Mailbag: Why Do You Promote Lameness?

I wanted to follow up on a post made in response to what I wrote about Trucks.

"I agreed with your last post that the first version of the ad was pretty lame. Then, people decided to make their own lame versions. Then, you wrote a blog propping up those lame versions?"--2nd Lt. Anonymous

1) Apparently, we've never met. 2) I actually didn't think the ad was lame at all. I thought it was fun and excitedly enjoyed it for 90 seconds. What it didn't do is make me want to buy chocolate, which is why I felt it was entertaining, but not a successful "advertisement." In contrast, Gorilla not only didn't make me want to buy chocolate, it made me wish I could take back my 90 seconds of life from the person who made it.

But a huge difference between Trucks and Gorilla is that, yes, Trucks is very fun, but Gorilla is unique. Have you ever seen a man dressed in a gorilla suit drumming along to Phil Collin's In the Air Tonight to advertise chocolate? More than two million people wanted to see. And the uniqueness factor is where Trucks falls short. I've seen car commercials. I've seen wacky commercials featuring commercials. Here's a great commercial for the Pontiac G8 based on the 1980s arcade game Spy Hunter.



Kudos to Leo Burnett for creating a spot that will grab the attention of every male age 25-45 (a notoriously difficult-to-reach market) who stepped into an arcade at some point in the 1980s. Burnett also has two more ads for the G8 out right now, a :30 TV spot and a :78 viral. The :30 plays into a similar hot wheels vibe, but just doesn't nail it like the Spy Hunter spot. The viral is supposed to be cool and edgy, but really it's just annoying and nothing I haven't seen before. However, they do go right after BMW. Fellow blogger Matt said he liked the viral. And it has received more than 125,000 views on Youtube since it was posted last month. In the advertising world, taste will always be subjective. In the end, sales will be what matters to both Cadbury and Pontiac.

Oh, and the original Trucks clip posted to Youtube March 29, has now received more than 40,000 hits. The Spy Hunter ad posted a month ago had received more than 60,000 hits. Only time will tell which is the most succesful. Now I'm just waiting for someone to use Q*Bert or Burgertime in spot. I'm looking at you Nestle!


--Captain Awesome

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Trucks Follow-Up

Trucks has been on the web for barely a week, and after receiving nearly 30,000 hits (well short of Gorilla’s current 2.2 million) there are already multiple parodies featuring Europe (the band, not the country), The James Bond theme, a BBC news report voiceover, two with tags for British Airways, Bon Jovi, Huey Lewis and the News, one with no audio at all, a Vandals cover of Don't Stop Me Now, and of course, Phil Collins back in his Genesis days. I guess some people out there just can’t enjoy their Cadbury Dairy Milk without the man who replaced Peter Gabriel. Anyway, enjoy.



Livin’ on a Prayer—Bon Jovi (Lower res, but the song totally works.)


Land of Confusion—Genesis (Genesis=Good. Phil Collins=yawn.)


The Power of Love—Huey Lewis and the News (I don’t know why, but this is my favorite. I guess it feels more fun than the rest.)






--Captain Awesome, Project Specialist

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From the People Who Brought You A Gorilla Playing the Drums for Chocolate

This is the newest spot for Cadbury from A Glass and a Half Full Productions, the same people who brought you "Balls" and "Gorilla." Now I personally never loved Gorilla. I thought it was unique, but like many people, I watched wondering What the heck is this for? I arrived at the end thinking, A gorrilla playing the drums. I wasted 90 seconds of my life to watch a gorilla hammer out the most overplayed Phil Collins song ever. I don't want to listen to it on the radio, let alone watch some simian with a better sense of rhythm than me bang it out on the skins.

Some attributed a 2007 Cadbury sales increase of 9% over the same period in 2006 to the Gorilla campaign, which also consisted of billboards, ads and events among other executions. However, back in 2006, Cadbury was reeling from bad press due to a recall brought about by salmonella fears. Was Gorilla the reason for their success, or were they just bouncing back from a prior year that had been dragged down by consumer backlash?

Personally, this sort of advertising doesn't work for me. Was this spot more entertaining than Gorilla? Absolutely. It was fun and they actually chose a good song, Queen's Don't Stop Me Now. However, I go back to the same problem I had with Gorilla. In no way does this make me want to buy a Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bar. Now maybe this is because I wasn't subjected to the entire ad campaign, and hand-dipped in a desire for the sweet nectar that is Cadbury. Or maybe I'm too much of a linear thinker. A+B=Buy Chocolate.

Now I know I always want to do something more creative, cool, slick or funny, to push the client and do something no one's ever seen before. Then coworkers and clients reply, How does this sell Brand X? And when I don't have an answer, the idea ends up on the pile with one of my many post-apocalyptic or "too creepy" ideas.

As advertisers, yes, we need to push our clients. More interesting advertising gets the viewer's attention and makes us excited about our work. However, do you ever get the feeling that some agencies just know how to smooth-talk clients so they'll pay them to do something "different"?

However, if you loved Gorilla or Trucks, I have this creepy, post-apocalyptic ad for a spot you're gonna think is hysterical.

And special thanks to Scampblog, our friends from across the pond, who beat us to the punch on this one.

--Captain Awesome

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