8
Feb

Poster ads for the latest season of AMC’s Mad Men (which has been some year and a half in the making) have been appearing all over New York City. And like any large, white space in the city, the posters have been promptly covered in tags and graffiti. But as you can see in the pictures, many of the street art additions have actually improved the ads.

I find it hard to believe that AMC execs purposely left the ads big and blank as an invitation for would-be Sterling Cooper Draper Price creatives, but I also think they had to know that people wouldn’t be able resist leaving a mark. Whether intentional or not, this ad campaign for a show about advertising has in itself become a commentary about the nature and effectiveness of advertising.

Genius. Meta. A little bit pretentious. Just like the show.

13 notes mad men / advertising / poster / graffiti / new york city /
6
Feb
From “Social Media Explained,” via the Forbes Marketshare blog: SOCIAL MEDIA EXPLAINED: Twitter: I am eating a #hotdog Facebook: I like hotdogs Foursquare: Here is where I eat hotdogs Hipstamatic: Here’s a vintage pic of my hotdog YouTube: Here, I am eating a hotdog! Linkedin: My skills include eating hotdogs Spotify: Listening to Hotdog Google+: I work at Google and eat hotdogs I’ve been seeing this joke make the rounds for the past couple of weeks now, each time with a different main activity (“eating donuts,” “taking a pee,” etc.), but the idea still rings true. It’s a neat little package to help define and describe the “point” of social media that still somehow manages to elude so many. Plus, it good-naturedly mocks the inherent narcissism and self-promotion that goes along with so many of our digital portals… he said on his blog that was named after him. But— I think we need to also take a look at how other, non-social forms of media might convey this same hot dog-eating idea: TV: BUY THESE HOT DOGS! Attractive people eat them! HOT DOGS! Radio: For your FREE hot dog, call 1-866-HOT-DOG. That’s 1-866-HOT-DOG. That number again is 1-866-HOT-DOG. Again, 1-866-HOT-DOG. Call now! Yellow Pages: AAAA-Brand Hot Dog Sellers! “Look for the quintuple A!” Spam: Incre@$e Y0ur H0+ D0g $ize in tw0 week$ FREE! Telemarketer: Are you currently satisfied with your hot dog provider? Billboard: Hot dogs. See? These are a lot more annoying. That’s why I’ll take Instagram’s vintage hot dogs pics any day.

From “Social Media Explained,” via the Forbes Marketshare blog:

SOCIAL MEDIA EXPLAINED:

Twitter: I am eating a #hotdog

Facebook: I like hotdogs

Foursquare: Here is where I eat hotdogs

Hipstamatic: Here’s a vintage pic of my hotdog

YouTube: Here, I am eating a hotdog!

Linkedin: My skills include eating hotdogs

Spotify: Listening to Hotdog

Google+: I work at Google and eat hotdogs

I’ve been seeing this joke make the rounds for the past couple of weeks now, each time with a different main activity (“eating donuts,” “taking a pee,” etc.), but the idea still rings true. It’s a neat little package to help define and describe the “point” of social media that still somehow manages to elude so many. Plus, it good-naturedly mocks the inherent narcissism and self-promotion that goes along with so many of our digital portals… he said on his blog that was named after him.

But— I think we need to also take a look at how other, non-social forms of media might convey this same hot dog-eating idea:

TV: BUY THESE HOT DOGS! Attractive people eat them! HOT DOGS!

Radio: For your FREE hot dog, call 1-866-HOT-DOG. That’s 1-866-HOT-DOG. That number again is 1-866-HOT-DOG. Again, 1-866-HOT-DOG. Call now!

Yellow Pages: AAAA-Brand Hot Dog Sellers! “Look for the quintuple A!”

Spam: Incre@$e Y0ur H0+ D0g $ize in tw0 week$ FREE!

Telemarketer: Are you currently satisfied with your hot dog provider?

Billboard: Hot dogs.

See? These are a lot more annoying. That’s why I’ll take Instagram’s vintage hot dogs pics any day.

1 note advertising / social media / hot dog / twitter / facebook / instagram /
3
Feb

Does a 5-year-old understand your brandmark?


This made the rounds on the intertubes a few days ago, but it was too great not to post here. I love any kind of feedback from little kids regarding marketing and advertising, because they aren’t susceptible to the same traps of bizspeak and buzzwords that we are. Some notable moments:

  • How deeply-ingrained is Starbucks in our culture that even a 5-year-old can identify their logo as “the coffee place”? I literally couldn’t articulate what coffee even was at that age, let alone tell you where to get some. The fact that this little girl both knows what Starbucks is and what they sell speaks volumes about its ubiquity in our lives.
  • Even more impressive: correctly identifying the pretty-abstract BP logo. Wonder if the Gulf Coast spill coverage actually cemented BP into the minds of America’s youth, setting the stage for massive growth once they all start driving?
  • The Bank of America logo “looks like a flag.” Mission accomplished, gentlemen.
  • The McDonald’s logo looks like it’s made of french fries. This blew my mind. Have I been missing this connection the entire time? Again— the mind of a child providing clarity and connecting visuals in a way I never thought of myself.
  • All of those large cat logos really need to start differentiating themselves better.

I loved this, and would love to see more. Marketing folks with kids: can we make these videos the new “Shit ____ People Say”?

3 notes marketing / logos / children / branding / brands / advertising / videos /
22
Nov

New Old Spice ad - “Motorcycle”

This is just a really entertaining ad, the latest in a seemingly never-ending string of hits for Old Spice (fresh-scented kudos to their agency of record Wieden + Kennedy). That bear is incredible.

I see these Old Spice ads as the burritos of the advertising world. Burritos are consistently delicious, not insanely earth-shattering, and still outside the food box enough to make you say, “Oh yeah, I forgot about burritos!” when deciding what to eat.

That being said, I can personally attest that Old Spice’s recent advertising resurgence has absolutely turned me into a proud customer. What can I say? I want to be the man your man could smell like.

30-Day Challenge #17

(daily posts may be brief this week due to me being back home in the great state of New Jersey, and my inability to balance lengthy blogging with GTL-ing)

2 notes old spice / advertising / widen + kennedy / marketing / ads / commercials / motorcycle /
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