Swagger Wagon...

I thought about this video during all of our car talks on Wednesday. Toyota seems to be targeting young parents who still want to feel cool and may not necessarily want succumb to the purchase of a mini-van. The only problem with the advertisement is that it's memorable in itself, but I couldn't recall the brand associated with it. Now that I watch it again, I see it's Toyota. Perhaps they could have included "Toyota" throughout the words in the rap or supplemented the ad with billboards that further showed that Toyota was associated with the Swagger Wagon.

Check it out, it's a pretty entertaining video.

Groupon has more problems than demand...

The class discussion on "when not to advertise" on Tuesday was fairly interesting - specifically regarding Groupon and how the salon was unable to meet the resulting demand.  Interestingly enough, advertising doesn't appear to be a strong point for Groupon in the first place.  In my intercultural communications course, we focused on the following Super Bowl commercial by Groupon (2011):

My gut instinct was to be offended at the apparent insensitivity of Groupon to the plight of Tibetans.  In evaluating the advertisement using the "AD PLAN" framework, it seems as though Groupon generates negative amplification, thereby hurting it's brand equity.

In actuality, Groupon's commercials were intended to be 'funny' through their call to action (Save the Money) while hiring a well-known actor.  Furthermore, each of the three Save the Money commercials failed to highlight their altruistic component; that is, Groupon was matching users' contributions to three different charities (up to $100,000 each).

What's your take on the commercial?  And do you think that, if executed differently, these commercials could have been successful?

World of Warcraft and Gaming

After our World of Warcraft discussion Tuesday, I recalled this song from 2009 (it was a viral hit) and thought I should post. If you're familiar with the Guild, a web comedy, you will recognize the characters but even if not, it's a fun insight into MMORPG. It's a bit suggestive but hilarious--pay attention to the lyrics.
Obviously, this was meant to promote the show (The Guild) but I think it also works in a greater space that advertises for role playing games like WOW by simultaneously poking fun of players of the game while also celebrating being a "nerd" aka, an individual or nonconformist.

Fiber One Brownie Internet Commercial

The following link (I couldn't get the video to embed) will take you to the Fiber Once Brownie commercial we discussed in class. This is an excellent example of a company releasing a campaign online because they felt it was to risky to release as a comprehensive campaign.

http://youtu.be/vK7hZ9CxCfU

To learn more about the campaign check out the website:
http://www.magicbrownieadventure.com/

How Toyota Tundra Killed Truck ads

Nissan ads. Some have very poor production values making it extremely obvious it's not real. If you are going to do this in this day and age, at least get some good production.

This one at least looks somewhat real.

The Toyota ads that have killed any "demo" that is not real for me. I am also reminded of these ads every time I see a truck ad that is not real.

In advance of class Tues, Dec 6 (St. Nicholas)

"Linus and Lucy"   aka The Charlie Brown Christmas Dance

Pepsi Refresh campaign... A year later

Interesting to see this project come a long way. Pepsico is now advertising the Refresh campaign. Click the link below to see a few of the ads.

Pepsi Refresh Ads

Wonder if we'll see Pepsico advertise the Refresh campaign in the 2012 Superbowl??