A Powerful Message

With all the science and media coverage today, it's no secret that cigarettes are not beneficial to one's health. There are numerous nonsmoking campaigns aired during commercial breaks each day, but none as impressionable as an ad where children as adults for cigarettes.  There have been many anti-smoking ads over the years.  Some are simple, but others are much more graphic.  I've seen commercials where a doctor cuts into the brain of a deceased person who was a smoker.  The graphic ads left a burning image in my mind, but it was an image I wanted to quickly get rid of.  That's why I think the children campaign is so effective.

In this ad, Indonesian children approach smoking strangers, asking them for a lighter.  At first, many adults are taken aback, shocked by how young the inquirer is.  Every single adult refused to help the child smoke a cigarette.  Some adults even tried discouraging the children from smoking, listing reasons why it's bad for you.  The commercial ends with the children handing the smoker a note reading, "You worry about me. But why not about yourself?"  This powerful message leaves the smokers stunned and speechless.

Sweet, Honey Nut Revenge

Last May, Cheerios came out with a surprisingly controversial commercial featuring an interracial family. Surprising in the sense that it was considered controversial at all. It stars Gracie, a cute little girl who just happens to have parents of different races. The ad, like many other Cheerios ads, focuses on heart health, but low and behold the internet did not see it that way. The commercial was put on youtube, where it was harshly criticized by a wave of users in the comments section. Countless racial slurs and explicit disapproval forced Cheerios to disable the comment option on the video.

Here is the commercial:

But this is where it starts to get good. In response to the backlash from the more ignorant folk of the nation, Cheerios decided to buy a time slot in this year's Superbowl, something they've never done before. Not only were they featured in the Superbowl, but their commercial brought back the same family from the first commercial. And instead of addressing the issue of race like some might've expected, they did something much, much better.

The Superbowl Commercial titled "Gracie":

Cheerios cleverly used this commercial to once again normalize the concept of family by sticking to a basic and sincere plot. By highlighting a completely ordinary situation that any family might have to go through, Cheerios reiterated how silly the controversy was in the first place. Camille Gibson, Cheerios' vice president of marketing, stated about the positive response of the second ad "At Cheerios, we know there are many kinds of families, and we celebrate them all." Simply put, Cheerios strikes with a "no big deal" attitude, which might be the best offense against those who wish to stir up unwanted and unwarranted issues.

Although I have no doubts that Cheerios saw this as a fantastic way to promote advertising and gain publicity, they still serve as a role model for other ad agencies. The world of commercials progresses much slower than that of television or film, and continuously shies away from diversity. Hopefully, this ad will start the ball rolling, or at least make everyone more aware of the racial problems that still very much exist in the media.

Best 2013 Viral Commercials

Every year there are a handful of commercials that stick out, and go viral. Earlier this year, in April, Kmart released a commercial that blew up. Their commercial easily racked up 19.5 million views on YouTube and was plastered all over social media. The commercial is to advertise free shipping on their website, a store clerk exclaims you can "ship your pants" for free. Customers, in excitement, ship more things for free, including shipping their bed. Of course there is always that group of overly sensitive people that gets upset and has a mini outrage to get some attention. They criticized Kmart for their inappropriate pun, which only helped the commercial to gain even more publicity. Everyone else seems to love the hilarious commercial, and so do I. This was a genius move for Kmart, they set out to get attention and appeal from a younger crowd and they accomplished just that  and more. If somehow you missed this commercial, make sure to watch it below. 

       

Kmart proceeded to follow up their huge success with another commercial that they released in mid May. This time they took their puns to the gas. Advertising some "huge gas savings" to solve all your "big gas problems." Although this one did not do as well as the shipped my pants commercial it still went viral with 6 million views on YouTube. 6 million views for a commercial on YouTube is still very impressive, and a great success. Most commercials get nowhere close to the amount of views Kmart has. If you haven't seen this one yet, definitely be sure to check it out below. 

Another, more recent commercial to go viral this year is a Geico commercial. Geico has been known for great commercials for a while now. Including their gecko series, and cavemen series. This commercial features a camel in an office excited about Wednesday, hump day, and it has accumulated over 12 million views on YouTube. The camel goes around the office enthusiastically asking his annoyed, and obviously unamused coworkers what day it is. The end of the commercial explains that people who save hundred of dollars by switching to Geico are happier than a camel on wednesday. There was even a Rush Night video this year that parodied the commercial to get freshman to sign up for the ICTV show, The Encore.  

"Hump day!"

Your Daily Dose of Drama

So I was thinking of what I could blog about today and I wanted to do something different. I usually blog about a tv show or a movie but today I have decided that I am going to blog about ... what for it ... a commercial! But this is not any commercial, this is the TNT Drama commercial. TNT placed a button in the middle of a square in a town in Belgium and had a sign that said, "Push to add drama." People around the square are confused by it and then a man on a bike pushes the button. All of a sudden the square becomes the middle of an action movie. Out of nowhere an ambulance comes and EMT's take a man out on a stretcher. The EMT's drop him on the ground and the people in the square are shocked and confused as to what is going on. There is also a fist fight between to men and a woman on a motorcycle in lingerie. A black SUV then comes speeding into the middle of the square and a gun fight begins between the police and the men in the SUV. After the SUV leaves, a football team runs into the square and carries a man into a building. While all of this is going on there is extremely dramatic music playing in the background. When all of the actors leave the square, a huge sign rolls down the side of a building that says, "Your Daily Dose of Drama TNT."

I thought that this commercial was hilarious and it must have had a huge budget. It was very well planned and directed. I loved the idea of making the commercial like a reality tv show. It has over 45 million views on Youtube. However, I am also very jealous because I want something like this to happen to me, it would be so cool to see a commercial like this take place.

Go Daddy Nerd Is Making His Rounds

I don't know which super bowl commercial was your favorite, it could've been Budweiser Clydesdale reuniting with his owner or the lonely teen who drives an Audi to prom and develops the courage to kiss the hottest girl in school (much to the dismay of the prom king). But my personal favorite was non other than that of the Go Daddy stud Jesse Heiman going hard in a make out sesh with supermodel Bar Raefali.

 Too sexy for words.

What's our stud up to now after gaining national fame from his mad smooching skills?

BECOMING A MAKE OUT WHORE

Here is he is locking lips with "Extra" correspondent Maria Menounos:

With Jenny Mccarthy (alright they're not making out, but they did after this I swear):

and of course... JAY LENO?!?!

Well I guess when you've got that charm and charisma like Heiman does, you're pretty much irresistible to  everyone. TEACH ME YOUR WAYS HEIMAN!!!

Commercials

No, this isn't about zombies. Sadly it's been a busy week so I haven't had time to find a new zombie movie to watch.

I'm one of those weird people that can say I love commercials. I want to help make commercials, whether it be for television, internet, or ads placed in magazines. Although my favorite is television commercials. I love the challenge of getting a message across in only 30 seconds, and trying to add humor into it if possible. One of my favorite commercials is for Toyota Tacoma, with World of Warcraft in it. I have never played World of Warcraft, nor do I understand it, but I still think it's hilarious how they incorporated a truck commercial into the game.

Another one of my favorites is the E Trade commercials. The way they are done is hilarious, gets the point across, and is one of those commercials you just enjoy watching.

The Commercial Effect

A lot of commercials we see on TV these days fall into two categories: really bad, or really funny. For the most part, we reserve commercial breaks for things like getting a snack or a bathroom break. Personally, the endless repetition of commercials that reappear constantly when you're watching something is really annoying, and I know I'm not the only one that feels this way.

I noticed while watching the Emmy's this past weekend how truly awful and ineffective most commercials are. I don't know if any of you have ever seen a commercial for the energy drink 5-Hour Energy, but every time I see one it never fails to make me want to hit myself over the head with the nearest object. They're terrible all around, and yet they're on constantly, which begs the question, "if you can obviously afford to constantly air this commercial, why can't you at least put effort into making a watchable commercial?"

However, some commercials are actually enjoyable to watch, and I find that those are always the funny ones. Not the ridiculous ones that are so far out there that you don't really understand the connection to their products (I'm talking to any commercial that has ever used a talking baby. Or talking animals. It's just creepy, at least I think so).

When I think about my favorite commercial, the first one that always comes to mind is by Volkswagen. It aired last year during the Superbowl, and I might be a little biased because I love Star Wars, but it's really a great commercial. It's funny, adorable, and it does a great job of advertising for the product.

Lastly, in terms of long-standing commercial themes, I think my favorite are probably the Progressive commercials featuring Flo. I know a lot of people think they're getting kind of old because they've been airing for so long, and I can see how they feel that way. But, at the same time, I feel like a lot of people really like Flo. She has 18,000 followers on twitter, and has made appearances on shows such as House and United States of Tara (she herself is an actress. Her real name is Stephanie Courtney. Sorry if I just bursted your bubble). Some of the progressive commercials aren't as good as others, but the one called Pants on Fire is my favorite. It aired about a year ago this November, and I just think it's really great. I like the subtle comedy and how it isn't over-the-top in the way it achieves its point.

I like the "80's Montage" one too because I love 80's movies and I thought it was hilarious. It's probably a little less effective then some of the other commercials for Progressive, including the "Pants on Fire" one, but I still like it, and I know almost everyone enjoys 80's movies (and if you don't, you need to seriously rethink your priorities. And then go rent The Goonies.)

 

It's kind of ridiculous, but I think it appeals to a lot of people.

Overall, a lot of commercials today are really bad. Usually the best part of commercials are seeing things like movie trailers (or other important things that interest you). 

If you have a favorite commercial that I didn't mention please add it to the comments! I might be writing a paper on this and I'd love to hear some more!

Apple Christmas Commercial

APPLE is at again. This years christmas commercial is so clever, I just had to share it with you guys. Although the new iphone 4s isnt as awesome as many people thought it was gonna be this commercial makes me rethink purchasing the phone this holiday season. How about you? I really love how they made siri usable for even Santa and its really funny without losing sight of the product (which alot of comedic commercials have a tendency to do). A+ once again for apples ad campaign i have no idea how they keep doing it. GENIUS.

On another note I really had an amazing time with you all this semester. I just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Love
Ivannah

Swedish Fish Commercial

So im on a SWEDISH FISH frenzy this weekend, thanks to Scott Hamula and the final project he's assigned for Advertising Class. My group and I are developing an entire new ad campaign for the tangy gummy fish, which is a lot of fun actually(except for the extraneous amount of writing needed for the 30 page ad plan book). Through our research we ran across ONE(thats right Swedish fish only has one full ad campaign out there) ad campaign that the company has created ( which was banned in France which is totally weird bc Europe barely ever bans anything[well compared to america at least]). I really like this campaign its so simple and really focuses on the product. But, our campaign is better;) Creating my own ad campaign really makes me want to produce more commercials while at school. I really just love the 30 sec time restraint and the challenge it creates i to produce something, creative, memorable and that sells in so short of a time.

Pilobolus

Pilobolus is my favorite dance company of all time. They got their start in Dartmouth College in 1971 as a Contemporary Dance Company and from there they blossomed into a world renowned dance company preforming at events like the Academy awards, Late night with Conan, America's got Talent, ect. The video above is just one small example of the American Dance Companies style. In the Commercial Pilobolus is Advertising the Hyundai Santa Fe where the dancers contort their bodies and play around with shadow and perspective to illustrate some activities that range from the opera to camping. Finally at the closing shot we see Pilobolus transform into the Santa Fe as the narrator chimes in the background "The all new Hyundai Santa Fe, flexible, agile, for whatever shape life takes". Telling the Audience that the Santa Fe meets every single one of our needs whether it be going to a fancy event or getting dirty in nature. I mean the art directors really came up with a cool concept for this one but adding Pilobolus to the mix is what really made this commercial.

Whatever Pilobolus touches turns to gold, and for good reason. They just take dancing to a whole new level that I have never seen before. Every move they make is calculated, yet organic and pure. They use every inch of their bodies to dance it gets to a point where even the contraction of their muscles becomes a part of the choreographic story. It really is a joy to watch them.





But these guys are from just being Dance Company that occasionally works on commercials, they are expanding their company and working on music videos now. Making there debut in OK GO's new music video "All is Not Lost".