is such a thing as karmic retribution in the ad world–and there should be–Maxell will come back as a company with the ability to make nothing but 8-track tape cartridges. I’ve written before about companies milking the equity from decades-old creative, but this ad takes the creamery.
First of all, it reduces Lars Anderson’s iconic image to 1/4 of the page to make room for a red Nutrasweet-like wave, which I’m sure the client thought added great “dynamism” to the ad. Then, it appropriates the nickname for this famous image, “blown away guy”, and plunks it smack into the headline, lest anyone with an IQ in the double digits misunderstand things.
Continue reading ‘Karma Service’
by mark December 7th, 2005
in Daily Thoughts.
One winter afternoon when I was a kid, several of my buddies and I decided it would be a great idea to scale the chain-link fence that surrounded our elementary school. My pals managed to accomplish this without any trouble, but as I was swinging my leg over the top I somehow snagged the crotch of my snow pants on the sharply pointed tip. A piercing that just happened to be in the immediate vicinity of the apparatus at least partially responsible for the birth of my children, not to mention a number of other fond memories. My friends, of course, bolted in hysterics, while needless to say, I was a long time getting myself down and still a baritone.
It was an experience I’m sometimes reminded of by certain advertising campaigns. For instance, yesterday I saw a new outdoor ad for American Express. It featured an unusual photograph of Ellen DeGeneres accompanied by one of those profiles people fill out–”my favorite movie, my fondest memory,” etc.–answered in her handwriting (and ironic tone of voice) coupled with the theme: “My life. My card.”
Continue reading ‘On The Fence’
by mark December 4th, 2005
in Daily Thoughts.
Those of you who are familiar with this site will know I commute into Chicago on the train most days and regularly remark on the abundance of outdoor advertising that is on display at the downtown station. One of these days I’ll have to find out what the aggregate cost of this is, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some of these guys are spending half a million bucks a month.
A lot of the stuff passes literally over my head without a second glance, but occasionally I see something–either exceptionally ordinary or extraordinary–that merits further examination. And last week I got a great “two-fer”: One example of nice work and another of how to vaporize the shareholders’ money while paying some agency a nice fee for the priviledge.
Continue reading ‘Advertising Overhead’
