Monday, February 04, 2008
THE AD MAN WEIGHS IN
Nobody cares, but since I'm in advertising it's my right to tell you which Super Bowl spots were the best because I'm never wrong.
First of all, GREAT GAME. True, you could've gone out to get your car washed during the second and third periods, but what a finish.
BEST AD: Coca Cola "Balloons." Perfect combination of 'How did they do that?" and "What is this a commercial for?" And not since Mickey and Bugs showed up together in "Roger Rabbit" have such diverse cartoon characters shown up together anywhere.
BEST PLOY: GoDaddy.com. The ad was awful but it did what it was supposed to do: I read where 1.5 million people went to the website to see the "foridden ad," which essentially showed Paris Hilton and Britney Spears lookalikes getting out of limos holding beavers. Get it? Cut to racer Danica Patrick who says, 'Thanks to my site at Godaddy.com I don't have to show my beaver to get attention." Best part of the on-line ad? The disclaimer: "No real beavers were used in the making of this spot, because they're really nasty and bite like hell!"
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Bridgestone Tires, the head-nodding ad for Super Pepsi, or whatever they're calling it, and FedEx "Pigeons." And both spots with Cavemen: Bud Light ("WHEEL SUCK!" --Hilarious) and Geico, where the cavemen trash the "Cavemen" TV series.
THE HALF-AND-HALF award: Great: Bud Light, "Ability to Breathe Fire." Not-so-great: Bud Light, "The Ability to Fly."
THE "I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY SPENT ALL THAT MONEY AND I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT THEY WERE SELLING AWARD": Whatever car it was that did the "savage badger" joke.
WORST ADS: I think the company is called Salesleads.com. These people spent 3.5 million dollors to air two commercials that brought horrible ethnic stereotypes back to animation for the first time since "Cholly" yelled "Mr. Magloo! Mr. Magloo!" Just...horrible.
WORST ADS -- Second runner up: E-trade. I HATE children selling adult products. But these at least were an interesting idea.
And I will admit that I chuckled at both of them. But it's still KIDS SELLING ADULT STUFF.
MOST UNORIGINAL IDEA: The Audi "Godfather" parody. I'm sorry , I know a lot of people thought this ad was funny, but the minute you saw the oil on his pajamas, you KNEW what was going on. Weak.
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Judging by what people had in their shopping carts yesterday at the store, you'd think there was a football game on.
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Speaking of stores, the checkouts always have "Archie Digest" comics for sale right at eye-level. Have you ever seen a rack where they were low on Archie Digest? I sure haven't. SOMEBODY must buy that damn thing, because they've been selling that magazine since I was a kid. But who buys it? I read comics as a kid and into adulthood and I can't recall even ONCE buying an Archie comic. And I'll admit to watching the cartoon show. No one I know has EVER told me they enjoyed reading Archie. But there they are, month after month.
Even weirder, since the guy in front of me was apparently buying enough party food to feed everyone at the STADIUM, I had a few minutes to peruse the Archie comic.
Not.
One.
Laugh.
I have eavesdropped on conversations at Denny's that were more engaging that what was in the Archie Digest.
------
Speaking of Denny's (and here's something you'll NEVER see in an Archie Digest), a couple weeks ago after one gig or another , Jan and I were in Denny's for a late-night and there was a rather boisterous (read; FUN) group of younger adults in another booth. At one point, I look up, and one of the ladies at the table is suddenly walking barefoot on the back of one of the servers, who is lying on the FLOOR of the Denny's. Think about that. Your back hurts so much that you'd lie on the floor of a DENNY's to have a woman walk on it. And this was no little Oriental girl, either.
So I yelled out: "CAN I GET IN LINE?" and everybody laughed.
------
Tonight I am scheduled to be the opening act for the open mic at Smokey's, on Main Street and Gilbert Roads in Mesa/Gilbert or wherever that is. 8 p.m. Come out!
TT
Nobody cares, but since I'm in advertising it's my right to tell you which Super Bowl spots were the best because I'm never wrong.
First of all, GREAT GAME. True, you could've gone out to get your car washed during the second and third periods, but what a finish.
BEST AD: Coca Cola "Balloons." Perfect combination of 'How did they do that?" and "What is this a commercial for?" And not since Mickey and Bugs showed up together in "Roger Rabbit" have such diverse cartoon characters shown up together anywhere.
BEST PLOY: GoDaddy.com. The ad was awful but it did what it was supposed to do: I read where 1.5 million people went to the website to see the "foridden ad," which essentially showed Paris Hilton and Britney Spears lookalikes getting out of limos holding beavers. Get it? Cut to racer Danica Patrick who says, 'Thanks to my site at Godaddy.com I don't have to show my beaver to get attention." Best part of the on-line ad? The disclaimer: "No real beavers were used in the making of this spot, because they're really nasty and bite like hell!"
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Bridgestone Tires, the head-nodding ad for Super Pepsi, or whatever they're calling it, and FedEx "Pigeons." And both spots with Cavemen: Bud Light ("WHEEL SUCK!" --Hilarious) and Geico, where the cavemen trash the "Cavemen" TV series.
THE HALF-AND-HALF award: Great: Bud Light, "Ability to Breathe Fire." Not-so-great: Bud Light, "The Ability to Fly."
THE "I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY SPENT ALL THAT MONEY AND I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT THEY WERE SELLING AWARD": Whatever car it was that did the "savage badger" joke.
WORST ADS: I think the company is called Salesleads.com. These people spent 3.5 million dollors to air two commercials that brought horrible ethnic stereotypes back to animation for the first time since "Cholly" yelled "Mr. Magloo! Mr. Magloo!" Just...horrible.
WORST ADS -- Second runner up: E-trade. I HATE children selling adult products. But these at least were an interesting idea.
And I will admit that I chuckled at both of them. But it's still KIDS SELLING ADULT STUFF.
MOST UNORIGINAL IDEA: The Audi "Godfather" parody. I'm sorry , I know a lot of people thought this ad was funny, but the minute you saw the oil on his pajamas, you KNEW what was going on. Weak.
------
Judging by what people had in their shopping carts yesterday at the store, you'd think there was a football game on.
------
Speaking of stores, the checkouts always have "Archie Digest" comics for sale right at eye-level. Have you ever seen a rack where they were low on Archie Digest? I sure haven't. SOMEBODY must buy that damn thing, because they've been selling that magazine since I was a kid. But who buys it? I read comics as a kid and into adulthood and I can't recall even ONCE buying an Archie comic. And I'll admit to watching the cartoon show. No one I know has EVER told me they enjoyed reading Archie. But there they are, month after month.
Even weirder, since the guy in front of me was apparently buying enough party food to feed everyone at the STADIUM, I had a few minutes to peruse the Archie comic.
Not.
One.
Laugh.
I have eavesdropped on conversations at Denny's that were more engaging that what was in the Archie Digest.
------
Speaking of Denny's (and here's something you'll NEVER see in an Archie Digest), a couple weeks ago after one gig or another , Jan and I were in Denny's for a late-night and there was a rather boisterous (read; FUN) group of younger adults in another booth. At one point, I look up, and one of the ladies at the table is suddenly walking barefoot on the back of one of the servers, who is lying on the FLOOR of the Denny's. Think about that. Your back hurts so much that you'd lie on the floor of a DENNY's to have a woman walk on it. And this was no little Oriental girl, either.
So I yelled out: "CAN I GET IN LINE?" and everybody laughed.
------
Tonight I am scheduled to be the opening act for the open mic at Smokey's, on Main Street and Gilbert Roads in Mesa/Gilbert or wherever that is. 8 p.m. Come out!
TT
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