Memorize this formula: WF+P=S, where WF=Will Ferrell, P=Any product that hasn't been banned by the FDA, and S= a metric S%$#-TON of Hilarious (and a possible increase in product revenues).
Wieden + Kennedy's latest ads for Old Spice, though not the best in their series (see: "Foam"), demonstrate the formula's infallibility.
M.M.McDermott, ACD/Copywriter/Ad Scientist
Why is it some people’s offices look like a board room, some look like a dorm room and some look like a sultan’s harem? Our VP of Production has antique cameras and framed posters from classic movies and jazz musicians. Our Director of New Business Development always has five lamps on, yet it still feels like dusk. My office has two people, a twelve-year-old couch, and a picture of my niece...taped to the wall. So this week’s haiku is dedicated to the office décor you love and love to hate.
Leather couch: awesome.
Hang in there kitty: cliché.
Three-foot droid: I’m scared.
Last week's Haiku: Super Bowl Spots
Captain Awesome, Project Specialist
(Click photo to enlarge.)M.M.McDermott, ACD/Copywriter/Citizen on Patrol
Tony "Paulie Walnuts" Sirico don't take no mouth from no freakin' counter chump.
So many things right about this. A tough, simple character talkin' straight about breakfast. I dig the direction Denny's is taking with this. One hell of a pitchman they landed. Plus, he was the only guy willing to work for a U-Haul full of silk ties and phone cards.
Note to Dunkin' Donuts' early 90's Sirico ad: Thanks for playing.
Related: Audi marketing exec makes you an offer you can't understand.
M.M.McDermott, ACD/Copywriter/Consigliare
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I hear there might even be a real football game in between commercials this year. Over/Under on the number of times the announcers compare Eli to Peyton? Tom Brady to God?
"Tom celebrated his first Super Bowl win as he did every win that year: by playing his first-generation Nintendo Game Boy."
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Rolling my cart out of Safeway the other day, I was asked by a girl, maybe 10 or 11 years old and sitting behind a small table, “Would you like to buy some chocolate to raise money for a good cause? They’re only a dollar. The money goes to my school.” I thought, she seems excited, and I do like chocolate. Only a dollar! SOLD!
In retrospect, did I need it? I’m 40 pounds overweight, and this wasn’t some special enzyme-filled, calorie-reducing health chocolate. It wasn’t a great deal, either. I could’ve bought a Snickers in the checkout line for $0.79. Nor was it gourmet chocolate. It pretty much tasted like a Hershey bar, the same brand of miniatures I already had in my shopping cart. And as for the good cause? I don’t have any kids, so helping a school is only a benefit for me in that it keeps kids out of the way of my car during the day.
And when I asked her if it was a good school, she didn’t shout, “It’s the best school on the planet!” She shrugged her shoulders and, counting out five chocolate bars said, “Sure.” Thinking back, I'm wondering if I didn't hear her say, “Sure…sucker. And thanks for wearing your church sweatpants out on a Sunday, slob.”
DON’T JUDGE ME, LITTLE GIRL WITH YOUR CRAPPY SCHOOL!
So why did I buy this needless candy? This little girl presented an enthusiastic sales pitch for a product I already liked, followed by a reasonable price point. On top of that, it was for a good cause! I enjoy inexpensive chocolate, and I help save our nation's youth! Hooray!
So, is a strong pitch and a good deal all it takes sometimes? Is that why we still see infomercials for Tony Little's Rock and Roll Stepper?
Or why Billy Mays (Oxiclean, Orange Glo, Ding King, etc.) is such a popular pitchman?
I didn’t think I needed a Samurai Shark, but he just seemed so excited about it. Only three easy payments of $19.95! Why don’t they just give it away!
The answer is, YES.
As an ad agency, we love brilliant creative like this ad for Centraal Baheer insurance.
But not every campaign needs to be Advertising Genius. It may just need to be Advertising Smart. If you’re trying to get a brilliant concept to a hard-to-reach audience, it’s probably worth spending the extra money. But if your audience just needs a good price point to buy something they already use, like food or cleaning supplies or electronics equipment, then maybe you just need someone like this classic pitchman.
Although, as my father, Admiral Awesome, once noted, you do run the risk of annoying your potential customers. He’s vowed never to buy anything Billy Mays pitches. I said, “But Dad, he seems really excited.” He said, “Cap’n, we were really excited when you started remembering to zip up your fly, but we weren’t gonna sell it to anyone.” You win this round, old man.
So, know your message, know your audience, and decide, do I need something brilliant, or do I just need to spring Crazy Eddie out of prison?
Man, if only this had been done here where the irony of "cooking the books" would add another level of ass-kickery to this concept.
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