More on JBS

Here are some pictures to follow up on the JBS Underwear campaign. These are some of the print executions, reminding us that "men don't want to look at naked men." So instead they show beautiful women acting like men...brilliant!

JBS Underwear

This is an international ad I found on Ads of the World. It is probably the funniest ad I have seen in a very long time! The woman featured in the ad plays the part so well, it makes us women wonder why we even like the pigs at all. Walking around naked, adding beer to cereal, burping, farting and watching racing on TV, yup that's a man alright. The only difference is she looks a lot better than a man does. The concept is brilliant; the ad grabs your attentions immediately and holds it. Unlike a lot of ads like this one (entertaining ads based on humor or shock), at the end you actually know what the product is. The use of repetition i.e. scratching her butt twice, keeps the product in view and focus on the underwear. The tagline at the end reinforces the product and gives the message of the ad. It's true, men don't want to see other men walking around almost naked. Although they probably don't want to see a beautiful woman farting and burping either; but the point is well taken. She is just like a man...but boy, is she easier on the eyes (well at least to men)

Everything in advertising is intentional right? I mean look at her place, filled with empty liquor and beer bottles, a pizza box on the table with a lone slice left, the empty fridge; what is all this stuff saying? In the infamous words or Austin Powers, “She’s a man baby!!!”

As a side note, I think the use of racing at the end is interesting. If this ad were an American ad, (HaHa, I know it would never make it on American television) but if it were, she would be watching football. You would hear the stereotypical announcer in the background or the referee making a call. But being an international ad, probably based out of Europe they use racing. I know racing in other countries is huge; and they don't do any of that silly NASCAR crap where it is considered a skill to make left turns a.k.a. driving in a circle. Take what you want from this, it is just a note of interest on culture and advertising to different countries.

The End...well at least for grading purposes

So as this semester draws to a close, Lilly asked us to reexamine one of the first questions she ever asked us. What kind of a media consumer are you? Has this class changed your perceptions at all? Do you still think of media the same way? Lilly, at the beginning of the semester, gave us a survey that asked us about which types of media we interface with regularly, how long we spend interacting with these things, and which ones were our favorites. We wrote on our blogs about it, you can check out the original post here. In fact, you should, because I am not going to retake this survey. I don't think my answers to the questions have changed. Do I still wish I had more time to read up on science, yes. Are my favorite movies still Dirty Dancing and Moulin Rouge, yes. The change doesn't include what I consume, it is how I consume it, and I don't think the survey's questions address that concept. Now, if you want to know how I have changed, I can tell you that without a questionnaire. I tend to look at things more critically. I don't take them at face value anymore; the media I interface with used to just skim the surface of my perception. Now I intentionally take more notice of it. I never realized how much media I interacted with on a daily basis because most of it went in one ear and out the other. Once I made the effort to become more aware of the media around me I really noticed how much there is, and the media I do notice I try to think about. It is no longer just stuff in the background, I try to come up with an opinion, even if it is simple as I like it or I don't like it. At least by making it a point to come up with an opinion, I am sure to continue to take notice of my media surroundings. I have been trying to find my niche in school for the past 3 years, and I think I finally found it. I love advertising; it stimulates my intellect (being a previous chemistry major) as well as my creative side (being raised with a father who's an artist). I find the marketing, idea process, and psychological concepts behind advertising so interesting. I want to thank Lilly for always trying to make an effort for the students. Having her for two classes lets you get the full scope of her dedication to the students. She teaches by example and not by broad concepts and terms, and is always trying new teaching projects, like this blog. I especially appreciate her keeping the students informed when it comes to internships, trips, contests, scholarships and anything else that might further our education in a non-conventional way.

Ads Here, Ads There, Ads Everywhere

I recently went to the Cheesecake Factory for my boyfriend's birthday and despite previously working there for over a year, when I went in, something struck me that never had before. There are ads in the menu, and although I realized there existence, I had never thought about the relevance of these ads. As an advertising major, it made me question the success of these ads. Are they really getting through to the target audience? I know finding outlets for unconventional advertising can lead to very successful campaigns, but in a menu? I mean even as an ad major I almost breezed right by them. They barely passed my perceptual screens! Think about it, when you sit down for dinner at a restaurant what do you do? You are focused on what is going to get you the food, and that is all. If you're hungry you quickly scan through the menu to find what you want so you can order your food and get it out to you as fast as possible. You're hungry, you want instant gratification, or the closest thing to it. The way the menu is set up, all the ads are on the left side and the menu items on the right side, so as you are looking through the menu, you can easily choose to just ignore the left pages of the menu. It is easy to filter the ads out; perhaps if they switched up the pages, so when you are looking for food on the right side, there is an ad there instead, it might be more successful. If you have ever been to Cheesecake Factory, you know they have an extensive menu (over 200 items) and just trying to figure out what to pick is a chore in and of itself. You are really not looking at the ads, you are trying to figure out which of these things am I going to get; the patrons are too focused on the overwhelming amount of choices. I will say that the ads do speak to the typical customer of cheesecake. The ads are a little more upscale, but not so overdone it doesn't apply to the average person e.g. designer jewelry and cruises. The question isn't do the ads fit the target audience but will they even notice them.

Are You Red?

Every year 3 million people die from AIDS. Friday, December 1st was World AIDS Day. There is a huge inspi(red) campaign right now created by Bono and Bobby Shriver trying to support awareness and raise money for better treatment of AIDS in Africa. I had heard about it some, (you may have seen some of the commercials) but I really started looking into it on Friday when Google had a small red ribbon on it's website. When you clicked on it, you were redirected to the website for campaign red. You find out how far the campaign stretches and all the connections they made so far. The idea behind the campaign is to purchase red products because they are desi(red). When you buy a red product at no additional cost to the consumer, the red company will then donate some of its profits to buy and distribute antiviral medicine for the victims in Africa. The hope is that when consumers need a product, and it is offered in red, they will choose the red product over another for the sake of doing something good, especially since it comes at no extra cost to them. Then soon other companies will follow suit. They will become red, because it makes good business sense to compete with current red companies. Some of the products currently available are credit cards, watches, and phones. Apple recently introduced their newest edition to the i-Pod family. Apple has gone red; they are offering the 4GB and 8GB Nano in Red. Check out all the products that support red here. Myspace and AIM are also supporting Red; the media is an important link to awareness. By donating space on their websites they raise visibility and interest in the campaign. The magazine Dazed and Confused, which I recently wrote a post about, is also sponsoring Red by encouraging readers to add photos and videos that show their red support. Not all products actually have to physically be the color red to support the cause, but many are offered that way. The campaign doesn't want it to be about buying a watch to purposely support red. The idea is that if you need a watch and you will hopefully buy the red watch. They even assume many people will buy a red product without even realizing or knowing what red is. With the profits from the first six weeks of the campaign, they can provide 40,000 people with ARV treatments for a year. You can follow up on this even more by going to their blog. They have been writing about the progress and companies who are starting support the cause. You to the power of red, that's the big idea. Check it out!

It's a bird, it's a plane. No it's.....

I recently found this ad from Cole Vision Corporation out of Quebec for Sears Optical. I originally found it on the adforum website. It shows a lady on a park bench looking up in the sky. She slowly reaches for her umbrella, opens it and places it over head. Shortly after, bird poop falls from the sky and lands on her umbrella. She closes it and puts it away. It is a great ad; it uses humor while clearly getting its point across. Anyone can understand the message being conveyed; the scene resonates with the audience. The idea of getting shit on is nasty and creates a strong emotion of disgust and discomfort with the viewers. The fact that her vision is so good that she could see the poop coming and prevent the whole ugly scene is very smart and creative. You should check it out. It is a short ad that readily and easily defines its message through the execution. I know adforum closes off access to videos after a week, so I will also link to another site that is currently playing the ad. Enjoy

By the way...sorry this is a little late, it has been a crazy week of projects and living at the library.

This read is easy to digest!

Recently, I discovered that Readers Digest doesn't just do magazines. In fact they do a lot of stuff, but my new favorite thing is their select editions. It is a series of four condensed stories in one book. You can sample four books in the time it may take you to read one. It allows for you try out new authors you have never heard of, but at the same time authors that have been selected for their adept story telling. These books also feature well known authors such as Marry Higgins Clark and Nicholas Sparks. The authors are often surprised at how well the story stays true to form despite the amount of information that was removed. Nicholas Sparks comments, "The editors of Reader's Digest Select Editions continue to work their magic. Their treatment of my novels couldn't be better." For instance, I just read the book Whiteout by Ken Follett. If you read the book in its entirety it would be 396 pages long, while the story I read was only 165 pages. At first I was skeptical, if I want to read a story, I want read all of it, find out all of the character idiosyncrasies, and the get to experience all the details of the story. But as I read it, the story moved quickly; it was suspenseful and interesting. I didn't feel like anything was missing. When I read reviews of Whiteout, people said it was a mediocre story that moved too slowly. I was surprised to hear the review, but it makes you realize that Readers Digest took out all the extra information that can drag down a book. But we've all been there; where a good story can drag on and on because extra details and information impede the flow of the story. There are just so many great books out there, and never enough time to experience them all. These books offer such a great solution! The books are short in pages to begin with, but the way they are edited makes them fast paced and quickly/easily read. I would recommend these books to anyone who feels like I do..."too many books, not enough time."