Evidently, the really smart people are working on the Old Spice account. Wow. If this ad had run during the Super Bowl, Betty White is an afterthought.
Jim is a father, husband, copywriter and founder of smashcommunications, llc. You can find him on Twitter @smashadv.
If the purpose of a :30 television spot is to be memorable and to reinforce a brand's core promise of value, then this spot by Staples may be the best ad ever. Think about it - first you have a guy standing in a store branded to the teeth with the company's identity. Then you've got an excited customer screaming the brand's value proposition over and over. Add a couple of helpful employees, and throw in the number of products the brand carries - and bingo, a nearly perfect spot.
Note: This does not mean that I think this is the best commercial I've ever seen. Rather, that when you get down to knuckles, advertising's supposed to do certain things. I also think that the old Chiquita Banana tagline ('Perhaps the World's Most Perfect Food') is pretty perfect too. Which is why I borrowed it for the title of this post.
Jim is a father, husband, copywriter and founder of smashcommunications, llc. You can find him on Twitter @smashadv.
So Conan and Jay are dominating the cultural trending topics lately. I don't like either of them but think Conan's the better writer. So for me it's just fun to sit back and watch NBC fumble over themselves. Again. Sure, some people will say that any PR is good PR - but I say bologna.
In 1957, NBC launched The Tonight Show and Steve Allen was the host. Allen beget Jack Parr who beget Johnny Carson in 1962, and who held the post for the next 30 years. I didn't like Carson. His humor was too 'adult' for my taste. But there was this guy after Carson who was nothing like Carson. Late Night with David Letterman began airing in 1982, when I was 17. He was the anti-Carson and everyone my age loved him. So when Carson left The Tonight Show in '92, everyone assumed Letterman would take over. But Leno did instead. In 1993, Letterman went to CBS and launched The Late Show opposite the NBC slot. Leno did great against Letterman, but was ready to step down in 2009, and that's when Conan O'Brien took over - after 11 years in the slot behind The Tonight Show (just like Letterman.)
Leno had great success against Letterman, and maybe he will again. But if he was ready to step down the first time, and his 10 PM show is sucking wind, what makes NBC think it can plug him back in there and everything will be OK? I understand that everyone in social media loves Conan, whatever. But maybe it's time to give Jimmy Fallon a shot (the guy currently hosting the show in the slot after The Tonight Show)? Or what about Jimmy Kimmel (ABC)? Oh that's right, they're nothing like Leno.
Bottom line, NBC ain't what it used to be. In fact, there was a time when Saturday Night Live was funny. Really.
Jim is a father, husband, copywriter and founder of the virtual ad agency smashcommunications, llc. You can find him on Twitter @smashadv.
Never underestimate great storytelling as a communications tactic. Silly fun and extremely well done - via TBWA\Chiat\Day. Man, it must be nice to work within budgets that can support the best ideas you can conjure.
Jim is a father, husband, copywriter and founder of the virtual ad agency smashcommunications You can find him on Twitter @smashadv
What "A Christmas Story" is to Christmas, WKRP's "Turkeys Away" episode is to Thanksgiving. From my family to yours, I hope you find as much gratitude in Thanksgiving as with every other day of the year.
Jim is a father, husband, copywriter and founder of the virtual ad agency smashcommunications You can find him on Twitter @smashadv
I was about 12 or 13 when this Miller Lite spot ran in 1977. To this day I remembered everything about it, except for the brand. When I asked @DaBitch whether she had heard of this spot today, I said I thought it was for Budweiser. After all, they had those great "Here comes the king" spots running back in the day. Anyway, I was wrong about the brand recall, but this ad with Smokin' Joe Frazier was one of the first spots that stuck with me growing up. In retrospect, I should have guessed it was a Lite spot since Frazier was the Heavyweight champ. You have to remember, this was during a time when Heavyweight boxing was relevant and Joe Frazier was a star. And their tagline - how brilliant is that?
Thirty two years ago. Wow. I love advertising.
Ps - do you remember the name of the backup singers in this spot?
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