Caution: Esoteric Bullshit Parade Approaching

I can't be the only one that has noticed the peculiar trend going on in advertising right now - the sheer volume of "Let's change the world" toned ads for completely unrelated products (cell phone, SUV, pants...) is a little absurd. More absurd? That this tone works for almost none of them. I will now take this opportunity to share 2 awfuls and and awesome.

First, my least favorite, and arguably the founding father of recent hipster esoteric bs: Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Levi's. Created by our dear heroes at Wieden+Kennedy, the "Go Forth" campaign uses a voiceover of Walt Whitman to tell the youth of America to go forth, and buy pants. Now, first of all, no one understands Whitman, so to use it as the vehicle to sell your crap...we're kind of handicapping ourselves here. I won't argue that the spots are gorgeous, and the sentiment lovely - if it were a rock the vote campaign. But when the spot wraps up and I'm on my feet yelling YES WE CAN, I'm confronted with the Levi's logo. What?

Next, there's the new Verizon work by mcgarrybowen. After ditching McCann & the "can you hear me now" guy, Verizon has boarded the esoteric bullshit bandwagon, and boy these ones are cryptic. Again, when you first see them you start nodding along at the deep insights and almost "I Have a Dream" speech quality it has...then you realize they're talking about "air" and its a cell phone commercial. What? I give you the "Rule the Air" Campaign. (I'll add that I'm not entirely sure what "rule the air" means or if I want my cell phone to do that...but that seems to be neither here nor there)

And then there's Jeep. This one, Wieden+Kennedy actually got right. This esoteric call to arms addresses a very specific and problematic perception - that American-made cars are crap. Piggybacking on this revival of "Made in America" cheerleading, W+K actually finds a brand that benefits from it. Jeeps are American cars, always have been. Americans make good products that last. Jeeps are good products that last. The train of thought is simple, and when accompanied by beautiful (albeit arguably derivative of The History Channel's "America: The Story of Us" promos) cinematography, you really can't go wrong. Jeep has been crippled by Chrysler's ineptitude of late, but in my mind it is the only viable brand left under that parent. This ad allows Jeep to step out of that shaky shadow and introduce itself complete with a new manifesto: "The things we make, make us." It urges us as consumers to choose a side in the best way possible - asking us to ask ourselves what our car says about us as a person and are we happy with that. For once, the esoteric bullshit parade fits the brand quite nicely.

Monday Afternoon Wisdom

From our dear friends (hopefully someday) at McCann SF, more of their "things we try to remember" and one of my favorites at that.

"The most successful people in the world do their homework, know their craft, and in the end, trust their gut."

Happy Monday!

What are you trying to say here?

Alright ASU, what do you want? I am a non-smoker (of everything). But, if I had my guess, ASU would rather have me smoking cigarettes over marijuana. I'm not saying one is better than the other. However, I would think ASU would try and promote not smoking as a whole. If they do want to try (key word: try) and reduce its students marijuana use, then do it in a way that is more believable. My freshman cousin at ASU posted this picture on his Facebook with the comment, "That's such a lie." Honestly, not sure about detail. But, I did look it up and said there were more cancer-causing chemicals in marijuana than 5 tobacco cigarettes. Facts aside-- these kids aren't going to buy this. Besides- the image is terrible. If it is 3-5 times "worse" put 3-5 cigarettes in the mouth.. you know what? That sucks all together. Think of something a little more clever.

This was really a rant. ASU: I highly suggest you take a little time and go over your promotional media. If there is more where this comes from. Yikes.

Thursday Night Mad Men Wisdom

For an advertising blog written by two people that love Mad Men, its shocking we haven't talked about it yet. As a small nugget of what I'm sure is to come, this tidbit from Don Draper (played by the future Mr. Anna Farrell..err..Jon Hamm)

"Advertising is based on one thing, happiness. And you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car. It's freedom from fear. It's a billboard on the side of the road that screams reassurance that whatever you are doing its okay. You are okay."

Happy last few hours of Thursday!

Wednesday Wisdom from Bill Bernbach

In honor of Bill Bernbach's shout out on Mad Men on Sunday (his first if I'm not mistaken, which is a little ridiculous for the godfather of the creative revolution, but that's neither here nor there) Wednesday's Wisdom comes courtesy of the late, great, DDB founder.

“There are two attitudes you can wear: that of cold arithmetic or that of warm, human
persuasion. I will urge the latter on you. For there is evidence that in the field of
communications the more intellectual you grow, the more you lose the great intuitive skills
that make for the greater persuasion-the things that really touch and move people.”

"Toning Shoes" Can Suck It. xo, Nike

I first fell in love with Nike advertising when it came out with the first real round of Nike Women's Running ads. I've always been an athlete so it was like an answered prayer when an athletic company finally understood that I am female, I am an athlete, I do not worry about how my ass looks in my running shorts as much as how they perform, and I should be celebrated God Damn It. For the first time in my young life I was being told to celebrate my thunder thighs and my strong swimmer shoulders, not that every woman's reason for exercising is to look like the models on the covers of magazines.

Here are my two favorites:



Since these ads, Nike has cooled off celebrating towards women like this. Until now.

Anyone that has tried to get in shape, lose a few pounds, or train for a half-marathon can tell you they'd like a shortcut - a quick fix that would remove all the extra effort they're going to have to put in to get the results they want. The "toning shoes" revolution, if you can call it that, gave new motivation to the perpetually lazy. Wear these shoes and your ass will look fantastic. Seriously, that simple. Nike finally responded with this ad:

A lovely comentator at AdWeek thought this was a fail because it didn't address the source of the competition - women do want a quick fix. She is right in that "toning shoes" are the fastest growing category of footwear, which leads to the same conclusion spanx and diet pills give - people are lazy and want results without the effort. Unfortunately for her, fortunately for Nike, she missed the point. This ad isn't convincing lazy women that they don't want ass toning shoes, its convincing women that consider themselves real athletes that they make the right decision every day getting their asses in shape the old fashioned way. I'll admit, I've been tempted by the toning shoes' claims, but this ad snapped me back to reality. There are no quick fixes. In life. So buck up, get off your ass, do the work, and your muscles will ache with hard-earned lactic acid in the morning.

Thought.

This is going to be a quick and random post. I just wanted to get this thought out there.

If it isn't obvious already, I am so interested in this industry it is crazy. Since the start of my studies in it, I was told getting into it is really difficult. I never quite thought it would be this hard. Yes, that is right. I am not actually working in an agency. Therefore, I am spending my time reading about it and writing about it in this blog. Also, I have been meeting with people within the industry. I never thought the people within it would be as generous and caring as they are.

I have been told time and time again that people want to help other people. Especially ad people. I have found this nothing but true. I will meet someone for the first time and they can give me better advice and reach out in ways that I would never expect. I would not be where I am today without these people. So, thanks to them. I can't wait until I am able to be all experienced and be able to give back.

So, to all you people out there that have helped me- THANK YOU.

Tuesday Morning Inspiration

Good Morning. For this dose of morning inspiration and wisdom I turn to my agency mirage. Venables Bell & Partners gets my little bleeding heart racing because, well, their motto includes "do right by your clients" and "do right by your people". I didn't know people like that (other than me) existed in advertising. So the good people at VBP put together this little nugget for you to swish around this morning.

“The clients who are attracted to us are the ones who really want to solve their marketing problems. But there are also a lot of clients who don’t want to solve their marketing problems, want to operate business as usual and don’t want to rock the boat. We’re not a good fit for those clients. We turn down clients regularly, and we say ‘no’ more than anyone else in the business.”

Have a good Tuesday! And if anyone from VBP gets their hands on this, I'd die to come work for you.

Best Fitting Jeans?

Levis is such a diverse company. My dad wears them for pennies AND I can go to a full-retail Levis store and buy a pair for myself that cost triple what his do. Levis has a new line of women's jeans that is suppose to fit "three universal body types." Now, leave it to Wieden + Kennedy. They are taking control of its advertising and created the "Curve ID" campaign to launch the product. I'm sure I'll be trying these out because W + K convinced me. Finding a good fitting pair of a jeans is like Christmas morning for me. It is a rare occurrence and when it does happen it is wonderful. Check out this Ad Week article about it... and you will probably go out and try them too.

And PS: W + K, next time I am in Portland or New York-- you better believe I'll be hounding someone in the Account Management department.. I need to talk to you about all this stuff!

Election Day Wisdom

Since it's election day in Minnesota (ok, primary day...) I'll take advantage of this opportunity to share my political thoughts once again by sharing one of the most profound moments of the Obama campaign in 2008.

"One voice can change a room, and if one voice can change a room, then it can change a city, and if it can change a city, it can change a state, and if it change a state, it can change a nation, and if it can change a nation, it can change the world. Your voice can change the world." - Barack Obama

So go. Be inspired. And for God sakes VOTE.

Two of my favorite things: Advertising and Politics

In honor of this historic week (Prop 8 was overturned in California for those living under a rock) and a major fail on the part of Minnesota in the past weeks, I get to write about two things that rile me up beyond measure: advertising and politics.

First a little background: Corporate donors helped fund a documentary about Hillary Clinton in 2008 - a very critical documentary. This raised some red flags in campaign finance circles, so Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which was decided in 2010 and basically undid years of campaign finance reform. The end ruling stated that limiting corporate donations limited corporate First Amendment Rights because of weird rules stating that in certain circumstances the corporation is to be treated as a person - its speech being represented through dollars. I know this is confusing, but stay with me. So, in the end, the Supreme Court essentially authorized unlimited corporate sponsorship of political campaigns (i.e.: Obama '12 brought to you by Pepsi).

So all of this was announced in January, and the general consensus was that any smart corporation wouldn't touch this with a ten foot pole. Although political leanings of some corporations are evident in their brand personalities, its a huge risk to state them concretely and thereby potentially alienate half of your consumer base. I remember discussing this with my brother at the time (another political nerd) and we weren't at all troubled by the implications of the ruling, because who wants to clean up that PR mess? Enter Target.

A few weeks ago it came to light that local Minneapolis mega-corp Target Corp. had donated a huge amount of money ($150K to be exact) and free branding consultation to Minnesota Forward, a PAC that supports MN Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer. Not a huge issue so far. Unfortunately for Target, Emmer very publically opposes gay rights, something Target has worked very hard to support in its corporation and throughout the Twin Cities community. Now we have a problem. Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel immediately responded saying that Emmer's policies support the business community. Translation: His tax cuts will help our bottom line and fatten my paycheck. Funny how liberal consumers and employees didn't see that as sufficient justification. Now Target is backtracking saying that it is sorry for offending anyone and that they support both parties' candidates whose policies will support growth in business. Nice recovery.

To say that Minnesota's Gubernatorial race is heated would be an understatement. In my mind, it's no coincidence that other corporations headquartered in Minnesota like Best Buy and 3M haven't entered the fray by choosing a side. This seems to me a glaring example of not thinking through the consequences of an action before taking it. Newsflash: What you do and where you invest money as a corporation does matter. Your consumers think so, the media thinks so, and it will become public. Think. It. Through.

At the end of the day it comes back to my other favorite topic: transparency. My general rule is that if you wouldn't want to defend this to any or all of your consumers - if you don't have a good reason that will nip a PR nightmare in the bud - maybe it's a bad idea.

Update Squared

Ok, I know everyone was on pins and needles, so, the NEW commercials are up on Target's YouTube page. With one minor change. The price of the product being featured were shown in the first set of advertisements created. That price is no longer there. It is just the image of the product. Betcha Target caught some flack for having those prices up initially.

Mpls Represent

Way to go Minneapolis...

Here is a little article about 4 shops (Mono, Colle + McVoy, Olson, and Fallon) based in Minneapolis that The Minneapolis Egoist decided are agencies to pay attention to. They are places that are winning clients and business is "good".

This is fabulous for them... but, now, they can start forming lots of jobs. It is nice to know our little city is looking up. Hope they can keep this trend going. It would be nice if more than 4 agencies out of the whole Minneapolis ad community have an upward trend.

Happy Anniversary!

Ironically along with Anna's wisdom today- I am celebrating (a bit early) today as well. The 75th Anniversary of the start of the one and only Leo Burnett. Leo Burnett started "The Burnett Co." August 6th, 1935 and since created a crazy amount of iconic characters and tag lines. Everything from the Jolly Green Giant to "Don't Get Mad, Get Glad".

75 years and still going strong. Congratulations to Leo Burnett. Check out a nice little article that was in today's Chicago Tribune. And for everyone's benefit-- get lost in the Leo Burnett website. This is hands down my favorite agency site. I find something new and profound every time I'm on. And hey- drawing with the pencil is pretty fun too!

Birthday Wisdom

This very special edition of daily wisdom comes in honor of the birthdays of President Obama and Prime Minister Zapatero of Spain (made famous by withdrawing troops from the Middle East upon taking office, causing John McCain to call Spain a dangerous country during his doomed presidential run in 2008). To honor them, I share the words of 2 Kennedys:

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives & the dream shall never die." - Ted Kennedy

"One person can make a difference, and everyone should try." - John F. Kennedy

What Makes a Person Creative?

Attention Job Seekers: I know how to prove you're creative! The 99% have posted a new set of tips on what makes productive creatives - I'll go one further and say that these 5 characteristics make productive advertising people. So go. Read. Ace the interview & get yo'self a job!

Monday Inspiration

Since it is Monday, I'll pull out the big guns and provide some real inspiration courtesy of one, David Ogilvy.

"Don't bunt. Aim out of the ball park. Aim for the company of immortals."