PETA’s Banned Super Bowl Ad – Too Sexy for NBC
NBC rejected PETA’s Super Bowl ad submission saying it, “depicts a level of sexuality exceeding our standards at NBC.” Of course, I have to wonder if NBC would have had the same position on this ad before the Janet Jackson half-time incident a few years ago. Regardless, while this ad may have gotten the attention of some Super Bowl viewers (or perhaps many), I don’t think it would have succeeded in converting many of them to vegetarianism. However, I think NBC got this one right based on this image from the ad: Check the complete commercial out below. Peta’s...
read moreBrand Transparency – A Conversation with Alan Siegel of Siegel & Gale
Last week, I received a copy of Siegel & Gale’s report, “Siegel & Gale Simplicity Survey: A Clarion Call for Transparency.” If you know anything about me, then you know that I am a big advocate of simple, clear and straightforward marketing messages and using common sense in marketing. I’m anti-shock advertising and hard sales messages. Consumers don’t have time to translate corporate rhetoric to try to figure out what you’re telling them. If you don’t get your message across quickly, you’ve wasted your time and money. Never...
read moreSongsmith Ads – Microsoft’s Latest WTF Moment
I was left nearly speechless as I watched Microsoft’s most recent demonstration of total lameness; however, I was able to utter the words that no advertiser wants to hear at the end of one of their ads, “WTF?” Check out Microsoft’s new “pseudoinformercial” for Songsmith below. I forced myself to sit through the torture, and it was exactly that – torture. This effort marks one more thing to add to the list of Microsoft’s complete inability to understand the marketplace. What do you think? Are you running to try Songsmith after watching this...
read moreViral Video on Fire – The Evolution of Dance
Every marketer would love to create an online video that goes viral. The recipe for success has yet to be found. If you can create a video like the Evolution of Dance (below), which has gotten nearly 112 million views since it was uploaded and nearly 300,000 comments, then you can feel fairly confident that you’re on the right track to success. I should note that this video has been online for just under three years, but if you do the math, it comes out to over 11,000 views per day. Not bad. Wouldn’t you like your marketing videos to do that well? Check out the Evolution...
read morePepsi Appeals to a New Generation
Have you seen the new Pepsi commercial? I love it. Pepsi has used the word “generation” in its copy for many decades in an ongoing attempt to keep its brand relevant to new generations of audiences. Some attempts have worked and others have not been as successful. I really like this ad which recreates moments in history showing that Pepsi has been around for all of them. What do you think? You can check the new ad out...
read moreConnect with Susan Gunelius
