I love this series of commercials from AT&T in the US. Made in 1993, it boldly predicts everything from the everyday use of GPS to automatic paying of tolls (E-Tolls) to the everyday use of the internet .
(Although faxing from a beach and video/telephone from a phone booth seem a bit passe.)
Still, it’s a trip down memory that’s a trip to the future (just watch them and you’ll see what I mean).
I’ve watched this commercial for The Red House Furniture Store (in North Carolina) a few times. On initial viewing, I thought it was very strange. Second time, I laughed. Third time, I mumbled something to my colleagues about small town local ads and small budgets.
Now, I have a slight admiration for the makers on this ad. Not in the creative sense, but this ad has something that a lot of big budget ads don’t have – a strategy. I might not thing that the strategy of ‘racial harmony at a furniture store’ is an obvious (or even relevant) one. And, looking at their (very boring) website, I can see several better ways they could have gone.
However, if you buy Wikipedia’s definition of a marketing strategy (an organization concentrating its limited resources on the greatest opportunities to increase sales and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage), it works.
Yes, I’m contradicting my recent stance on gaining attention for attention’s sake, but this isn’t Microsoft or Unilever here. It’s a local ad targeting people in High Point, North Carolina. It’s obviously been shot on a limited budget. It’s not offensive. There are no naked women or cheap shots.
And they have a tagline that no doubt means something to the people of High Point – “Where black people and white people buy furniture”. Fine by me (but then, I’m not Asian…)
But the two dudes singing the jingle? I have no idea where they fit in.
Does this ad for Ray Ban …err… remind you of anything?
Sure, they end payoff is different. Myself, I prefer this version by The Chaser.
Posted by Dana Minter
The producers at the ABC have decided to pull one of “The Pitch” ads from tonight’s episode of ‘The Gruen Transfer’. The show, which features a segment where two ad agencies try to ‘Sell the Unsellable’ is, in my view, hit and miss. However, the Australian agency apparently The Foundry went too far trying to sell ‘obesity’, using The Holocaust, Jews and Black people in their commercial.
When it was aired in the studio during taping, it apparently ‘went down like a lead balloon – no one laughed’.
No doubt The Foundry will defend their tactics – and there will be those within and out of the industry who join in. I, however, won’t be one of them.
Most top creative directors around the world will steer their eager departments from using easy cheap shots to gain attention. Farts, poo (or any bodily fluids), stereotyping for laughs and other similar methods are often put to the CD by eager young creatives, thinking they’ve hit the attention-seeking jackpot – “nobody will forget this!” they’ll say to each other as they trot off to the present it internally (I know, I was one of them many years ago).
A good creative director will gently point out that we’re not in high school anymore (even if the product is aimed at that audience). Others won’t be so kind. And sadly, there will be a few who don’t know the difference between a clever idea and an easy target.
Over the years, there have been scores of ads that have pushed the boundaries of taste – some were just the generally accepted view at the times, others were out and out offensive. Some prod the line of taste and still get away with it. It’s subjective – everyone’s view will differ.
In today’s politically correct world, it’s great to see some buttons being pushed. I might not always agree with tv, print or radio ads that do this (today, even Twitter posts fall under this category) but that’s part of living in a democratic society.
My view is that bad taste ideas just gain attention without necessarily winning any admirers – aside from some teenage boys, perhaps. Thought-provoking creativity demands going beyond the bleeding obvious to find new ways of shaking us out of our collective complacency.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind certain forms of political incorrectness, even when some people will most certainly be offended (Benetton ads of the past are a case in point – they were created specifically to spark conversations).
Back to The Gruen Transfer. Not having seen the ad yet (apparently the show will run it on their website after tonight’s episode) I can’t say whether or not I think it pushes the boundaries. All I do know is that, if no one in the audience laughed, that speaks volumes.
UPDATE: Here’s a link to the ad, as well as a healthy debate between the creator and three Gruen panel members. It’s a long debate but very interesting nonetheless. Judge for yourself.
Posted by Dana Minter
This is fairly old news (and was recently featured on ‘The Gruen Transfer’), but everyone at our agency has laughed so much at it that I had to post it on our blog. Apparently this isn’t a joke, it’s real. Considering it’s a video for making professional videos, the irony is brilliant.
P.S. – the scenery at the end looked suspiciously familiar to me, so I was horrified to find they’re from my old neck of the woods (Regional BC). Is this where my career would have gone had I stayed?
Posted by Dana Minter
