commercials

Cigarette companies began creatively lying to consumers about the health dangers of smoking over a half century ago, according to a 2006 court ruling against Big Tobacco.

Starting yesterday, TV commercials and full-page newspaper ads in the US began running with various versions of that admission, though just falling short of declaring that the American public had been purposefully deceived.

“Real-time marketing”—just uttering the phrase evokes images of hastily photo-shopped images and ham fisted attempts to join online conversations. The stakes can be high—last week’s big winner in the responsive category during the Grammys was of course Arby’s to which the spoils of considerable earned media coverage and over 6000 new Twitter followers were awarded. Many other brands weren’t as fortunate.

brand as business bit: Here’s a quick add to my previous critique of this year’s Super Bowl commercials. Making a Super Bowl ad involves a level of innovation, strategy, and skill that rivals what goes into making the advertised product itself. So it’s helpful to see what can be learned from those in a similar business of creating desire: movie trailers.

Super Bowl advertisers could learn a thing or two from Eli Manning.

The Giants’ quarterback threw some crisp, clean passes in Sunday’s Super Bowl because he was crystal clear about who the intended receiver was. 

I know, they’re funny, and ads with animals and/or kids can't lose. Last night was a ritual for some of us to judge and compare the commercials during a football game that we otherwise wouldn’t have watched. We’re going to spend a few days enduring incessant “best of” lists, marketers will perform some complex gymnastics to explain why the spots are brilliant business strategy, and ad agencies will refer back to all this buzz when it’s time to revive their pitches to sell Super Bowl spots to their clients next year.

Hot on the heels of my “surprise” ad, here’s another long but highly engaging commercial from Sapporo Beer.

This links tells you what the Twitter reaction was to the ads.

This link lets you watch them all.

This is what Hulu thought were the winners and losers.

Did you notice the lack of inane viral videos of the "Elf Yourself" variety this past holiday season? That video -- in which you can insert your face into a cartoon of a dancing elf and then email it to your friends and enemies alike (see above) -- proved years ago that it could get consumers' attention and spawned lots of knock-offs. My expectation would be that we'd get flooded with them last month.

I am digging the new Tassimo Brewbot! It's this innocuous-looking little device that sprouts arms and legs and opens packages of coffee, makes it, and then brings it to you. Who would have thought that such a simple thing could be improved so dramatically. I mean, it has a head with eyes and talks, so it's possibly sentient. And I'll tell you one thing: this is one kitchen appliance that knows how to dance! I've seen the commercial.

Advertising is a brilliant and nutty pursuit, and I have to admit that I love it. In fact, I keep a folder (electronically on Evernote, and I carry a beat-up manila folder in my backpack) just to collect stuff that makes me wince or smile. Here are four recent tidbits from the Dim Bulb archive: