During and immediately after the Super Bowl everybody has an opinion about the advertising. Me too. That's the problem. It seemed like every spot I watched was created simply to ring the Ad Meter. It was as if all viewers, just because we're part of a massive audience, were deemed to be morons. Now I will not criticize another agency's work specifically, but Go Daddy is handled in-house so they're fair game. That's three years now of substantiating terrible advertising by web hits from 15 year-old boys who smell of Axe Body Spray. (Note Axe was too smart to mess with the Super Bowl as a forum.) Danica Patrick can drive at 200 mph but when she gets those Go Daddy scripts, that's when she gets nervous.
Let's "shift gears" to Google. In my opinion (IMHO I'm told to say) their spot was the bright spot when it came to the Super Bowl commercial breaks. They told a gripping story and treated me like an intelligent viewer. Thank you Google for showing up the field.
A week later my family gathered to watch the opening of the Winter Olympics. From an advertising perspective the work was all uphill in an event filled with downhills. BMW, Coke, GM and many others "Googled" us and respected our intelligence. They told human stories and didn't have to stoop to lame slapstick gags. What a refreshing contrast to the Super Bowl. Maybe the agencies and clients involved didn't try so hard to impress. Yet they made an impression on me.
Sunshine, Magic and the Value of Optimism
1 year ago
My Ad Meter rang twice tonight, in a good way, during the Olympics.
ReplyDeleteCredit goes to GE for a new spot in its 'Healthymagination' series -- this one on electronic medical records. As a doctor asks a patient in his examining room about previous symptoms and treatments, a half-dozen previously unseen physicians stand and deliver from past charts . . . vividly showing the value of one-stop, secure, accessible e-records.
Right afterward, Microsoft pitches Windows 7 in French with subtitles. Huh, I thought initially . . . as I watched closely and read every word. Badda-bing - - gold medal.
Stories told intelligently and effectively. What a refreshing contrast, indeed.
. . . P.S., relayed from Facebook post by Bill Shea of Crain's Detroit Business:
ReplyDelete"AT&T using Lou Reed's 'Perfect Day' for an Olympics ad on TV: Win."