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What to Expect with the Unexpected?

Commercials try a bunch of different tactics to make viewers laugh. Because one of the most effective ways to cut through the clutter is proper use of humor. Make a funny commercial, and people will talk about it for a good while. And if they're talking about your commercial it means they're at least aware of your product--a feat not so easy to achieve when you're exposed to anywhere from 150-3,000 advertisements a day (quite a wide range.)

Now, humor advertising can be risky, because many people have terrible senses of humor (as evidenced by Jay Leno's good ratings), and if someone doesn't get the joke, it's the waste of an advertisement. Or if it's the slightest bit offensive, overly-sensitive people could get turned off. Now to counter that, if it's a boring attempt at being funny, people with a good sense of humor could cringe (like I do every time Flo the irritating Progressive Insurance girl comes on the screen, or any Geico Caveman.)

But one of the greatest ways to produce humor is for the unexpected to happen. Not only does it grab the attention of anyone who was half-watching, but it also generates some laughs and spurs the viewer to watch the commercial again for anything they might have missed.

A perfect example of an excellent use of the unexpected for humor is this Old Spice commercial everyone loves so much. I've seen it plenty of times and it still hasn't gotten old. Then again, some people don't understand it at all--but I'd like to think these people aren't part of Old Spice's target demographic anyway. Nothing about it is funny in particular at first (except for the man's excellent delivery of the lines). It looks to be just a typical man talking about a shower gel, but then random unexpected stuff happens and it turns into hilarity.




Anytime a major celebrity invites an actor from a commercial onto their show, you know you made a good spot. Isaiah Mustafa, the actor from the commercial, was on Ellen DeGeneres' show explaining that the entire commercial was one long take that took over 80 tries to get right--giving me even more respect for the ad.

The moral of the story is that Old Spice took a chance on a commercial that some people might not understand, incorporating heavy use of the unexpected, and it has been a huge success. Does this mean that anytime something ridiculous happens in a commercial it will generate laughter? No. As with every advertisement, it must be well-made. But perhaps instead of focusing on corny jokes that are safe and forgettable, more advertisers should incorporate the unexpected. If done right, it makes for a far more effective spot.

Here's another excellent commercial that relies a bit on the surprise factor to create laughs. If you're a sports fan you'll get...if not, well, it's not targeted toward you anyway, so don't feel left out.




-- Steve Creswick
Ad Doctor

Coors Not Quite

The Coldest Tasting Beer...this was Coors Light's Marketing stance for a long time, I guess before they realized that being Cold has nothing to do with taste...it is a temperature. If I have a refrigerated Bud Light and a luke-warm Coors Light that's been sitting on the counter...both taste like crap, but the Bud Light feels colder on my tongue, regardless of Coors Light being "frost-brewed."

You know your product is in dire straights when its most marketable aspect is that it gets cold when refrigerated. That's like me starting a soup company and claiming I have the warmest soup cause it's cooked over a flame. "Flame-Boiled" if you will.

Oh, and about your whole "the label turns blue when it's cold" selling point, know how else someone knows when it's cold? By touching the bottle or can.

Now, Coors Light has changed their commercials to say it's "the most refreshing beer," which is far better than "coldest tasting," but you're still banking on an attribute that is controlled by refrigeration! Everyone knows your beer doesn't taste good. And I commend you for not trying to make that claim (as Miller Lite seems content to do now). But why don't you follow Budweiser's and Dos Equiis' lead and stick to commercials that make people laugh?

-- Steve Creswick
Ad Doctor

For Whom the Bell Tolls...

Today, we'll be tackling Taco Bell's commercial for their new Pacific Shrimp Taco. But first, here's a list of things I'd do before eating shrimp from a Taco Bell.

1. Roll around naked o'er the mountains of a garbage dump.
2. Walk barefoot on a beach coated in medical waste.
3. Swim in the Ganges River.

Now that you know where I stand on their product. Let's talk about the commercial.



Obviously, I'm not the only one with reservations about buying the seafood at my local Taco Bell, otherwise they wouldn't dedicate their advertisement to alleviating fears by claiming the shrimp is of high quality. But is a cartoonishly ridiculous man, a "shrimp blogger," really the best way to get people to consider buying your product. Everyone in the world knows it's not good shrimp. Regardless of the opinion of this man who dedicates his life to writing short posts about the world's prawn population (a completely reasonable profession if you ask me.) Though I find it hard to believe he could afford to travel so much on what must be a meager salary. I mean, making money from blogging is hard enough...but when your topic is shrimp...whew...good luck.

My point is...everyone knows it comes frozen in a big plastic bag. Everyone knows, while probably safe, it's not worth the chance. Even if it won't get me sick, I'd assume they're the size of a quarter and not nearly enough to fill a 5-year-old. So instead of making grandiose claims about the quality of your food that nobody will ever believe, why not instead address the reservations that would stop someone from purchasing your new offering. Show a commercial with someone making it...or someone eating it...or someone enjoying it. Don't show me a man with a ridiculous made-up profession in ecstasy over a meal at Taco Bell.

And next time you decide to offer a seafood product, put it out at the beginning of Lent when McDonald's starts serving their Filet-of-Fish, not at the end, when Catholics are on the cusp of being able to eat meat again.

-- Steve Creswick
Ad Doctor

Fake News Program Commercials

Let me tell you something. If you advertise a product using a commercial that emulates a news program, complete with a make-up swathed newswoman singing your product's praises and the words breaking news flashing across the screen, you're hurting your own credibility. I understand that it might help your advertisement cut through the clutter of others, but it is also deceptive. And when you are trying to get people to use your product or service, the last thing you want is for them to feel tricked by your advertising. Because if they feel tricked by your advertising, they won't take anything said in your commercial seriously. Thus rendering the advertisement a waste of valuable money. I respect that people are trying to be creative and find new ways to get TV viewer's attention, but deception doesn't help your cause.

I've seen a few financial services commercials, and a cablevision commercial using these techniques. I wouldn't trust the latter anyway, but making a faux-news program that looks more like a sleazy infomercial isn't the way to go.

-- Steve Creswick
Ad Doctor

Who Loses? (HULUses)

It was announced yesterday that The Daily Show and Colbert Report, along with less popular Comedy Central offerings will no longer be available on Hulu. My first reaction was...that's dumb, offering streaming video of your episodes increases awareness of the product and viewership. Granted most revenue is drawn from television advertisements, which are not at all helped by online watchers, but still...a viewer is a viewer regardless of the medium, and companies are beginning to draw revenue from online episodes too.

But then I found out that they will still offer full episodes on TheDailyShow.com and TheColbertReport.com, which makes much more sense for them because then the people watching online see their advertisements without a middle man taking a piece of the pie.

The only thing Hulu has going in its favor is the convenience of it all...which as we know, American's love. But convenience doesn't matter to the companies who pay for the development and production of these shows. They want numbers...they want results. So Hulu needs to prove that having videos on their sight will provide more viewers, more advertising dollars, and more promotion for upcoming episodes, otherwise Comedy Central won't be the last to pull their programming away from the popular media streaming website.

-- Steve Creswick
Ad Doctor

The Importance of Innovation

In 2009, Blockbuster reported a loss of $558.2 million, in 2008, $374.1 million, and in 2007, $85.1 million. To put that into perspective...that's over a billion dollars lost in the past 3 years. In response to their gaping financial wounds, Blockbuster plans to close up to 545 of their retail locations and cut back significantly on advertising.

I never like to be the one to say I told you so, but this is what happens when people are late on the shifting trends in human behavior. In another retail business, Barnes & Noble, faces falling profits because of digital readers and online booksellers, forcing them to create their own contraption, much later than Amazon released its Kindle, and with much less hype than Apple will release its iPad.

With the internet and the instant gratification of knowledge being at ones fingertips, people are accustomed to being able to do everything from their home. And if they can get things instantly, like an on-demand video or an ebook downloaded directly to their digital reader, they're going to spend their money in that manner. They're not going to scour through a retail outlet for a product that might not even be available.

But what happens when a company is late to a party? They're not the belle of the ball. When people think of mail-service video renting they think of Netflix. They don't think of the blue and yellow of Blockbuster, and won't if the chain plans to cut back advertising. When most people order books online, they think of Amazon, not Barnes & Noble. They don't think of the Nook, they think of the Kindle and the iPad.

Blockbuster plans to place "Express Kiosks," like Red Box to compete with that source of video rental, but once again they're late. Red Box has its vending machines outside the most popular convenience store chain, 7-11, which are located everywhere and the perfect place for someone looking for an impulse $1 movie rental. So once again they're late.

There was a time when Blockbuster could have capitalized on its strong brand name to create a monopoly on these new technologies and services. But for some reason I feel like there was someone in the board room saying, "Oh, people won't go for that. Those businesses will never last." And I'm sure that same executive is asking himself every night, "How did we end up in such a dire situation?"

The answer is change. You must always be open to it, and when new technologies and methods are available...give them a serious thought. Because if it's convenient...it's going last.

-- Steve Creswick
Ad Doctor

The NFL Daft

Apparently the NFL isn't done trying to turn the draft into some spectacle second only to the Super Bowl. Not only have they turned it into a primetime affair, but now they're trying to make the second day of the draft an exciting event as well by inviting popular college prospects who aren't expected to go in the first round to sit around for the second day of the draft waiting to be picked.

I get the whole angle that this one pick can change your team's fortune--even though that one pick costs a fortune and could tie up a sizable portion of your salary cap preventing you from fielding a competitive team. And the whole guessing game aspect of who's going to pick who is fun for fans. But in the end, the event consists of fifteen minutes of talking and then a man coming to a podium and saying a name. Not too exciting is it.

So now they're planning on trying to bank on the starpower of elite college players, whose game's might not translate well into the pro's (see Tebow, Tim), to try and turn the rest of the draft into a television event worth watching. But that's not what the draft is about. The draft is about fans hoping their team gets better, not to see where certain college players go. Because if they're not going to have an impact, the fans who actually watch this event, won't care.

-- Steve Creswick
Ad Doctor