Favorite Campaign: My Life. My Card.

Asking an ad major to pick his/her favorite ad campaign is like asking a mother to pick her favorite child. As ad majors, we've been exposed to a lot of campaigns: some brilliant, others atrocious, some hilarious, others a downright failure. But despite all the crap that there is out there, there are those few that just stick with you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrzeP4TvzXc

I still remember the first television spot that I saw for the American Express "My Life. My Card." campaign. It featured Robert De Niro walking through the streets of New York City. It was reflective, almost autobiographical, as he talked about his "first love", the city itself. It was shot in very faded film, almost black and white, with copy that was poignant yet fresh. The ad ends with “My life happens here, my card is American Express”. No matter how many times I have seen this ad, I stop every time it comes on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK1dRCfGEJo

I continued to be inspired by the campaign the more executions that I saw. Every piece uses a new celebrity and is presented in a way that corresponds with that celebrity’s personality. Another television spot that I loved was the one for Ellen Degeneres. She is hilarious, witty, and light-hearted, and her ad reflects that. She is shown dancing throughout her day to any beat that surrounds her: her alarm clock, an ice cream truck, and a cell phone ringer. She finally ends at the beginning of her talk show that always starts with pop music and dancing. Like the De Niro spot, this ad encompasses everything that Ellen is about—having fun and dancing to your own tune.

American Express also did a series of print ads with this campaign where celebrities filled out a questionnaire. The questions were largely the same for each celebrity and were revealing and autobiographical, ranging from childhood ambition, to proudest moment, from indulgence, to last purchase, all of which were answered in the celebrity’s own script. One of my favorites featured Tiger Woods (despite his more recent questionable life decisions, he made for a good ad). While much of his answers were obviously golf-related, many were sentimental and about his family (again, a little ironic in retrospect). The last question was “my card ____”, to which he responded, “is American Express,” and then his signature is at the bottom. The large black and white photo of Tiger and his mom that faces the questionnaire seals the emotional-affinity to the ad and thus the brand.

Overall, this campaign is effective because it takes a credit card and makes it a part of you.

Offensive or Brilliant?

Advertising is a volatile equation--part brilliance and part madness, it is very easy to cross over that fine line into madness and poor taste. This week we were asked to analyze 4 ads that are somewhat controversial and then discuss an ad that we find offensive.

I found the first ad for the Norwegian Association of the Blind much more offensive than the second as it implies that a boss can get away with doing inappropriate things at work because they have hired a blind employee. It is a humorous change of perspective as the obvious message would have been how the blind benefit from having a steady job rather than how your office can benefit from hiring the blind.

I found the tweets from Kenneth Cole to be very offensive. While the second tweet seems to be Kenneth Cole's attempt at crisis control, he clearly should have consulted his PR agency before doing so as I find it does much more harm than the first. If he truly "[understood] the sensitivity of this historic moment" then clearly he would have never tweeted about it in the first place. Trying to commercialize on such a historic moment is not only ignorant but egotistical.

The ads for Happy Dent Gum featuring images of Gandhi and Mother Teresa don't particularly bother me. I don't personally understand the message exactly and it seems like a very random association but I don't find it offensive or in poor taste.

The ad for Cake Imagery Retouching bothers me the most as it is making fun of women who are not the model type by implying that Cake Retouching can turn any women into a model. I am not surprised at all to read that the ad was done by an all male team and I can guarantee that the ad would have never been made if there was a single girl involved. While the ad certainly does a good job of demonstrating the company's "benefits", it also successfully alienates just about every female viewer.

One of the most offensive ads that I have ever seen was the "Save the Whales" billboard for PETA. Known for its "you're either with us or against us" mentality, PETA opts for advertising that is provoking and suggestive, and in my opinion a little misguided. However, this is PETA advertising at its worst. It is not only distasteful and offensive, but downright awful as it blatantly attacks any overweight, meat-eating woman. And as a previous vegetarian who believes in much of what PETA is fighting for, this ad single-handedly alienates me from their cause, which is the exact opposite of what their ads should be doing.

Outdoor & Billboard Ads

Outdoor advertising presents a very interesting paradox. On one hand it is very advantageous because it is the one medium that doesn't have to be invited into the home--it cannot be fast-forwarded or flipped past. But on the other hand, it is very short-lived and must captivate the viewers' attention within a matter of seconds, usually while they are in motion. However because it is so fleeting, outdoor ads are often very fun and creative.

The first billboard is for the YMCA and it is purely a visual ad, using no words. It is a simple driveway basketball hoop. The message of this ad is so overly-simplified yet so effective, proving that more often than not, the simplest ads are the most powerful.

The second outdoor ad is for the 7-11 Slurpee and is the exact opposite of the YMCA ad in that it uses only copy. They have taken the instantly recognizable form of the Slurpee and have simply filled in the shape using copy about the Slurpee promotion. In this way they have caught the fleeting attention of the passerby and made them think of the Slurpee shape but have also stopped the viewer with a few minutes to spare who has time to read what the ad is actually about.

The next billboard ad is for Adams Outdoor Advertising and again uses only copy. Although not as visually appealing as the Slurpee ad, the message of this ad can be understood loud and clear. It catches the viewer's attention by using common phrases with the word "ass" but then make it acceptable by censoring the first S with an asterisk. Ads with curse words are kind of like fart jokes, a little bit tasteless but nonetheless funny and eye-catching. And they don't bother with any of the usual ad "fluff" with the white copy on the black background.

The last billboard is for Coca-Cola and is just a fun, amusing way of promoting the product. The straw leading from the classic, glass Coke bottle to the sunglasses model is a clever way of demonstrating people's obsession with Coke and how far they are willing to go get it. The only thing I dislike about the ad is the "refresh on the Coca-Cola side of life" copy as it really has nothing to do with the rest of the ad.

Ads and Creative Tactics

For this week's blog post we were asked to find three print ads, reference the creative tactic used, and then explain whether or not it was used effectively.

The first ad is for Mint Z gum and it features a straw that has been "chewed" into the Venus de Milo with the tagline "Improved Chewing Skill". This is an example of showing the effects and exaggeration as the ad is exaggerating the effects of the product. I think these creative tactics were used very effectively in this example because the ad is fun and simple, but most importantly the consumer would instantly be able to understand the benefits of the product. Obviously, Mint Z gum will not make the user a dental artist but the ad is an interesting and lighthearted way of demonstrating its benefits.

The second ad is for Terra Sonora a program that allows its users to mix and match their music. It shows the face of Marilyn Manson donning the classic Elvis coif and Elvis-esque attire. The creative tactic used here would be a metaphor and I think that it is used very effectively as the benefit of using Terra Sonora is immediately obvious--this program allows you to mix and match the music by your favorite artists, in this case Marilyn Manson and Elvis. It is a very quirky yet engaging way of demonstrating what the program is capable of.

The last ad is for the Los Angeles Zoo and shows an owl constructed of books and newspapers with the copy "Wisdom" and the tagline "Where learning happens naturally". The creative tactic used in this ad is part mixing and matching and part metaphor. The owl is a common zoo animal and one of the most obvious symbols of wisdom while newspapers and books are classic symbols of learning. I think this is an effective use of the creative tactics however I have seen this idea executed many times before.

Favorite 2011 Super Bowl Ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsPfaR6Rm3o

It's hard enough for me to get through the Super Bowl as is. I don't do football. I don't do beer. I don't do drunken idiots screaming at the television and body slamming. The only thing I can do is the ads. And this year that was more painful than everything else combined. The lack of originality, creativity, and, well, smarts was astounding.

One of the few that I did manage to have some sort of appreciation for was Chrysler's "This is the Motor City" ad featuring Eminem. Clocking in at 2:00 minutes long, I instantly fell in love with this tough-love ad/short film. I loved the opening gritty, almost home-movie-ish video footage of the city. I loved the copy with it's hypothetical questions and heartfelt yet witty tone of voice. I loved the opening music and how it faded into Eminem's "Lose Yourself". And despite my indifference towards Eminem, I actually did not mind him in it either.

What I did mind was the fact that it was a car ad. I think that the ad would have been much more effective if it had just been for the city of Detroit and the car industry there in general on behalf of Chrysler. I found that the product shots were almost unnecessary and instead took away from ad. Just as I was falling into the allure of the advertisement, I was reminded once again that they were trying to sell me something, like all of that gushy, emotional copy was just a facade, which all advertisements obviously are but the best ones are the ones that have you thinking they are not.