commercialsnmore

   AT&T had come out with a bunch of commercials, including this one. Since then, they have settled into more of a pattern (see my post: http://commercialsnmore.today.com/2009/01/20/att-commercial/ for an example).

 

This commercial is funny because it shows not only a young girl texting to her friends, but an older grandmother doing the same thing. Everyone except the mother is speaking the way they text. The mother even asks the grandmother who she could be texting. The grandmother replies “idk, my bff Rose.” The subtitles spell it out for us “I don’t know, my best friend Rose.”

 

It shows us that texting is not something that only teenagers and 20-somethings use now. AT&T is trying to show everyone that they should get a phone (from them) so they can be in touch with today’s culture, because everyone is doing it.

 

 The Lesson of The Day: AT&T has always taken a strong family position. They try to show how they bring families together with their service in every commercial. This example is no different. My previous post in the link above used emotion to show how cell phones allow families to stay connected no matter how far apart they are. This commercial uses humor to show how all members of the family can use the same technology in the same way. Both commercials are effective in getting their message of connecting families across.

  

Denny’s has been running a “Real Breakfast” campaign. This one is my favorite, and it is the funniest. I love the banana and how ridiculous it is. It is half gone, upside down, on top of a stack of pancakes, has googily eyes, and the peel is split with each piece hooked to a string like a puppet.

 

The banana is made to dance and is called “Nannerpuss”. If there is a reason for that name, please let me know! I think it is just a funny name like other “erpuss” in the past.

 

The Lesson of The Day: This commercial is funny. Humor is a very effective way to communicate a message. In this example, the Banana Nannerpuss is an example of the types of breakfast being served at some restaurants. Denny’s wants to tell everyone that they server what they consider a “Real Breakfast” with eggs, pancakes, and bacon. 

  

This commercial shows a car that is on fire and being put out by a fireman. At the bottom of the screen, the car information is being typed in. The car is for sale. The person, that cannot be seen, types in that the car is a 1999 with low miles. Then “Minor smoke damage” is typed in. That line is erased and replaced with “Totally reconditioned” only to be replaced with “This car is HOT!!!” Finally, the announcer comes on to tell us to never buy a car without a CarFax vehicle history report.

 

The whole time the “facts” are being typed in, the car is being hosed down due to the fire. The point is that people lie about what has happened to their cars in order to sell it. CarFax can tell you what really happened to the car.

 

The Lesson of The Day: This commercial lets us watch as a person changes the car description from the truth to something that is not the truth. We can see the thought process and see how easy it is do. Being able to relate to it makes it believable, which makes it work. 

   The first time I saw this commercial on TV, I thought it was stupid. There is a llama and a guy chewing on Starburst. When they finish eating them, they nod to each other. The guy gives the llama another candy and the llama gives the guy a piece. Finally, the announcer comes on and tells us to “Share something juicy.”

 

Because the commercial is so odd, it keeps our attention. We want to see if something is going to happen. The problem is, the commercial is 35 seconds. I believe this would have worked better as a 15 second commercial. Every time I see this commercial, I change the channel. However, I have been thinking about Starburst more, which is the point of the commercial.

 

The commercial below is an older Starburst commercial that pretty much stuck to the Internet. I had to add it to this post because I really liked it and wanted to give it an honorable mention.

 

The Lesson of the day: As I have mentioned before, commercials are created for at least one of three reasons: To introduce a new product or service, to promote a sale or other promotion, and/or to remind consumers of a product or service. This commercial above is a reminder commercial. They want to remind consumers that there is a juicy, chewy candy that can satisfy your sweet tooth. It almost doesn’t matter what is in the commercial as long as the viewers will be able to connect it with the product.    

 

       

I couldn’t really believe it when I saw this commercial for the first time. Many thoughts entered my head, including “Wow, they are being so honest”, “Are they actually saying that on TV?” and “I am surprised the FDA actually made them do this.”

 

This Yaz commercial starts off with a woman saying how the FDA told them to clarify a few things from their previous commercials. She then goes into those clarifications.

 

The Lesson of The Day: When a commercial, and therefore the business, makes a mistake, there are a few ways to deal with it. They could ignore it and hope no one notices, they could pull all existing ads and replace them with new ones, or they could do what Yaz did and be honest about it and make the changes. By being honest, most people will respect the honesty and feel better about the company. Like they say, honesty is the best policy. 

   

The Baby Boomer Generation is a huge market. There are about 78 million of them. This generation has been very unique in many ways throughout their lives. As they start to retire, that uniqueness will not go away. Industries including the financial and medical industries will have to make sure they reach this market in the right way.

 

The Baby Boomers do not do things the way their parents did. Instead of doing things the way the market wants, they prefer to decided what they want find a way to get it. This commercial hints at that fact. This generation had parents who, overall, seemed to be happy sitting on the porch during retirement. The Baby Boomers will not, in general, follow the same path. Their generation is predicted to live much longer after retirement than any generation before them.

 

The Ameriprise commercial feature Dennis Hopper, basically a spokesperson for his generation, telling the rest of the generation that “Dreams don’t retire” and now is going to be the best time of their lives. He also tells them to choose Ameriprise to help with the financial decisions and planning, because, apparently, only Ameriprise understands their generation.

 

The Lesson of The Day: A commercial that speaks to a generation must make sure not to offend any part of it. This commercial does a good job with that. It sums up the basic feelings the generation has about their upcoming adventure through retirement. Speaking to a generation is a balance of speaking to the masses and to the individual. The viewer of this commercial who is part of the generation feels like they are part of something special, but not singled out. That balance is key in these types of commercials. 

   Beware: This commercial may not be suited for people under 18.

 

The first thing that I noticed about this commercial is the way the guy says the lines. 6 Hour Power. Energy that lasts. The sentences are short and separate. At the very end, when it is on TV, there is a guy that jumps up from an office chair and says “Now I’m ready.” I didn’t even think that was part of this commercial until it was on twice in a row. So, I went to YouTube. Now I understand why they never show the first part on TV. What I don’t understand is why they didn’t cut that part out like they did with the beginning.

 

Lesson of The Day: Everyone knows sex sells, but there is a line. This full length commercial has crossed the line. Because it has crossed the line, it had to be cut in half when it is shown on TV. That means the poorly read lines are the only part that people will see and the commercial has to get its message across in a shorter time. Commercials need to make sure they do not cross the line, what ever that line is. 

  Free Credit Report.com is a site where people can go, sign up for a free trail for some service, and then get a free credit report. The commercials only mention the signing up for a free trail briefly at the end. This commercial is a continuance of the previous ones. It started when the singer was with a girl but didn’t know about the importance of her credit score.

 

Each commercial shows the band in a bad situation due to them not checking their credit score. This particular commercial shows the boys living at a Renaissance Fair where credit scores do not matter. They sing and play about the situation they are in this time and how we could avoid it by going to FreeCreditReport.com and checking our credit scores.

 

The Lesson of The Day: This advertising campaign lets us follow the band as they land in one bad situation after another. The jingles are catchy and they guys can be funny. They make the viewers feel like they are part of the action by talking about previous commercials. For example, this commercial mentions, “Since we showed up with our pirate hats on” which was one of the first commercial settings. This creates a feeling of belonging. It is like an inside joke with everyone who has watched all of the commercials. Making people feel like they are part of something is a powerful marketing strategy.  

     

The Axe brand started out with deodorant and body spray for men and now also has a hair care line including shampoo and styling products. The newest commercial and advertising campaign features the Axe Hair Crisis Relief Team, which is a bunch of girls who go around cleaning guy’s greasy hair so they can have girl approved hair.

 

This commercial was one of the first TV commercial in this campaign. Since then, it has evolved from commercials to TV appearances, sponsorships, and social networking. Like many companies today, Axe Hair Crisis Relief has a Facebook page.

 

The Lesson of The Day: In order for a company to get their message out, they have to reach the potential or current customers. TV is not the only way to do that. Axe, for example, targets consumers that are younger and/or in the dating market. The younger consumers are also likely to use social networking sites, such as Facebook. As of this posting, the Axe Facebook page has over 1,500 fans. It looks like the page was started on March 1, 2009. Social networking can be a great tool for companies to use as part of their marketing efforts. 

  

Here is another restaurant that we do not have in CT. The other day I wrote a post about Jack In The Box. See it here. My husband has told me about Sonic and I love shakes and smoothies. I am so jealous.

 

Anyways, this post is not for my ranting, it’s about the commercials. All of these commercials have a few things in common. They all show the Sonic name/logo and they are all set up the same way. There are always two people in a car eating and/or drinking Sonic food. All of these commercials are also supposed to be funny. Some are and some not so much. My favorite is the “Want some fries with that shake?”

 

The Lesson of The Day: IMC stands for Integrated Marketing Communication. Basically, that means there are certain aspects of all marketing material that is always used, for example, a logo. Logos appear in all commercials, on all flyers and mailings, and in any other visual communication a company has with their employees and with the public. IMC is used for recognition and brand building. Every commercial and advertisement you will see from Sonic will have the yellow and purple/blue retro v shaped logo with the word Sonic on it somewhere on it or in it.

 

What is your favorite Sonic commercial? And if you have been to there, what is your favorite food or drink? What would you recommend I try if I ever get to visit one?