Why do I care about this? I've written quite a lot about Cadbury and what they have been up to, but nothing got me more that their Glass and a Half of CRAP ad. Thankfully they have changed their ways, but if you're going to gorge on chocolate this Easter, I hope it doesn't come at the expense of the Rain forests.
I understand it's April Fool's Day and you guys are all about trying to be clever and forward thinking and someone has told you that the Rico thing was a good idea, but whoever told you that this was a good idea is a fucking moron.
Grab a Seat had a special promo on 'today':
You select male or female, enter you age and then enter your weight, giving you your cost for a seat. As you increase the weight, the person expands filling up more and more of the 3 person seat. Hit Calculate and you end up here:
Brilliant. This one is not as bad as I entered Male and 89kgs, but when I put in my weight it basically told me that I was a lard arse. Awesome. Thanks very much. I actually prefer the term 'cuddly' to lard arse. There is some positive brand association right there.
I actually think that The Real Steve Grey sums the whole thing up best, but you can read that over at his blog here rather than me retelling his story.
I was offended. I thought it was an awful, unfunny promotion and so, as I do, I tweeted about it:
Do you think I go any response from AirNZ. Of course not. Way to use twitter as a broadcast medium Air NZ instead of having a conversation with your customers. You're kinda missing the point.
In the afternoon they sent out this tweet:
I can only assume I am not the only one that was not impressed. In fact, the response from my followers who replied to me made it obvious that I was not the only one.
Between this and the Rico bullshit that they have been putting out the damage that they have done to this brand in my eyes currently is irreparable. I will be avoiding AirNZ at all costs.
Oh, what also doesn't help the cause, is when either an AirNZ or agency person starts responding to such complaints on Twitter. Only to me/@tone & one other person, but this doesn't help the situation. In fact, you're making it worse. Honestly, what were you thinking?
The upheld complaint about the below ad has even made it's way to AdFreak.
When this ad first came out, I applauded it. I think it is a stunning ad for Hallensteins and I was thrilled to see such a mainstream brand use a band as non-mainstream as Sleigh Bells. Freaking fantastic. AdFreak seem to have missed the point of using a Sleigh Bells song and coincidentally also missed the fact that most 'hipsters' don't own TVs anyway. Well, not that they would admit to...
Apparently the complaint was about the lyrics in the song which are: "Deaf chords, dead ends, sling set can't meet their demands, dumb whores, best friends." Now, Infinity Guitars (which is the name of this song) is actually one of my favourite songs on Treats, I have listened to it numerous times and I have never heard the words Dumb Whores specifically. It amazes me that someone listening to the song for the first time, as a snippet, could pick that up. How long did they spend tracking down the song and the lyrics before they got hot under the collar and wrote to the ASA?
The reason this lead to a complaint is that the ad ran in The Princess Diaries 2 (which, incidentally rated 5 TARPs against a Male 18-39 audience - I'm assuming Hallensteins audience here) instead of Motorway Patrol which is usually scheduled in this timeslot.
So, the issue here (as far as I can see) is not that the ad is inappropriate, the issue is that whomever is responsible for TV for this client is paying no attention whatsoever to their clients schedules. TV Buyers should know by now that TVNZ are a pain in the arse and change their programming 2 weeks out. If you're not paying attention to your downloads, then yes, this is likely to happen. The second that the programme title change came through this spot should have been moved.
The other issue here is that the ad would have been classified as G so there wouldn't have been any warning bells for the network when the spot was detailed in a G rated programme. Now, is CAB getting raked over the coals for this? Of course not. The ad isn't actually offensive. Get off you high PC horse, this ad kicks arse.
So I came across this video today: (I would recommend watching the whole thing - bit of a twist in there.)
There are a number of things that I find curious about this video.
First and foremost - IS THIS SOME KIND OF ADVERTISING?
Why do I think this? Well, it was only uploaded on the 17th of February and it has had over 110k views? Also, I get the impression that this was shot in NZ... pretty impressive numbers for something from NZ. Social circles for boosting views can only stretch so far here.
I feel like there is something else behind it. I realise that working in advertising has made me quite cynical and question pretty much everything I see, but come on... what do you guys think?
Trying to find more info on this, I am officially loving You Tube's stats which show where the traffic is coming from:
These numbers all seem to be due to loading the video on Reddit. I don't know much about Reddit. Can anyone load something up and hope for the best?
Could it be that this is just one of those videos which has a little something which makes people want to pass it on?
It's doing my head in. If this is advertising, what could it be advertising? Castlepoint? Castlepoint is delicious, it sells itself. Viral for a new band? They have relatively decent voices. Is there a record label behind this?
Anyone else got an opinion on this? Or know a secret squirrel backstory?
Following on from yesterday's post about the Valentine's paste ups, I came across this:
This morning.
Now, let me ask you. Would you You Tube search Fruity Sex? That is kinda what got me, no way would I You Tube Fruity Sex - nor would I Google it.
I would however, Facebook it.
Which gives you a really nice, safe way to check out the relevant YT clip, as it is in a "safe" environment. For your interest, here is the video:
In a nice safe environment.
Now, I would LOVE to think that this is actually a campaign for Bonita, but something tells me it is actually an AdSchool kinda deal... yeah? Don't think Bonita would use the word Fuck in a campaign. Or would they?
What do you gets think? I love it. Think it is brilliant. Also love the fact that someone on the Facebook page has pointed out that when you like their page it states likes Fruity Sex.
AWESOME.
Anyone know who is behind this? I'll buy them a beer. Or a banana smoothie.
So, in previous years I have not been a big fan of Valentine's Day. This year it was pretty awesome, but I do realise it is still pretty average for a lot of people.
Walking down Queen St today I saw these taped to various walls:
Certainly got my attention. I was really, super hoping that it might be an advertising campaign of some description, although don't ask me who I thought it might be for.
Checking it out on Facebook it really seems like nothing much. Plus, whoever it is has 'liked' the Edge Morning Crew. Epic fail before they started.
Can someone please execute a campaign, similar to this, for a real client please? Cos that would be really ace. You might need to put some money behind it (more than posters) but it'd be worth it...
Mini - you guys love throwing your money away... what do you think?
Now, I am a big fan of Mediaworks. The people I deal with, what they're trying to do with FOUR, but they NEED to put creative back into an agency. Stop doing it in house. Please.
Don't get me wrong, because I actually think that this is really nice and I think that John Campbell is awesome HOWEVER...
What the feck were they thinking using a taxi which was a Holden when Mazda is sponsoring the show? What are you doing? If I was Mazda (and/or .99 who look after them) I would seriously unimpressed.
Quick - someone photoshop the Holden logo out of that shot.
Agencies are more attuned to these sorts of things. We're quick risk diverse as a general rule. I'm not saying it wouldn't have happened if it was done by an agency, but at least Mediaworks would be able to blame them.
