TV Reality, not Reality TV?

Television often spoofs real life, but what happens when life starts spoofing television?

Heinz Ketchup is preparing to run an ad campaign that original appeared on the fictional drama Mad Men. A pitch the client was reluctant to sign off on on the show. 

The campaign is simple – mouthwatering images, without the paragraphs of text. It relies on one single line, "Pass the Heinz", and, remarkably, doesn't even show the product. 

Sterling-Cooper's all-star executive Don Drape sells the idea that it's a "testament to ketchup that there can be no confusion." 

I think the move is brilliant – 1. it's a great campaign. Period. And 2. lifting it from a hit TV show gives it an automatic PR spin... people were talking about the ads before they were even printed. 

You can watch the original pitch here:

Goin' Emoji : Chevy Get's Emotional

Apparently "words alone can't describe the new 2016 Chevrolet Cruze", so Chevy has issued a press release written entirely in emojis.

I imagine that when you're drowning in a world of non-descript, mundane press releases, having something like this come across your desk is like discovering sunshine and rainbows. 

I personally haven't figured out how to read most texting acronyms, let alone use emojis on my phone. Luckily, Norm McDonald has stepped in to help us translate.  
The emotionally expressive release is accompanied by the hashtag #chevygoesemoji, because, let's face it, Chevy is hip and cool. If I didn't already drive a Cruze, I might be curious to find out more!

The Genius of Guinness

On the 3rd floor of the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, is a retrospective of Guinness advertising. Few brands can brag of an advertising portfolio that spans a decade—advertising people want to see, and will pay to put replicas of in their house.

The first official Guinness poster appeared in 1929, bearing a slogan that would become one of the most well known in advertising history. Based on the belief that the beer contained health-giving properties, it proclaimed "Guinness is Good for You".

When the Guinness clock was built in Central London in 1931, "Guinness Time" posters started showing up in cities around the world. 

Designer John Gilroy made Guinness Posters from the 1930s to 1960s, his "Guinness For Strength" posters were so popular, people began ordering Guinness by asking for a Girder.

Gilroy also designed the famous "My Goodness My Guinness" posters, which featured a hapless zookeeper and his whimsical, thieving animals. This series is among the best-known graphic art of the 20th century.

The iconic Toucan appeared in 1935, and became a token icon of Guinness well-through the 1950s. 

Pure Genius was the creation of agency Oglivy and Mather in the 1980s, an idea so strong that they were told to run with it on the spot.

Personally, I hope Guinness returns to the illustrative style of advertising. It's uniquely theirs. But no one can deny the majestic power of the image of a well-poured Guinness. I have faith, that whatever direction they go, it'll probably be brilliant. 

Mike & Ike: Together Again. And Looking Quite Different.

In case you missed it (and were worried)...

Mike & Ike are back together.
And have been for some time it would seem.

The break-up of Mike & Ike two years ago, due to creative differences, shock the candy world quite hard. I first noticed the sugar-coated divorce while standing in the check-out lane at the Meijer. My first thought was that a child had gotten loose with a Sharpie. But no, we were supposed to pick our candy based on whose side we were on.

Oh, marketers.

The fictional split, which included wide-spread billboards and a vast social media campaign, increased the sales of Just Born's Mike & Ike by 7.2% in 2012.

And just in time to cash in a second time, the candy duo  reunited. This happy news I received while standing in the check-out lane at the Meijer, when the packaging above shouted it out at me.

It would seem that their reconciliation came with a rebrand. Personally, I would have favored a throwback, retro-style packaging, vs. the bad fruity arcade stylization they ended up with (is that PacMan fruit I see??)

But as they are heading into the next phase of their relationship, I can understand why harkening back to their (apparently somewhat rocky) past would seem unwise. So I will accept the new look, and simply wish the duo best wishes and many happy returns on their joyful news!

 

Holy Awkward Insurance.

I'm working part-time now (you know, so I could focus more on my art). It's given me a lot of time to catch up on my CW and ABCFamily shows. And I keep seeing this Geico commercial that is cracking me up—you know the email forwards and blogs with all the horrid family portraits from eras past—floating heads and what not? Well, I'm so thrilled someone has figured out how to use these photos for a marketing campaign!
Can you imagine, sitting there watching Hart of Dixie and suddenly seeing your awkward family photo talking back at you?! 

Let's hope this is the beginning of a series... there's so much awkwardness out there to utilize!
 

UnPhotoshopped and But Not Uncredited

You can't trust anything, especially a photograph. As someone who spends a good portion of her day in PhotoShop, I know just how true this is. 

In that vein, American Eagle's sister lingerie store Aerie has launched a new marketing campaign focusing on Natural, Un-retouched beauty. The series, called Aerie Real, claims, "The Girl in the Photo has NOT been Retouched: The Real you is Sexy."

The girls pictured are beautiful, full of life, personality, and even have an actual curve or two. While I fully support this campaign (I'd never poo-poo something promoting a healthy body image), it is still clearly a planned marketing effort than a path to change the world. And it's certainly receiving a lot of attention – not bad for a brand most people have probably never hear of.

I wish that brands and magazines photographed "regular-sized" women, not as a ploy to sell more bras but because that's what people look like. What if a brand featured "average consumers" and didn't take credit for it, didn't acknowledge it and didn't point it out in exchange for their pat on the back? What if it was the natural, right thing to do?

 

Meet the Newest Family to Sell you Soda

On my recent flight from NYC to GR, I was handed this napkin along with my tiny little glass of Diet Coke. The napkin directed me to polarbearsmovie.com, and since I aways take instruction from ta, I checked it out.

For the 2013 campaign, Ridley Scott produced a 7 minute video introducing the newest Coca-Cola polar bear family. Along with watching the animated short on the website, you can meet the characters and go behind the scenes.

It's a well done, elaborate ploy to get consumers to interact with a beverage brand on an entertainment level. I'm sure kids everywhere will be asking their parents for the soda sold by Jak, Zook and the Polar Girls... even though the product appears no where in the entire video segment.

The Coca-Cola polar bears first appeared in France in 1922, and appeared sporadically after that until 1993, when the Northern Lights ad reintroduced them, and made them one of the most popular icons in advertising. Since then, they've become an integral part of the Always Coca-Cola campaign and are a particular delight during their annual Super Bowl ads.
You can watch the new movie on youtube or at the polarbearsmovie website.

Crafted for a Hot Summer's Day

I appreciate well crafted advertising. And while an ice cream bar may not measure up to a Stradivarius, I like the thought behind this Häagen-Dazs ad. Because art is all around us, and form, process and craftsmanship should be valued.

Plus, it was 90 degrees and I was sitting in the sun when I came across this ad.... it hit the spot.

Brought to you by Dr. Seuss

Before he was known for his doodles, rhymes and lovable characters, Dr. Seuss drew the world of advertising. He supported himself and his wife Helen through the Great Depression drawing ads for names as big as Ford, GE and NBC.

The University of California in San Diego has compiled a fantastic collection of the Doctor's illustrated, advertising work.

The work of Seuss pre-children's book fame, is clearly from the same hand that brought us Horton, The Lorax and the Sneetches. If you look at the ads, you'll see characters that surely look familiar.

I encourage you to browse the whole collection— being a Seuss fan myself, this is like an unearthed treasure!

Fashionable You

It was a a three page consecutive spread in this months GQ that brought the Ray-Ban's Never Hide campaign to my attention.

The campaign has been going on since March 2007. It was designed to encourage people to live their lives without fear of judgement.

According to Paris-based agency Marcel, the ads were produced as a salute to "people from various eras who have flouted conventions in plain sight." The campaign celebrates "regular guys and girls living their day to day lives with authenticity, with the courage to express themselves and their unique individuality."

Ray-Ban is a brand that has often found itself intertwined with pop culture. Celebrity endorsements and product placement have turned the sunglasses into a style icon.

This series of ads celebrates the brands long history, but also spreads an optimistic and beautiful message. Fashion isn't about fitting in, it's about being yourself.