I find the following Toyota TV ad unbelievably amusing, but I have absolutely no idea what it has to do with cars or why Toyota thinks it will help sell any. To summarize it the best I can: a rogue cat-headed human enters a drug lab of sorts (well, an anchovy / sardine lab), fights with other cat-headed humans, steals their fish, and speeds away in a Corolla. Right.

Granted at the very end you do see the Corolla’s BMW-esque push-button start feature and iPod connector before Catman peels out of a parking garage, but the Corolla is featured for all of about twelve seconds out of a 45-second ad. I think this would have made a way better Friskies or catnip commercial. I was left wanting to wrestle with my cat, not check out the new Corolla.

Alas, I may very well be proved wrong; the ad will likely find great appeal with Toyota’s secondary cat-lady market.

Agency : Publicis Mojo (Australia)
Advertiser: Toyota

Monster.com recently launched a very funny and entertaining TV ad campaign in tandem with the launch of their new website. The only problem, though, is despite being hilarious the ads lack relevancy and completely miss the mark.

The campaign was created by BBDO, Monster’s agency of record, and it would appear that the concept behind the TV commercials was conceived 12+ months ago and that nobody has considered the sustained relevancy of such ads in this economy.

The concept behind each commercial is simple

An inept worker is shown in some hilarious scene, and then question appears on the screen, “Are you in the right job?” Haha!

Is there anybody in the known universe who is thinking of leaving a secure job to try their hand at something completely different? To go further, who in their right mind would leave a stable position to become the “new guy” in the “right” job in this climate? If you’re unemployed then yes, switching industries may be exactly what you need in order to find good work, but the commercial doesn’t appear to be addressing those who are unemployed: it  addresses those who are gainfully employed and yet might not be in the “right” job.  With unemployment above 7% and with 11,000,000 workers hunting for a job, ANY job is the right job right now and I’ve counseled readers and friends that if you’re unemployed right now, be prepared to take a “step” job to a lower-paying position, so forget leaving your job to find the “right job,” that’s so Q1 2008. When the economy swings back and the layoffs slow and companies begin hiring at their prior rates then YES, follow your heart and find that “right job” you can be passionate about. But not now.

Falling standards?

Both the NY Times and Ad Week have written favorably about the campaign, but have our (and their) standards fallen so far? Is something GOOD just because its funny, regardless of the relevancy of its context? If a campaign is launched in the height of a recession, do we automatically perceive it to be timely and appropriate, regardless of what we see on screen?  BBDO says their research reveled jobseekers “wanted humor even in a cheerless economy” (NYTimes), and I find no fault there; where I find fault is in the follow-through of the campaign, the point at which the idea to make a funny commercial during a recesion loses its relevancy by ignoring how the recession has changed job hunting.

Obviously I find serious fault with BBDO/Monster.com with the relevancy of this ad campaign, but the coup de grace is that this campaign isn’t original, it’s a blatant rip-off of a campaign created by SnagAJob 3 years ago.

As an aside, on Friday, January 23rd Monster.com learned their database was illegally accessed and that certain contact and account data were taken, including Monster user IDs and passwords, email addresses, names, phone numbers, and some basic demographic data. If you have a Monster account, it’d behoove you to read this statement.

UPDATE:

On 2/2/09 this video was removed from YouTube, so I can no longer embed it in this post… the only place I’ve been able to find the video is on the New York Times

The Superbowl is just over a week away, and everyone is wondering how advertisers are going to make use of their $3 million ad spend.

Where were you during the 1997 Superbowl?

Remember Cindy Crawford’s Pepsi commercial? Crawford pulls up to a gas station in a red Ferrari and 2 boys lean on a fence, mouths agape, while she pumps quarters into a vending machine. She pops open the can, tips it back, and chugs it while the boys stare.  And what do they say? “Is that a great new Pepsi can or what?” Instant Classic. “New Look. Same Great Taste.”

It’s pretty funny to watch Pepsi introduce a “new can” that’s now ancient history. Anyone know how many iterations of the Pepsi can we’ve seen since 1997?

What ever happened to Cindy Crawford???

I’m fighting a cold and feel like crappola, so I’ll spare you (and myself) a lengthy write-up for this video. In short, this is a trailer for Batman Dark Knight that was made by shooting stop-motion video of Legos. I love it; well executed.

This was consumer-made, which begs the question: if ‘organic’ videos like this can generate a lot of buzz just because of their format (stop-motion… Legos…), shouldn’t Hollywood capitalize on this? I’m not talking about full-length stop-motion-Lego movies, but image if New Line Cinema released a claymation trailer for Sex and the City? (sorry, I have Sex and the City on the brain ever since I read Gary’s latest post.) Not only would it be freaking hilarious, but I can guarantee you that it would have had a very wide viewership.  Between this and my idea for in-plane advertising, I’m wondering if I should start patenting these ideas… eh, no, I need to focus on getting over this cold first.

by Andrew Lennon | Managing Editor | The Daily Anchor

If you weren’t glued to your TV or the CNN.com live feed to watch the Presidential Inauguration yesterday morning then you better have a damn good excuse.  I’ll be writing about the genius CNN/Facebook co-branded marketing promotion later on today, but in the meantime here’s Obama’s inauguration speech… not because I think you missed it, but because its worth listening to again.

Scroll down for the video… after the jump.

Marketers: I am immune to your tactics. I am smack in between the elusive X and Y Generations and I fast forward through TV commercials (I love DVR), I never listen to radio, I rarely read magazines and when I do I never notice the ads, and I don’t think I’ve ever clicked on an online banner ad in my life (well, maybe once in 1992.) I make my purchasing decisions based almost solely on brand loyalty, word-of-mouth reviews, and whim.

Yesterday Contributing Editor Rebecca Novack wrote about how the Obama Campaign was able to successfully tap into Millennials / the Y Generation. This ad by Sprite is a case-in-point example of exactly what kind of marketing initiatives can reach the hard-to-interrupt Millenials.

The first time I saw ad this I never saw a commercial coming. I watched the entire thing before I knew what hit me. When I finally realized it was a commercial, I wasn’t annoyed, I was impressed. It sucks for Sprite that I rarely ever drink soda, or I probably would have had one with lunch instead of water.

The video: Some people are on a beach watching one of their friends windsurfing, and the sound quality, natural lighting, background noise, shaky camera all combine to create the feeling that you’re watching something completely amateur. The camera tracks the windsurfer as he sails along, and then WOOSH his chute gets sucked up by an airplane landing at a nearby airport, and you see him fly out of the frame.  When the camera once again tracks him, you see him trailing behind the plane as it approaches the runway. Then a pop-up across the screen; the first sign that this is a commercial. Screen 1: “Friends. They come and go” Screen 2: “Sprite Zero. No sugar. No Bull***t”

An Allstate TV ad provides a perfect example of how to modify your marketing messages during the recession.

UPDATE (Jan 23): NPR referenced this Allstate ad on All Things Considered yesterday in the segment, “Selling Americans On The Virtuous Recession.”  Martin Costi puts the ad in the context of the times. Give it a listen.

>> Scroll to the bottom to watch the video

Last week contributing editor Rebecca Novack wrote a great article about why you need to maintain your advertising during a recession, in which she said, “your goal for the next year is to alter your marketing messages to show sensitivity to rising anxiety and fear of the unknown. Ads should instill a sense of control, value, and positive emotions to the consumer.”

Her advice is spot on. In a recession you absolutely cannot let hard times derail your advertising, but it’s not enough to just maintain or increase your ad budget; you need to create marketing messages that resonate with customer’s fears, just as Hyundai did when they announced a no-cost car return program, where consumers could return their Hyundai if they’re laid off or lose income. Brilliant.

A few months ago Allstate released an ad.  The ad may be a little old, but Allstate has been buying up a wide stretch of TV ad spots since January 1, 2009 and has been pushing the ad hard.

Here’s Dennis Haysbert’s monologue from the ad:

1931 was not exactly a great year to start a business, but that’s when Allstate opened its doors. And through the 12 recessions since they’ve noticed that after the fears subside a funny thing happens: people start enjoying the small things in life; a home cooked meal, time with loved ones, appreciating the things we do have, the things we can count on, it’s back to basics and the basics are good. Protect them, put them in good hands.

Enjoy the video, after the jump…

The “Will it Blend?” viral marketing campaign has been a huge success for Blendtec, and has provided immense entertainment for viewers; blenders have never been so entertaining.

In the show, Tom Dickson, the Blendtec founder, attempts to blend various items in order to show off the power of his blender. In the video below, Tom blends an iPhone into dust.

Dickson started this marketing campaign after doing a blending attempt with a box of matches, and you should browse YouTube or their site to view some others.

Enjoy…

The Mac vs PC ads have been a hit with consumers no matter which company you prefer, and now the highly successful videos have jumped across the aisle into user-created content.

The following video is by motion designer Dan Chirelli and digital composer Nick Greenlee, and the quality is such that it’s hard to believe this wasn’t created by either Apple or Microsoft, so bravo gentlemen.

Enjoy the video, after the jump…

From Culture-Buzz:

If you get past the first minute of bad acting and weak dialogue, you are in for a real treat. The 5 minute HD video won Best Compositing Artimation ‘08 and uses motion capture animation, HDRI, loads of tracking, and 3D compositing. The goal of the creators was to create something that “looked good, but could also entertain the audience.” Mission accomplished.

Directed by: Dan Chianelli and Nick Greenlee
Written by: Dan Chianelli and Nick Greenlee
Edited by: Dan Chianelli
Cinematographer: Nick Greenlee

via Viral Video Chart

Since I’m on an enviro kick today, here’s a great video created for the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) by DraftFCB in Toronto.  Scroll down to see the video player.

Some words on the “Light Bulb” campaign from Joe Piccolo, Creative Director DraftFTB, Toronto:

A mere five years ago the terms Global Warming and Climate Change were barely understood. In that time, we have gone from lack of comprehension, to understanding and finally to action. While the actions that the average person are taking are vital and important to reducing the harmful emissions leading to this destructive process they really only are a drop in the bucket to what really needs to be done.

In this new campaign from WWF we highlight the importance of making change at the highest level. We explain to consumers that with their support we work with government and industry to get to the core root of the issue. Because after all, an energy efficient light bulb can only be as efficient as it’s made and powered.

Notes on “Light Bulb” from OPC directors Woods + Low:

“DraftFCB sent us this script for WWF Canada with a really cool narrative that took us all over the world. The idea was to show how filthy the process of making an environmentally friendly light bulb is. The script follows the production process starting off at a mine in Australia, then to a factory in China, then to a cargo ship across the Atlantic Ocean, then to a transport truck and finishing at a retail outlet in North America where a man is purchasing the light bulb thinking that he is making an environmentally conscious decision.

The original script called for the use of stock footage to give the visuals the international scope they required. Our feeling was that people have become desensitized to most of the same gloomy stock footage showing the negative impacts on the environment, so we came up with the idea of shrinking the world down to a manageable size and to utilize miniatures set against real locations. “Art installations filmed on location” is perhaps the best way to put it and this approach also gave us the opportunity to shoot all original footage. To make the negative impacts of the environment stand out, and to make the spot more visually interesting, we first thought to make the carbon emissions pink and the rest of the footage black and white…we ended up with just the product being pink which won out as a more narrative decision.”

Building and shooting miniatures is tough and expensive on a regular budget. Doing it on a PSA budget, with commercial-style turnaround, was nuts and has stretched us in so many great ways we didn’t know we could bend. We shot this spot over three days and it was very crucial to us to stay true to and use real locations – the grocery store was shot at a grocery store, the factory at a real factory, etc. Although we could have faked some of these scenes, we felt very strongly about staying true to this process.

Massive respect goes to Kelly Cavanaugh, Robin Heisey, Joe Piccolo and Chris Taciuk at DraftFCB, Toronto for green lighting this project. It would have been easy for them to say no. Perhaps the most awkward part of the process was carrying toys around in our pockets. When you’re paying for a coffee and a little action figure pops out it has a few connotations, none of which are great.

Credits:

Title: Light Bulb (directors cut)
Advertiser: WWF Canada
Agency: DraftFCB, Toronto
Creative Directors: Robin Heisey, Joe Piccolo, Chris Taciuk
Art Directors: Joe Piccolo, Oliver Brooks
Copywriters: Chris Taciuk, Mike Richardson
Agency Producer: Kelly Cavanaugh
VP Group Account Director: Jeremy Marten
Account Director: Nadine McLean
Account Manager: Jessica Jaskula
Interactive: Catherine Baird, Adam Notzl-Keyser
Production Company: OPC, Toronto
Director: Woods + Low
Executive Producer: Harland Weiss
Producer: Donovan Boden
Director of Photography: Chris Woods
Editor: Johnny Devries, School Editing, Toronto
Audio: Woods + Low