I don’t remember a lot of ads from Sunday’s Academy Awards Ceremony.
But I do remember this ad for Poise with Whoopi Goldberg. But I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.
I keep thinking about this ad, and I can’t decide if it’s brilliant or ridiculous.
On the positive side, it definitely takes a unique approach to a somewht taboo subject (female incontinence) and attempts to bring it out into the open and a very public forum- using very public women.
Whether Whoopi’s humor works (fake French accent and all) is another story. I think she’s a polarizing celebrity. You either love her or hate her. I’ve never been a huge fan.
But I think what keeps me pondering this commercial, is I don’t really understand the strategy.
Great game! Ads…well not so much. There were definitely some good ones in there but overall I found the lot pretty uninspiring.
I guess it just goes to prove, once again, that there is no direct relationship between money spent and creativity.
Here are my top 5 picks.
#1 Snickers- I found the use of Betty White and Abe Vigoda to be totally inspired. And what I liked as well was that this gag was not gratuitous. It highlighted the product’s energy benefit.
#2 Google- A beautiful story with the Google service as hero. My only one question mark here is whether it appealed to more casual watchers of the ads. You kind of had to really pay attention to follow the romantic story line. But very simple, elegant and Applesque.
#3 Doritos- “Don’t Touch My Mama”. Long after this one had passed the 8-10 year old boys in the room were still quoting this. My son even said the line to me first thing this morning. While some people might question the violence (slap) and use of a fresh kid, from my perspective it totally connected with the target audience. And again the product was somewhat the hero (at least as worth protecting as the mom!). The Doritos Tim ad was also quite inspired.
In this new era of fluid collaboration and two way conversations enabled by social media the lines between sponsors and content have become increasingly blurred.
I know this. And for the most part I embrace it.
I believe that brands need to find new and non-traditional ways to connect with their consumers by bringing them relevant content and facilitating conversations.
But last week two same day articles in the NY Times made me think maybe things are getting a bit too blurry.
The first article was on Weatherproof’s use of President Obama as an implied spokesperson.
The second was Glaxo Smith Kline’s proposed funding of a new movie on Americans and Eating in collaboration with the Creative Coalition. As you may know, GSK is the maker of the popular weight loss drug Alli.
Check out this KFC spot from Australia.
It was supposed to be a local spot playing off of the cricket rivalry between the West Indies and Australia.
But it’s gotten a lot of flack from viewer’s in the US who got wind of it over the Internet.
A white spectator finds himself in an all black crowd and smooths over what he calls an “awkward situation” with a bucket of fried chicken.
I am a brand enthusiast, passionate futurist and lateral thinker. I am currently working at Virgin Management helping to build the brand in the US by launching new Virgin businesses.*
Learn more » Email Julie »* Though I work at Virgin Management USA, everything here is my personal opinion and is not read or approved before it is posted. The views expressed on this blog are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
