E*Trade Babies are back

A new E*Trade babies ad has been on TV and like always is very funny, cute and clever. The main character, a baby, is in timeout for riding his dog like a horse but is using his Ipad to diversify his E*trade stocks. When his I-pad is taken away by his mother, he takes out his smart phone and begins singing, "Nobody knows the trouble I've had."

What makes these ads great is that I'm not sure how they work. People instantly recognize the E*Trade babies and understand the meaning of the commercials. But really, they're just talking babies, an ode to "Look Who's Talking" more than what I would associate stock or bonds with. The ad copy writer weave in the features of the website with the comedy and irony of these infants and their adult lifestyles.

I'm always impressed with these commercials. I think they show that not all the good ideas are gone. It also probably took a leap  of faith to air a commercial like this the first time it was done, but it was obviously worth the risk.

A happening for T-Mobile

As any good improvisation artist knows, a "happening" is when a group of people plan and execute an action, i.e. singing dancing, slow-mo-ing, etc., in front of an unsuspecting group of people in a crowded place. The action is usually harmless and is mostly enjoyed for the surprise element. The bewilderment of the unsuspecting crowd is usually the pay-off.


A recent T-Mobile advertisement called "Welcome Back" incorporated a happening in a crowded airport. Though the ad was kind of long, it was entertaining enough to hold the viewer's attention. Professional singers, who looked like average people waiting for flights, began singing together. They would find an unsuspecting person who fit the theme of a particular song. For instance, in one scene, a group of men leave an arrival terminal. A group of singers run up to them an began singing  "The boys are back in town." At another point, as a couple reunites, a woman sing "At Last" by Etta James while another singer sings the violin part of the song. Which was another interesting thing about the video, there were NO actual instruments used to create the background music, instead, vocalist used their talents to make the sounds of drum, violins and guitars. The singers also used hand motions to pretend to play the instrument they were impersonating.


The final song the vocalists sing is "Welcome Home." The T-Mobile tie-in is that many people in the crowd are filming the happening with their smart phones and the camera gets close-ups of those with T-Mobile phones. The text on the screen says, "Life is for sharing." The end of the commercial is the very recognizable T-Mobile jingle. It is a powerful message about how we view the world differently with our phone technology. Its also powerful  because the ad displays this with no words, just song.

Program-related ads

AMC's new drama, "The Walking Dead," is a show about the after effects of a zombie apocalypse. The show is a non-stop action, intensity-filled horror show. The ads surrounding it are standard, most are for more male-aimed products, a reflection of the shows audience. But one ad stood out in particular, oddly enough it was a Toyota ad.


In the Toyota ad, a car, specifically a Toyota Corolla, is being chased by a hoard of zombies in a zombie movie. The commercial caught my attention because I thought the show was back on. It could've been annoying to be tricked, but I actually appreciated the zombies they used in the commercial were impressive. I think the commercial works because it relates to the show and has a good use of the shows theme, zombies. Toyota put time into the zombie make-up and costumes, which zombie lovers, like myself, appreciate. in the mean time, a man in the commercial who is watching the movie with his scared love interest, is impressed by the Corolla.


I think this commercial was a good use of program-related advertising because it caught the viewers attention by including their specific interest, zombies. They did it in a respectful, tasteful and frankly, creepy way which this particular audience demographic clearly appreciates.  

Crazy and harmful political ads

I've noticed political ads don't follow the same rules as regular ads. But one rule in particular I feel should not be broken is the use of racism in political ads.

Immigration reform has made the issue of Mexican immigration a hot-button topic for vote-hungry politicians. In Tom Tancredo's ads, he uses terrible stereotypical material toward the Mexican immigrants in this country.

This kind of irrational fear and hatred made into an advertisement reaches millions, just like any other ad. Therefore, it has the same power as regular ads, the power of influence.

Those who use their advertising skills to help these messages to be sent out should stop. Its socially irresponsible to work for these campaigns. Politicians should follow the rules of regular advertising and stop using stereotypes in ads to further their careers and further the causes of hatred and fear in the public.

Even if an advertiser doesn't care about the social welfare of Mexican immigrants, they should consider: Advertising on TV is a powerful tool. When politicians use this privilege frivolously, they could draw attention from the FCC to regulate material used in ads, and this could limit creativity in other ads.

The Honda Odyssey

The 2011 Honda Odyssey minivan commercials are trying to attract several audiences. Honda is using different songs to show the diversity of the van and its drivers.


In one commercial, aimed at men, a black 2011 Honda Odyssey morphs into a panther and hard rock music is playing while thunder is sounding in the background. The man, who was leaving the grocery store, is awe-struck by the minivan. Inside the van, a heavy metal rock video plays on the small TV in the van, the  GPS has the location "Redemption Road" as its coordinates, and a large Marshall amplifier sits in the trunk, blasting the rock music.


Another, appealing to couples, shows a well dressed couple leaving a date presumably. The song "Smoke gets in your eyes" by The Platters plays in the background. As the sliding van door opens, rose petals fall out, a fire place image plays on the small TV, chocolate covered strawberries are in the glove compartment and a large oyster opens int he trunk to reveal  many pearls.


The enticing visuals relating to the subjects in these commercials have little to do  with the van and the viewer leaves the commercial knowing little about the van. The commercial doesn't tell a story and isn't informative, rather it just gets your attention. I applaud Honda for trying something new with a car commercial, but they missed the mark by trying to be too creative.

Gap Inc.: A no go for logo change

Last week, Gap announced it is changing its classic logo, a blue background with all capitalized letters spelling 'G A P.' And the announcement has gotten a lot of negative attention.The new logo, which has a white background and black letters spelling 'Gap'and a blue box in the upper right hand corner, has gotten the company a lot of flack online. The Gap's Twitter and Facebook fans and followers had little good to say about the brand's new image.

The old logo, in my opinion, goes with the preppy and classic look of the store's clothing and accessories. If the store was trying to look as though it has evolved, it missed the mark and gone into devolution. The new logo looks outdated and cold, like a stock exchange logo. Consumers instantly recognize the old Gap logo, so it makes no sense to change the well-branded image.

Some logos don't need to change over time i.e. Coca-Cola and Ford. Sometimes, the brand gets it right on the first try, like in the Gap's case. As a Gap Inc. employee, I think the brand has a great amount of recognition because of its simple and classic logo designs for Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Piperlime. The simplicity resonates with the Gap audience. The change could negatively effect the brand's advertising because of its recognition and notoriety. Consumers wouldn't be able to easily identify the brand's messages, as they do now, and this could adversly effect the company's sales.

Recently, a mere week after declaring the logo change, the public backlash pushed the company to rescind the change and continue to use the old, classic logo.

Enjoying the ride with Huggies

A new Huggies commercial, which explains the struggles of parenting by using the metaphor of an amusement park, is oddly relaxing. Young people arrive at an amusement park ran by happy babies, all wearing Huggies diapers. The parents, unknowing and afraid, are comforted by the babies, who seem unafraid.


At one point, a mom and her baby are at the top of a steep drop on a rollercoaster, the baby puts his hand over his mother's, as though he's reassuring her. The "kissing booth," a staple of many parks, is filled with a mother kissing her new baby. A young couple plays a game called "Feed the Baby" where they throw bottles into a cutout baby's mouth, mimicking a bean toss game at a carnival.


No dialogue is used in the ad, instead a soft melody plays, adding to the relaxing and calm tone of the commercial. The commercial is called "Enjoy the Ride." The parents eventually lose their fears by the end of the commercial and it closes with a young family entering the tunnel of love together. The message is encouraging parents to enjoy the ride of parenthood, with Huggies.


This ad used the metaphor to calmly and cleverly demonstrate the obstacles a young or new parent faces with a baby. It is a soft-hearted emotional approach  to new parent's, a large part of their target audience. I think they effectively used music and imagery to get across a reassuring and heartwarming message, which appeals to moms.

Ad Research Sites!

I've recently come across a couple of ad sites that are really interesting and helpful for gaining knowledge about the advertising world.


 Advertising Age, or AdAge, is a news site which discusses the new ad campaigns of companies. It is useful because its a one stop shop for all things advertising. It has articles about campaign failures and successes. I find it really interesting because I really didn't know a community like this existed and it will be easy for me to keep up with trends in advertising.


AdForum, which calls itself the "Resource Center for the Global Advertising Community" is a website that chronicles good ads from around the world. Each week it has a top 5 list which displays the most popular ads of the week. Ads are available in video form and print form to be discussed. Members of the website can choose favorite ads and comment on other ads, as well. And the membership is free. It also has job listing for people with advertising experience.


Both of these sites have up to date information about trend in the advertising world. I think they can be a great learning tool for you advertisers, as they are somewhat like creative libraries for integrated communication students.

Geico: Making the strange familiar and the familiar strange

Geico's new ad campaign has a spokesperson asking the audience "Could switching to Geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance?"

 The spokesperson then poses a second question regarding an obvious or  renowned adage such as "Is Abe Lincoln honest?" or "Did the little piggy cry "wee wee wee" all the way home?" to emphasize that Geico saving you money is obvious, as well. The silly questions are then followed by short clips of these adages played out. A woman asks Abe Lincoln if her dress makes her backside look big, and he-after hesitation- is unfailingly honest and says yes. A small pig sticks his head out the window and cries (joyfully) "wee wee wee" as an obviously annoyed carpooling mother drives him home.

The most recent ad asks the question: "Is a bird in the hand worth two in the bush?" The clip shows a woman at a mock-Antiques Road Show having her porcelain hand with a bird in it appraised. After the appraiser looks over the piece- mockingly commenting on its condition and age- he tells her "If it were to go to auction today I would say, conservatively, it would go for two in the bush," as the woman looks on in sheer amazement.

This ad works because it mixes various elements that are familiar to the audience: the adage and the popular TV show. The elements come together to make a truly humorous and clever commercial.

In fact, when I first saw it, I mistakenly thought it was the actual Antique Road Show. It made me stop and watch because I thought "What is this item and what is it worth?" When the punchline came, I couldn't help but laugh because the clever ad stopped me in my tracks. And that's what a good ad should do: stop you and make you think. This ad falls in line with Geico’s other clever ads: the cavemen, the money with eyes, and the gecko. The humor element only added to the attraction of this ad and it also is what viewers have come to expect from this brand: clever, humorous and catchy advertisements.

Give me the Car Fax, not the Car Fox

Recently, Carfax debuted it's new trade character, the Car Fox. The extent of his exposure is simply asking people to "Get the Car Fax" at the end of their commercials. I think this trade character in particular is gimmicky and, frankly, a bit cheesy.


The creators of the Car Fox simply changed one letter of their brand name, which they may've thought would make the character easy to remember. To me, this reads as unoriginal and lazy because people wouldn't necessarily relate an online vehicle report company to a fox. The fox is not representational of their brand goals in that they share none of the same characteristics.


A fox would generally be associated with a brand that may be selling surveillance or spy equipment, recalling to customer's minds the adage "Sly as a fox." Or a brand focused on speed like the Fox racing company.

I also think the Car Fax brand was trying to imitate the success of the Geico Gecko. I credit this success to the use of the gecko without referring to the obvious similarity of the brand name and the trade character. Instead, the brand allowed the audience to see the connection between the two.

The Car Fox has his name plastered on his t-shirt. The name use may lead the  audience to believe that the brand doesn't think they could make the association themselves, which is offensive.

I believe a brand should only use a trade character when the character accurately reflects the core value of the brand rather than being a gimmick. Or,  when the brand trade character can be easily associated with the brand in the audience's mind- without having to state the obvious.

Instead, the company could've used an animal that could relate to the necessity of car facts. For instance: a flying squirrel who says "Always look before you leap, get your Car Fax." This way, they are tying the advantage of viewing Car Fax to the importance of Maslow's financial and safety needs, while maintaining their use of a trade character.

New York Color is Down-to-Earth

New York Color, or N.Y.C. Cosmetics, has launched a new campaign focusing on their prices, along with the effectiveness of their beauty enhancing products. Their new tag line is as follows: "Uptown Styles, Down to Earth Prices." The ad copy reads, "Prices from 99 cents to $4.99."

On their website, link is here, their mission is stated as, "The N.Y.C. New York Color Mission is to build a leading lifestyle brand that excites, engages and inspires women with prestige quality cosmetics at a value price."

Unlike many of their competitors, who rarely use prices in their advertisements, NYC has chosen to be more sensitive to the recent economic state of the country. The ads have run on television, online and in Cosmopolitan, Glamour and many other high-fashion magazines, proving that they are choosing women on all financial scales as their target audience.

This approach sets the N.Y.C. brand apart from other makeup brands in that it shows a level of social-conscious as well as demonstrating the beauty-enhancing benefits of their products.

When most companies advertise their low prices, it can be perceived as cheap-sounding/looking but I think the ad copy was effectively used to be both subtle and appealing rather than tacky. It was positioned off center, but had a clear and visible font size. Basically, the cost was not the main point of the ad, but was used effectively.  Also, the model and colors used portray the qualities of class and sophistication that can be yours for prices ranging from 99 cents to $4.99.

10 Rules For Effective Ads

I found these rules for more effective advertising posted by the American Research Group on their Web site. I thought this list was both simple and effective, as it touched on some good points.
The link to the list is here: 10 Rules List

A couple of my favorites were:

1. Does the ad tell a simple story, not just convey information?
- A good story does not interpret or explain the action in the story for the audience. Instead, a good story allows each member of the audience to interpret the story as he or she understands the action. This is why people find good stories so appealing and why they find advertising that simply conveys information so boring.

I think this is true of a good advertisement. I don't think an ad has to be a lengthy story, but it should unfold well in front of the audience. If an ad has the element of a story line- the viewer will be pulled in to the ad, especially if the ad incorporates humor or wit. Point in case: Jameson's Irish Whiskey Commercial. I particularly remember this ad because of its unfolding story line. It is posted below:



***I am not saying that ALL ads should use story lines, but it is one effective approach to advertising if done well.

And,

10. Does the ad use identifiable music?
- Music can be a rapidly identified cue for the recall of emotional responses remembered from previous advertising. Making the same music an identifiable aspect of all advertising signals the audience to pay attention for more important content.

Not only can music recall emotion in the audience, I think that with today's music tangibility, music is
one way to call attention to a brand in a "hip" way. I think Mac commercials have effectively used music to call attention to their products. Using new and of-the-moment music reflects on the fact that the Mac brand is also of-the-moment. I, myself, have Googled some of their ads to see what the song in the ad was called, and then I downloaded it from, where else, iTunes. The music brought attention to the ad and helped to drive a sale for their brand.



Please take a look at the list and tell me your thoughts. What could be added to the list? What doesn't work?

Yo-yos: Weapon of Choice

About two years ago, Diet Mountain Dew put out commercials with interesting and odd facts to showcase the odd fact that Diet Dew was just as "good" as regular Dew. Their tag line was as follows:"You think that's surprising? Get this: Diet Dew has all the intensity of regular Dew with none of the calories."

I think they decided to go this route because simply stating the fact would've reminded audience members of Diet Dr. Pepper ads which have always told us that 'Diet is just as good as the original.' It was a good way to stand out, as I recall my grandparents and parents loving it.

This commercial hits the humor aspect of advertising right on the head. It's not offensive or gimmicky, its pretty clever, actually. My favorite part being the man and his wife at the ATM. Overall, its just so well done and funny.

Only problem is, I sometimes forget that the commercial was for Diet Mountain Dew. And the reason I think is that the ad mentions the product in the last 30 seconds only, and it doesn't stand out amidst the chaos of the commercial. They did hit the mark, however in making this a viral video. I simply think the humor overshadowed the product.

Though I love the humor in this ad, had it  had more of the element of it's actual product, I think it would've been a much more successful advertisement.

Kinetic Typography: Take Two

Here is one of the kinetic typography videos now that I understand how to embed them onto my blog. Yay!

For more info, refer to my post called "Kinetic Typography".

Keep in mind, this is just an example of how kinetic typography can be used to bring words to life. In this case, Harry and Lloyd's dialogue is used and the off-spelling isn't a usual for typography, its a nod to the opening credits of the movie "Dumb and Dumber," where all the large words in the credits are spelled wrong.

Kinetic Typography

Kinetic: Moving
Typography: Font
Kinetic Typography: Moving Font

This is a type of moving font that I am really intrigued by. Though I haven't seen it used in many advertisements, I think it should be. The marquee-style font really catches one's attention and leaves the view literally hanging on to each word. Also, the words can be used in so many various ways (as evidenced in my links)


I find it to be creative and edgy. I think it would work well on television and web ads but a different approach would have to be taken for the print ads in a campaign.


I think it would work best for political ads, since a lot of text could be used and it doesn't seem overwhelming.

The only downside to this type of ad would be that if the viewer misses the beginning of the ad, it may be hard to catch on to whats going on. I think this problem could be counteracted by creative and simple ad writing, though.

Below is a link to an example of kinetic typography pertaining to the movie Dumb and Dumber, also a video called "I Pledge," which was played at the Obama inauguration. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX6VeESsbmk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51kAw4OTlA0&feature=related

Hello, world.

Nikki here. I love to look at ads and discuss them with friends and family and anyone who will listen. Though this is a class project,  I'm really happy to be sharing my thoughts on the commercialism-era we all live in.

One movie I'd suggest to anyone who would like to see a humorous take on advertising and branding is "Idiocracy." I think its relevant to the advertisement-bombarded world we set out in everyday.

Please read and comment because I 'd love to hear you agree and disagree with me and I'm also interested in what others think of the ads I call attention to.

Have a good day and keep your eyes open.

Nikki