Back to Basics

Too much random posting. Flighty blogging. Not enough meat and potatoes. Here goes.

There is a billboard that gives me the shivers every morning. It’s by Ad Council, for increasing public awareness of obesity. It shows a big, hairy belly. Fine, that’s fine. But the nauseating, gross part of it is this. On the side of the belly, round as a beach ball, there is a plastic air nozzle (from a beach ball) implanted into the skin. It’s disgusting. Hence the shivers. It reminds me of surgeries and other unpleasant thoughts. Gut-reaction: bad.

(That’s it, on Woodward Ave as you near Pontiac. Check out the insane billboard underneath. New Look Same Shop!)

I’m sure you can relate. We’ve all seen ads that don’t work, and wonder what the heck the ad people were thinking. And to tell you the truth, I have no idea. I tried to “understand” advertising for a year, which isn’t long, but I never got it. Far as I can tell, they’re lucky to have ended up where they are. They often feel proud of what they’ve made, but that doesn’t mean we should listen.

Puddingmedia. Gross.

This is just about the most disgusting thing I’ve ever heard.

Mashable: Puddingmedia
In the same way that Gmail matches ads to your email conversations, Pudding Media will match ads to phone conversations.

I don’t see this happening at all, unless they discover a society of people willing to get punched in the face for a dollar.

Bee Movie – No Thanks

According to American Copywriter, the Bee Movie shorts on NBC prime time are “very confusing,” and I completely agree! They’re weird. Who are they trying to excite? Children? Adults? Adults with a children’s sense of humor? I’m glad I’m not the only one worried about the little Bee Movie previews.

My guess? The previews are for adults and children, both.  But I don’t think the humor hits either target.  Confusing!

VCU Students Put the Art in Advertising

Looks like the VCU AdCenter trains kids to be fantastically artistic, award-winning advertisers. Which sounds like a lot of hard, fun work.

Some say advertising should be straight-legged, with less art.

Some say art as advertising can be the best method.

Which side are you on?

Oops: Colgate’s Blind Sex Offender

A strange case of inappropriately-paired news and advertising, here:

BannerBlog : Media Gaffe: Colgate’s Blind Sex Offender

Googling for Candidates?

Be careful where you click. Presidential candidates are buying key search terms on Google, which means many people will find themselves reading about the candidate with the most spending power… just because the candidate spent the most money.

But that’s nothing new. The scary part? “It seems to be working,” said Jeremy Crane, director-search and online media at web analytics firm Compete. “People are clicking on these links.” – Ad Age

Whether they are finding the pages they wanted more easily, or are landing on the opponent’s page, is not clear. But it’s definitely another reason to get your head into the Google search game.

Which, to the surprise of most, doesn’t mean buying search terms. There’s another way. All you have to do is keep a WordPress weblog (like this one) and update it regularly. Using specific keywords and categories relevant to your topic will bring you to the top of Google searches. And what’s better than being at the top of Google (for free)?

So… why don’t political candidates have blogs? Some do. But they all should. And so should everyone else, with something to say.

I learned a lot about the web in Dayton, Ohio at a Websitetology seminar. Go to one. You’ll learn a whole lot, meet some cool people, and get a free muffin from Starbuck’s.

The Advertising Equivalent of “That Creepy Guy”

 

Boring ads suck. But somehow, that doesn’t stop clients and agencies from paying a lot of money to put them in very popular media outlets.

…this is the advertising equivalent of thinking that if you can discover the address of someone you find attractive and then arrange for a helicopter to drop you through her skylight, you’re in business. Which is hardly the case. Yes, you may now be in her boudoir. But the likelihood of your getting arrested or shot vastly exceeds your chances of getting anywhere else.

Like the creepy guy at the end of the bar, who came alone in a very expensive (rented) suit. He’s shouting at everyone, telling them about himself. Even the bartender is reluctant to make eye contact, and everyone else quickly ignores that whole area of the club.

Just like a bad ad, in rented space that everyone knows to ignore. We’re all experts at ignoring advertisements, but lots of money still goes into making boring ads. Why?

• The client thinks that crashing through your boudoir is all they have to do, and the agency simply provides the helicopter.
• They don’t know the difference between engaging and boring advertising, but they think they’re doing it right.
• They have to make something, anything, and they don’t care if it’s good.
• They are crazy.

It’s easy to ignore something, and easy to make something worth ignoring. The game begins once you know how to be interesting.