Time’s Top Ten Lists

Time magazine just released their top ten lists and they are certainly nothing less than entertaining. It is really fun looking through all the lists and reminiscing about the past year. Especially amusing are the Top Ten Fashion Moments (supermodels, boyfriend jeans and Michelle Obama’s $148 dollar White House Black Market dress) and the Top Ten Breakups (Madonna and Guy Richie, Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers and George Clooney and that girl I hate). 

But, the most interesting, is the Top Ten TV ads. Obviously.

Two of the Top Ten have been featured on my prestigious and very popular blog. (Shout out to the three people who read it!) Time liked and listed Visa’s commercial for the Olympics featuring runner Derek Redmond and Morgan Freeman’s famous narration. Another on both the Time and Alexa in the City list was the Guitar Hero commercials featuring those four athlete studs – Alex Rodriguez, Michael Phelps, Kobe Bryant and Tony Hawk. Time thinks the highlight is Tony Hawk sliding across the floor on a skateboard, I think it’s the end when Phelps and Rodriguez are kicking and playing the guitar on the couches. 

Time’s number one ad of the year was the T-Mobile ad with Charles Barkley and Dwayne Wade when Wade finally makes the cut to be one of Barkley’s “Fave Five.” Charles, Chuck, is really funny in this commercial. He makes annoying look really easy. I agree with the magazine on this one – apparently athletes in commercials doing uncharacteristic things is what I like… 

Time’s number two was the Fed Ex commercial with all the giant carrier pigeons delivering “the big stuff.” Though this ad was creative, I thought it was more frightening than anything. I didn’t start sending packages to my parents using Fed Ex because I thought a huge gray bird was going to deliver it. 

When Crispin, Porter and Bogusky ditched the Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld ads, they switched to the cheaper “I’m a PC” ads to address the Mac commercials. I find this particular ad to be quite amusing and appreciate Time recognizing it. It features regular people (as regular as Bill Gates, Tony Parker and Eva Longoria Parker and Pharrell can be) stating that they’re a PC. Some even add their own little message, like that they are afraid of sharks or that they sell fish. The fish part is actually the best part of the commercial. 

The fifth ad on the list is one that I haven’t seen before, but I do appreciate it. It features Neil Patrick Harris reprising his roll as a doctor for Old Spice. The best part is the end when the monitor flat lines as he puts the stethoscope on the patients nose. 

The number eight choice is an interesting one – Barack Obama’s infomercial. Though I sat on my bed for the entire half hour glued to the TV, I’m not sure that I would have said it was one of the best commercials of the year. Time justifies it by saying that Obama made his point through the riveting and heart breaking stories of other people. I agree. But, was it necessary to make an entire half hour commercial? It certainly did show how much money (i.e. support) Obama received throughout his campaign. And, even if it swayed just one person to vote Obama, I’m glad he made it. I’m sure he is too. 

Missing from the list were some of my favorite commercials. No room on the list for the Macy’s commercials featuring all my favorite department store celebrities? How disappointing!! Seriously, though, missing from the list was the Goodby commercials for the NBA, “There Can Only Be One,” that featured half the faces of two players saying the same monologue. Time even borrowed the concept from the print ads for their issue featuring Barack Obama and and Hilary Clinton. If it was good enough for the cover of a Time issue, wouldn’t it be good enough for the Time Top Ten List?

 

Overall, Time’s Top Ten lists are very accurate and entertaining. You’ll definitely kill a good hour searching through them. 

 

 

Best Commercial I’ve Seen All Day

Literally 15 minutes ago during Dancing With the Stars the finale, I saw the most entertaining commercial that I’ve seen in a cool minute. Sports aren’t my thing, but popular sports stars can be. Please enjoy:

Apparently this commercial for Guitar Hero was release a bit ago, but I guess I just missed it. What a collection of cool people that I’d like to hang out with! Kobe Bryant, Michael Phelps, Alex Rodriguez (most likely getting his inspiration for the guitar from Madonna’s tour) and Tony Hawk make for a surprising cast with semi-decent chemistry. 

I saw the Guitar Hero commercial with Heidi Klum the other day as well. On Youtube, you can find two versions – one with the white shirt and one without. Sports stars and Heidi Klum certainly appeal to the obvious target market. I guess video games aren’t just for little kids anymore. 

Don’t Vote

When I started writing this blog, I made two rules for myself. 

1. Don’t get personal.

2. Don’t get political. 

This is supposed to be an advertising blog to help me communicate my ideas and help me stay current with advertising news and issues. This isn’t supposed to be about me. However, voting is so important to the upcoming election that I have to promote it. Even if it’s just to the handful of people who read this blog, I want to spread the message. 

And, I want to be in the company of all the celebrities who are in the video below. If I could only just hang out with one or two of them… This is a great video because instead of being a bunch of celebrities telling people who to vote for, it’s a bunch of celebrities telling you to make your own decision and then go vote. They’re not just telling you to vote OBAMA. They’re telling you to make your own decision. So, please take the advice of Leonardo DiCaprio, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Aniston, Ellen DeGeneres, Justin Timberlake, Ashton Kutcher, Steven Spielberg and many more and go out and VOTE!

Pepsi Gets a Makeover

Introducing Pepsi’s new look. PepsiCo just revealed the new can and bottle designs for Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Sierra Mist. This is the fifth time that PepsiCo has changed the look of their products in 20 years. This design took about five months to create and the new looks won’t be in stores until early next year.

I like the direction that Pepsi is going. I like the simple and modern direction that PepsiCo took the designs. I also appreciate that they made such a huge change, yet stayed true to the brand image. Though the red, white and blue image on the Pepsi can became less severe and smaller, it still looks like the Pepsi logo. The white part of the logo is meant to look like smiles, which is the brand characteristic Pepsi is going for. This will accompany the grin characteristic for Diet Pepsi and a laugh for Pepsi Max. Ok… And, though I don’t really drink pop, I will look for the new cans in stores next year. 

Now, does the Pepsi makeover come at the same time as the Britney Spears comeback for a reason? Wouldn’t that relationship be amazing to relive?! 

Goodby + Quaker Oats = Future Success for both

Of the seven days a week, I probably eat oatmeal for breakfast about five times. I love oatmeal. And, it’s not just oatmeal, it’s Quaker Oatmeal. I’m a fan of the Quaker Instant maple and brown sugar. When I’m home, I like the original Quaker Oatmeal from the stove with a little brown sugar and milk. Mmmmm…

Quaker Oats is a great brand. Oatmeal is not the only thing they provide. The Low Fat Granola and Whole Grain Rice Cakes (currently using agency Juniper Park in Toronto) are all excellent. So is Life cereal. I guess I just love the brand and the nutrients their products provide me on a daily basis. 

This is why I am excited to see what direction Goodby, Silverstein & Partners will take this great brand. I believe that Goodby will provide a fresh perspective for the brand and possibly provide some entertainment value to the upcoming ads. It seems like most recent oatmeal commercials center around a concerned mom providing a hearty bowl of oatmeal to her hungry children. I can’t wait to see if and how Goodby will change the typical oatmeal advertisement. 

Goodby is inheriting quite a large challenge. Quaker Oats spent $45 million on media last year. They followed that with $20 million in media spending in the first half of this year. This means that the communication strategists at Goodby are going to have their work cut out for them shortly!

 

Old Navy makes a move – to Crispin

 

 

For me personally, the fact that Old Navy will now be working with Crispin Porter & Bogusky is very exciting. I can’t wait until March to see what the final result will be. 

Old Navy is one of my favorite brands. I would shop there for back-to-school clothes when I was in elementary school and I plan to make a trip there today for some decently priced and modern work clothes. I also worked there for seven weeks – good discount, but not as fun as shopping there. I just really like being able to find clothes I need there and, as an added bonus, they’re usually trendy. 

As I have mentioned before, I remember talking with my manager about the brand shift they were trying to execute. I have read that it didn’t go over very well, but I enjoyed it while it lasted. I remember him telling me that they were trying to compete with American Eagle instead of Wal-Mart, which is the brand they used to compete with. 

Crispin should offer some pretty exciting changes to Old Navy, it will certainly offer a young and refreshing take on the brand. Crispin seems to understand how to effectively advertise to specific target markets – their target market for The King commercials (Burger King, if you have been living in a cave) was 18-34 year old stoners. Old Navy will be a challenge for Crispin because I’m not sure how humor will work with Old Navy, but nonetheless I can’t wait to see what this marriage will bring to the table for consumers.

As a client, does Starbucks suck?

 

 

Wieden & Kennedy gave Starbucks the big boot. Who saw that coming? I most certainly didn’t. Despite Starbucks very overpriced and bitter coffee, it still seems to keep its hold on the coffee market. Wouldn’t this be a brand that Wieden would want to keep a hold of? Apparently not. It seems that Starbucks, along with bad coffee, is also a bad client. 

When hiring an advertising agency, a company needs to trust the agencies taste and talent. That is why there is a big pitch process, so both brand and agency can ensure that their relationship will be beneficial. Obviously, the company is expected to be involved in the campaign, but there is a line between being involved and micromanaging. This was apparently the line that Starbucks didn’t understand – they have been known as a difficult client for quite awhile.

Starbucks, as a brand, has been very under-advertised. This was how they saw their brand in the market and it has always worked. However, Wieden wanted to further the brand and Starbucks wasn’t into it. Remember the Holiday 2007 “Pass the Cheer” advertisements? Those were tastefully executed and fit the brand perfectly. You can practically taste the red cups. 

Television ads just don’t seem to be the route that Starbucks wants to take. Thus ends the professional relationship between Wieden & Kennedy (based in Portland) and Starbucks (based in Seattle). 

Neither party is going to suffer too greatly from the severing of ties. Wieden can continue to work on other successful campaigns including Nike and P&G and Starbucks can continue to provide morning java to the entire world. And, it seems that we will see more Starbucks ads in the future. The brand confirms that they will be hiring agencies in the future on a project by project basis.

Virgin Atlantic introduces “Airphoria”

 

 

If there is one thing that is true about me, it’s that I completely hate flying. It’s not the inconvenience of a late flight or a missing bag (all of which are seriously annoying), it’s the fact that I’m actually scared of flying in the sky. I need to be in control to feel safe and I am most definitely not in control when I’m in the hands of a pilot. 

In May, I was in Atlanta for the NSAC/AAF National Competition. When we were scheduled to take off, there was a line of 30+ other planes that were ahead of us in line. Literally, 30 planes. By the time it was our turn, we had to go back to the airport to refuel before we were safe to fly. We ended up being many hours late to out next destination, Minneapolis, and ended up having to spend the night in the airport. The next morning our group had to separate so that we could make it home. Did I mention that our college graduation was mere days later? We had to get back. It was awful, I have never had a flying situation like that before. It seems that these days, flying has just become a huge hassle. My mom keeps saying over and over again that “flying isn’t glamorous anymore.”

Virgin Atlantic has noticed this also. And, they have a response to everyone. Virgin Atlantic is “glad you hate flying.” What? Should an airline trying to make profit really say that? They want people to hate flying so they can look forward to flying on Virgin Atlantic. It’s all part of their “Airphoria” campaign. Virgin Atlantic wants passengers to feel excitement and anticipation when flying their airline. They offer completely flat beds for sleeping as well as an open-all-the-time bar. These are two things (especially the second perk) that would make me look forward to flying on Virgin. 

This unique airline made the terrible attitude about flying into the perfect opportunity. They saw an opening in the market and ran with it. In looking at their website, though, I don’t think they fly within the U.S. Too bad, because Virgin would have been a great airline for me to fly to see my friend Emily in New York. And, despite my fear of flying, next time I need to fly internationally from San Francisco (my new home), I will certainly start with looking at Virgin. The complete bar is reason enough.

Ellen: The New CoverGirl

In a January issue of US Weekly, CoverGirl will reveal their new spokeswoman. Ellen DeGeneres! Ellen will be joining Queen Latifah, Drew Barrymore and Rihanna as a cover girl for the drug store make-up brand. The image above is not one of the new ads for CoverGirl, it is a photo taken March 2007 for W. Though I would love for the ads to resemble this photo, it is not the CoverGirl style. I’m sure we can expect Ellen to be bright eyed, bushy tailed and with flawless skin in the new advertisements. 

Grey Group is responsible for the CoverGirl ads and they couldn’t have picked a better celebrity to be the next cover girl. Ellen’s television show is very entertaining and successful and yet she still seems very humble. And, with her recent wedding to Portia de Rossi, it seems that Ellen will have a lot to smile about when posing for the new ads. Congratulations to Ellen!

“Sex and the City” Day Part II

This may be the fastest theater to DVD release ever! “Sex and the City” the movie is going to be released on September 23, 2008. Not even four months after it was released! Amazon.com has three versions available (Special Edition, Full Screen and Wide Screen) for pre-order. Consider my copy pre-ordered!