DHL Packaging Goes Glam for Fashion Week

Would you wear packing materials as clothes?  In a clever campaign tied to DHL’s sponsorship of Fashion Week last month, top fashion designers created haute couture designs made entirely from DHL packing materials.

A photo shoot featuring models showing off the original garments and live models wearing them at Fashion Week created an integrated campaign that looked like an episode of Project Runway.  It’s a unique and creative way to make shipping relevant to fashion.

Take a look at the DHL fashion week designs below.  What do you think?

Mercedes E-Class Ad Copy – ‘Butt’ of Critics’ Jokes

One of the points I stress in my book, Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps, is the importance of writing copy that speaks to your target audience.  If your audience doesn’t ‘get’ your copy or it doesn’t speak directly to them in a language they understand, appreciate, and relate to, then your ad won’t drive the sales you need from it.  Case in point — the new Mercedes E-Class print ads shown below.

Ad #1 Copy Reads: “Superfect. The E-Class Coupe. It deserves a whole new language.”

Ad #2 Copy Reads: “Fabuttractive. The E-Class Coupe. It deserves a whole new language.”

The problems with this copy are two-fold:

First, how many Mercedes customers would be motivated by the pre-teen, Valley Girl (okay, I’m dating myself there) language used in this copy?  Who is the target audience for these ads?  How many of them would be positively influenced by the word “superfect” or “fabuttastic”?  And would they want to be associated with a product and brand that is linked to those words?  It’s doubtful.

Second, the glaring inclusion of ‘butt’ within the word ‘fabuttastic’ is hard not to notice.  It’s almost laughable and is a great example of another point I make in my book – always show your copy to many people before you approve it.  While the creative team behind this ad may not have noticed the word-within-a-word subliminal message, many advertising critics have.  I don’t think many brands like Mercedes want to see the word ‘butt’ in such close proximity to their products and brands.

I’m just saying.

Burger King Bets on Tony Stewart and a Polygraph Test

Burger King’s newest celebrity endorsements are coming from NASCAR driver Tony Stewart.  I just saw my first Burger King commercial starring Tony Stewart this week, and it wasn’t bad.  Considering how popular NASCAR is, I’d imagine the pairing of a popular driver with fast food is decent.

Then I heard that Tony Stewart is taking a live polygraph test online where he will be asked if he really likes Burger King Whoppers, and the appeal of this campaign from Crispin Porter & Bogusky became clear to me.  It’s a clever attempt at creating an integrated marketing program driving television audiences to Burger King’s special website — where visitors can submit their own questions for Stewart’s polygraph test.  And that site is in addition to the existing BKracking.com site that already has interactive features and a sweepstakes game.

Will the effort sell more Whoppers?  It’s hard to say.  I’m not well versed in the NASCAR audience demographics, but it certainly can’t hurt.  If nothing else, it’s got people talking, which has to be good for the Burger King brand.

However, I’m not so sure about the Carrot Top and Erik Estrada appeal (check out the commercial below)?  Since Carrot Top got all pseudo-buff on steroids, he’s disturbingly freaky to look at.  On the other hand, what person older than 35 doesn’t get a bit nostalgic when they see Frank Poncherello?

What do you think?

Remember When MTV Played Music Videos?

I’m feeling a bit nostalgic today after reading two recent articles.  The first was published on AdWeek about MTV’s new plans to revive MTV.com by making it a more social and entertainment-news focused online destination to compete more closely with sites like Yahoo!’s OMG and AOL’s Popeater.com.  And the second was published in the New York Times and discussed how great VH1 is doing in the ratings since changing the majority of its programming to celebrity reality shows.

And that got me to thinking….

Remember when MTV actually played music videos?

And remember those great “I Want My MTV” commercials in the 1980s?

If I had a dollar for every minute I watched MTV and VH1 in the 1980s…….

Burger King vs. Jack in the Box Death Match – Who Would Win?

Remember that show Celebrity Death Match on MTV where claymation characters molded after celebrities entered an ultimate fighting ring and duked it out? 

While being tortured by the new Jack in the Box commercial (you can watch it below — it’s very similar to a Pepto Bismol commercial from a year or so ago that included a song and dance — and I don’t mean “similar” in a good way) last night, my husband and I pondered who would win a Celebrity Death Match between the Burger King mascot and the Jack in the Box mascot?  Both characters creep me out equally, so I think I’d have to look away. 
 

And for a bit of creepiness from Burger King, check out this commercial…

Take the poll below and tell me who you think would win. 
 

I guess I’d have to give it to Jack in the Box after the commercial shown below, which was certainly better than the mini buffalo ranch chicken sandwich dance commercial above.

Vatican Radio Gives Advertising Thumbs Up

In an effort to raise more money to keep the $30 million per year Vatican Radio alive, the Vatican will begin accepting advertising.  An Italian electricity company was the first to sign on to place ads on Vatican Radio, but the doors are open for advertisers around the world to snatch a piece of the Catholic media pie.

Frankly, I think the Vatican has bigger problems to focus on than trying to keep Vatican Radio alive.  Selling advertising isn’t going to fix the bigger problems they face.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the spots will sell.  But it’s a band-aid.

Take the poll below, and share your opinion on Vatican Radio advertising.  Is it the cure-all that the Vatican seems to hope?

Image: Flickr

Aflac and Disney Pixar’s Commercial is Looking ‘Up’

Disney’s Pixar and Aflac have teamed up for a cross promotion effort that appears to be poised for success.  You’ve got to love the Aflac duck, and the pairing of the duck with the animation of Disney Pixar’s new film, Up, works very well.  Check it out below.

 

So often these types of pairings do not work at all.  It’s great to see one that’s done so well!  Your thoughts?

Wolverine Asks – Got Milk?

In the words of my husband, “shouldn’t it be, ‘Got Adamantium’?” Regardless, it’s a cool ad.

Your thoughts?

My Yahoo! Makes Me Want to Wear Elton John Glasses – No Thank You

Just yesterday, I published a post about Yahoo!’s online ad for My Yahoo! that clearly demonstrated the painful “design by committee” process (see the post – My Yahoo Makes Me Want to Wear a Feather Boa – Not!. 

Today, I found another example from the same ad campaign.  I give you unfortunate ad photo choice #2:

I can say one thing for sure: “The stuff you want, how you want it” for me does not include Elton John glasses.  I’m not sure who this ad is supposed to speak to, but it certainly does demonstrate how too many people weighing in on the photo used in an ad can ruin the original concept entirely (at least, I hope that’s what happened). 

Your thoughts?

My Yahoo Makes Me Want to Dance with a Feather Boa – Not!

I saw this ad on the home page of Yahoo! today, and it struck me as funny.

I know it’s not meant to be funny, but here is what I thought when I saw this ad.

“My Yahoo!  The stuff you want, how you want it with a feather boa.”

It reminds me of that joke people often play while reading fortune cookies where you add the phrase “between the sheets” after you read the fortune, but I digress. 

My point is that I know how hard it is to choose a photo to go with an ad or marketing piece.  I’ve sat through the dozens of meetings while everyone and their brother weighs in on the photos that could be used for the final piece.  I know how challenging it is to get the right picture when all the players in a large company want to have their say.  However, I can’t connect that frolicking woman with the feather boa with the apparent joy that My Yahoo! brings.  It’s a bit too tea party or Ginger Grant for me. 

Just goes to show that too many cooks spoil the ad photo decision process.

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