The USA is #1 (in foreign ads)

Last week I had the privilege of spending some time in Rome, Italy. As this was my first trip abroad, I was excited to see the different types of advertising. I had expected to see something more inventive, more sustainable, more intelligent than our average beer commercial, but sadly I was disappointed. I saw, instead, mostly cookie-cutter spots with little inventiveness.

My visit was at the height of the Rugby World Cup in France, the third largest sporting event in the world behind the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics, so naturally I figured I’d get the A-game ads. I wasn’t impressed. In fact, the commercial that seemed to appear most—an ad for Philips’ new electric razor—was disappointing for a number of reasons.

The coverage (and, of course, the commercials) was on BBC World so, naturally, the spot was in English; but there were many things about it that, in my opinion, missed the mark. The spot unfolded as follows – we see footage of Wright Brothers’ flight attempt as an American announcer says, “Flight;” then, footage of an ice ax hammered into ice with announcer saying, “Mount Everest;” then, footage of the moon, accompanied by “the Moon.” Finally, it’s capped by footage of the new Philips’ razor and commentary about its revolutionary design.

Two of the three feats mentioned were accomplished by Americans, the third by a New Zealander, and all of it was told via an American voice over. Keep in mind, the Rugby World Cup took place in Rome and featured four semifinal teams—England, France, Argentina, and South Africa—from three different continents, none of which were North America*. Not that it mattered much. Despite a jump in popularity, rugby probably ranks well below soccer and just above pick-up-sticks with us Yanks.

So, why then, with such little American interest in the sport, in an Italian speaking city, being broadcast by a British station, was this Philips’ commercial being narrated by an American voice? Why, if I’m watching this commercial anywhere but America would I even consider buying anything from this company? I wouldn’t. How many Americans were even watching BBC World, anyway? The answer: not enough to make it worth Philips’s trouble to target our audience.

So what does that say about Philip’s approach? In an event so patently uninteresting to the average American, why make a spot that’s so very American? When you figure it out, let me know: I’ll be enjoying the Cuban cigar I was able to sneak through customs.

*By the way, USA was in the Rugby World Cup. They lost every game they played.


Nick Piché, Copywriter

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The Power to Raise the Dead

Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim began back in 1990, resurrecting a popular cartoon character with origins back to the 1960s. Space Ghost Coast to Coast was a smashing success at its inception. A cartoon hosting a talk show? How absurd. However, it is that sort of thinking that has given birth to Adult Swim’s ever-expanding lineup of original programming and lead to a large underground following.

They struck gold with recent shows like Robot Chicken and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Aqua Teen was even made into a feature length film, released earlier this year, which made them twice their budget on opening weekend. Unfortunately they made more of a splash in the media when their guerilla marketing campaign for the movie, mistaken for a bombs, nearly shut down all of Boston.

Even before the Boston scare, Adult Swim was playing to larger audience, thanks in large part to its airing of syndicated episodes of Family Guy. I know this is old news at this point, but Family Guy was a program with a cult following that was saved by Adult Swim. Fox had already cancelled Family Guy twice before Adult Swim got their hands on it. Based on the rabid response from Adult Swim viewers, Fox re-upped with series and hasn’t looked back.

Now, Adult Swim’s done it again. The greatest, in my opinion of course, animated show ever created has been dragged back from the depths of despair. Futurama has been running ad nauseum on Adult Swim to my delight. Comedy Central’s announced that it will begin airing new episodes of Futurama in 2008, and I for one am thrilled that it is starting to get the acknowledgment it has long deserved.

Yeah, this makes us Futurama fanatics happy, but what, if anything, does this mean to the masses that could really care less about these animated series? It means that somewhere, beneath all the reality-show garbage littering primetime lineups and beyond all of the politics of ratings and revenue, maybe, the true voice of viewers is finally coming through.

Tune in, write the network and support the forums that support your show. Adult Swim allows its viewers to do all three of those things. Now if we could just get people that interested in our political system some greater good may come out of it.

Until then, kudos to Adult Swim for giving loyal viewers the voice to create change and for bringing back an American animated masterpiece. You truly are the place where the dead go to live.

--Nick Piche, Copywriter

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Advertising is Child’s Play

Like everything else on Earth, advertising changes, adapts and evolves to stay new and to keep its purpose from becoming extinct. The most primitive form of advertising comes in the form of a sign that was hung outside shops hundreds of years ago. Those signs eventually turned into newspaper advertising, magazines, outdoor, radio, television, the Internet… the list goes on.

We are always looking for new and exciting ways to get our message to the consumer. High-end technologies and flashy gadgets that promote our message and wow viewers. This was true of the television at its inception, but today advertisers need a new way to reach their target, so why then have they looked back nearly 2,000 years for inspiration?

The zoetrope was invented as a children’s toy in the 1830s by George Horner. However, the earliest known zoetrope was created by a Chinese inventor in 180 A.D. A zoetrope is a cylinder consisting of static pictures and slits cut vertically in the sides that can be spun to make the images appear to be moving. Zoetrope translates from Greek as “life turn,” as you turn it, it comes to life. Now imagine you are inside the zoetrope with life-size pictures and live-action animation.

This antique toy has become the inspiration for a new form of advertising. The concept is simple – place linear pictures along the walls of subway tunnels in a way that makes them come to life as passengers pass by in the subway cars. However, execution may be a bit tougher. A twenty second ad consists of a string of pictures stretching about 1,000 feet and is made up of approximately 4,800 frames in 3 foot boxes.




Two of the pioneering companies are Canada’s Sidetrack and Submedia in New York, and a few of the many advertisers that are already partaking include Microsoft, Target, Lexus, and Coca-Cola.

Transits have swallowed an initial cost of up to $1.4 million, but are seeing an amazing return on investment because the price of placing an ad is running anywhere between $35,000 to $250,000 a month.

If you’re interested in experiencing this “ground-breaking” advertising all you have to do is take a ride on the Red Line in Washington D.C., Chicago’s “L” Train, or trains in Boston, New York, London, Tokyo and others.

--Nick Piche, Copywriter

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