Bad Ad: A woman tries to make her dentist's cleaning tool reach all the way from the office to her house, but the cord it's attached to doesn't quite make it. She gets only to her front door.
A cartoon shows how Oral-B toothbrushes clean as well as the dentist's equipment.
My Aditude: I will always condemn an ad that uses a cartoon to "scientifically" convince me of anything. If you can't show me the real thing, then don't bother trying. Your cartoon could be inaccurately portraying what you're really trying to describe.
Marketing failure: Commercials that try to persuade through cartoons should always fail to succeed. This is one of many that does just that. Prove to me through the use of real people and their clean teeth that your product is as good as a professional's.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Geicko - Take 4
Bad Ad: A lady is sitting outdoors in a public place, perhaps a busy downtown area, receiving messages on her cell phone. The messages are from the bundle of cash with the googly eyes on top, which is the money she could be saving if she switched to Geico.
My Aditude: The cash doesn't have a cell phone. There's not even one lying near it -- not that it could use it in any way, shape, or form. So how are the messages being sent?
Why didn't the woman notice the cash just sitting there in front of her until directed by the cell phone messages? I'll pick up a penny when I see it, but she (or anyone else around) didn't even see this wad?
And why isn't she upset about seeing the cash? Supposedly she understands it's money that should be hers but isn't.
I was hoping that my previous Geico post was going to be my last, but I just couldn't resist trashing this one too. Sorry.
Marketing failure: The premise here is virtually the same as the ones in my 2nd Geico post. It doesn't work here either. More of a bad thing -- creepy cash plus misplaced smiles -- don't succeed due to sheer volume.
My Aditude: The cash doesn't have a cell phone. There's not even one lying near it -- not that it could use it in any way, shape, or form. So how are the messages being sent?
Why didn't the woman notice the cash just sitting there in front of her until directed by the cell phone messages? I'll pick up a penny when I see it, but she (or anyone else around) didn't even see this wad?
And why isn't she upset about seeing the cash? Supposedly she understands it's money that should be hers but isn't.
I was hoping that my previous Geico post was going to be my last, but I just couldn't resist trashing this one too. Sorry.
Marketing failure: The premise here is virtually the same as the ones in my 2nd Geico post. It doesn't work here either. More of a bad thing -- creepy cash plus misplaced smiles -- don't succeed due to sheer volume.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
US Cellular
Bad Ad: A talking robot twirls one end of a jump rope. A young girl twirls the other end as her friend jumps in the middle. The robot suddenly stops twirling the rope to tell us about the US Cellular battery swap program. The girl twirling the rope looks (understandably) puzzled about the robot's actions (or lack thereof). We don't get to see how the jumping girl reacts.
My Aditude: Why does US Cellular have a robot for a spokesman(?) in the first place? There isn't much he (It has a male voice.) does or says that is typically robotic, so why not have a human play the role? Would that have been too expensive?
Why is this set in a jump rope scene? What does that have to do with swapping batteries? Nothing.
Marketing failure: This ad is supposed to appeal to cell phone owners who don't remember or don't like to or don't want to plug in their cell phones to recharge them regularly. Or perhaps for those who have phones that don't hold a charge very well. The problem is that there aren't many children who could take advantage of a battery swap plan like this, mainly because they can't drive yet.
My Aditude: Why does US Cellular have a robot for a spokesman(?) in the first place? There isn't much he (It has a male voice.) does or says that is typically robotic, so why not have a human play the role? Would that have been too expensive?
Why is this set in a jump rope scene? What does that have to do with swapping batteries? Nothing.
Marketing failure: This ad is supposed to appeal to cell phone owners who don't remember or don't like to or don't want to plug in their cell phones to recharge them regularly. Or perhaps for those who have phones that don't hold a charge very well. The problem is that there aren't many children who could take advantage of a battery swap plan like this, mainly because they can't drive yet.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Charles Schwab
Bad Ad: Semi-cartoonish people talk about getting help with their investments.
My Aditude: Why take (apparently) real humans and turn them into human-cartoon crossbreeds? It's creepy.
Marketing failure: Any good ideas, related to Schwab or anything else, are lost on the investing audience due to the other-worldly effects of the cartoonization. What positive effect could possibly have been intended with this dehumanization?
My Aditude: Why take (apparently) real humans and turn them into human-cartoon crossbreeds? It's creepy.
Marketing failure: Any good ideas, related to Schwab or anything else, are lost on the investing audience due to the other-worldly effects of the cartoonization. What positive effect could possibly have been intended with this dehumanization?
Monday, November 9, 2009
Levi's
Bad Ad: A male voiceover recites a small portion of Walt Whitman's poem Pioneers! O Pioneers! as we watch random scenes of young people doing random things or doing nothing at all. There is one shot near the middle of the ad that shows someone putting on Levi's jeans. And then there's the Levi's logo at the end along with the phrase, "Go forth."
My Aditude: This is one of those ads where it's nearly impossible to tell what is being promoted. You'd never find out just from listening to the poem. There's no recognizable theme music to guide you. You really have to be watching at the very end for a second or so, or else you miss it entirely. Why not appeal to more senses with your product's image? Are you that much better than everyone else and that well-known that you don't need to? Maybe.
Marketing failure: Apparently the random images are supposed to appeal to folks younger than me. Maybe they do; maybe they don't. Again, if you can't hold the young folks' attention to the end of the spot, you've lost your chance at a sale because they will have missed what you're in the marketplace to sell. Maybe the young folks like to be thought of as pioneers, but will the voice of the older gentleman doing the voiceover lead them to think this ad is for and about them? Wouldn't a bit of catchy music do just as well in addition to or instead of the poem? How about a younger person reading Whitman? I'm guessing most younger folks have never heard of Whitman and/or this poem before. I bet they think it's something new and would be surprised to find out it's not even something from their era. The poem was first published in 1855. Might that turn them off? Sure, the poem is supposed to transcend the times, but will the young folks take it that way?
What about us older folks? Doesn't Levi's want to sell to us? This ad will appeal to far fewer of us than to the younger folks -- possibly for many of the reasons already mentioned.
My Aditude: This is one of those ads where it's nearly impossible to tell what is being promoted. You'd never find out just from listening to the poem. There's no recognizable theme music to guide you. You really have to be watching at the very end for a second or so, or else you miss it entirely. Why not appeal to more senses with your product's image? Are you that much better than everyone else and that well-known that you don't need to? Maybe.
Marketing failure: Apparently the random images are supposed to appeal to folks younger than me. Maybe they do; maybe they don't. Again, if you can't hold the young folks' attention to the end of the spot, you've lost your chance at a sale because they will have missed what you're in the marketplace to sell. Maybe the young folks like to be thought of as pioneers, but will the voice of the older gentleman doing the voiceover lead them to think this ad is for and about them? Wouldn't a bit of catchy music do just as well in addition to or instead of the poem? How about a younger person reading Whitman? I'm guessing most younger folks have never heard of Whitman and/or this poem before. I bet they think it's something new and would be surprised to find out it's not even something from their era. The poem was first published in 1855. Might that turn them off? Sure, the poem is supposed to transcend the times, but will the young folks take it that way?
What about us older folks? Doesn't Levi's want to sell to us? This ad will appeal to far fewer of us than to the younger folks -- possibly for many of the reasons already mentioned.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
DiGiorno Pizza
Bad Ad: A man sets a pepperoni pizza down on a table. Combined with the weight of the fairly large table, the abundant toppings apparently are too much for the second(?) story floor to tolerate. The floor gives way (under the table only), and the table and pizza fall, intact, to the level below where two young men gladly welcome the intrusion. The man above who set the pizza down is far more concerned about getting the pizza back than the condition of the rooms or the health and safety of the people. He argues with the young men about getting the pizza back, as they lie to him and keep the pizza for their next meal. They too are unconcerned about the larger situation.
My Aditude: I think this is just silly -- and not in a Monty Python funny way. No one is the least bit concerned about anything but the pizza itself. There is no pizza that is that good. It is implied that lying is okay as long as you get what you want. Perhaps the gentleman from upstairs would eventually do something about the young men stealing the pizza, but we never get to find out.
Marketing failure: This is supposed to appeal to pizza lovers who like NFL football. Maybe I'm wrong, but I would like to think that most of these viewers would consider the circumstances portrayed in this commercial more important than the pizza, that they would consider outright lying to be totally unacceptable, and that they would thus not consider buying this brand of pizza based on this ad.
My Aditude: I think this is just silly -- and not in a Monty Python funny way. No one is the least bit concerned about anything but the pizza itself. There is no pizza that is that good. It is implied that lying is okay as long as you get what you want. Perhaps the gentleman from upstairs would eventually do something about the young men stealing the pizza, but we never get to find out.
Marketing failure: This is supposed to appeal to pizza lovers who like NFL football. Maybe I'm wrong, but I would like to think that most of these viewers would consider the circumstances portrayed in this commercial more important than the pizza, that they would consider outright lying to be totally unacceptable, and that they would thus not consider buying this brand of pizza based on this ad.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Viagra
Bad Ad: A middle-aged man talks to his reflection in storefront windows while walking down the sidewalk. His reflection tries to convince him to talk to his doctor about his E.D.
My Aditude: First of all, I have a question or two about anti-E.D. commercials in general. Are there really that many men who need these products? And haven't the ones who do need them already found out about them and are using them, if they so choose? Do we really need to see these ads with the frequency that we do?
That said, if you're going to advertise a man talking with or to himself, how realistic is it to think that a grown man would speak aloud in public to his reflection in a window? Yes, I understand that this process is really only taking place inside his head, but the ad writers have him talking out loud for everyone to hear. Does no one notice this guy having a one-sided conversation? I suppose there may be some people out there who would do this, but not an otherwise normal-looking gentleman like this guy.
If you really want to let us in on the dialog inside his head, make it more fanciful still and less public. Use the little angel on one shoulder and devil on the other gag.
Marketing failure: The message here -- in case you missed it -- is that you should talk to your doctor about this problem. And that's where this ad fails, because the viewer is more drawn to the unreal, public conversation than to the message buried within it.
My Aditude: First of all, I have a question or two about anti-E.D. commercials in general. Are there really that many men who need these products? And haven't the ones who do need them already found out about them and are using them, if they so choose? Do we really need to see these ads with the frequency that we do?
That said, if you're going to advertise a man talking with or to himself, how realistic is it to think that a grown man would speak aloud in public to his reflection in a window? Yes, I understand that this process is really only taking place inside his head, but the ad writers have him talking out loud for everyone to hear. Does no one notice this guy having a one-sided conversation? I suppose there may be some people out there who would do this, but not an otherwise normal-looking gentleman like this guy.
If you really want to let us in on the dialog inside his head, make it more fanciful still and less public. Use the little angel on one shoulder and devil on the other gag.
Marketing failure: The message here -- in case you missed it -- is that you should talk to your doctor about this problem. And that's where this ad fails, because the viewer is more drawn to the unreal, public conversation than to the message buried within it.
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