The Ad Norm

My favorite procrastination site (The Cool Hunter) recently started an advertising service portion of their company.  To pitch themselves they proclaim that "Extra-Ordinary is the new Ordinary."  

Well, yes, this is true.  I became interested in advertising after learning about guerilla ads - obscure, untraditional methods meant to interact with and interest the consumer.  

Now, after four years in college, guerilla/viral/interactive and outdoor ads are the norm.  The CoolHunter lets others know that they use "innovation." (like everyone else who wants to survive in this market)        

It's not that people have shorter attention spans.  It's just that they've been exposed to AWESOME stuff and they are not about to backtrack to 2x4 BW ads in the newspaper.  I like to be entertained, so does everyone else.  So, advertising is entering the awesome-era.  Prepare to be entertained... its supply and demand.  We demand to be entertained, ad geniuses will supply.

Fashion Night Out 2009

A friend of mine was wearing this shirt the other day.  It is to promote this years FASHION NIGHT OUT in NYC.  On Sept. 10th, NYC stores will be open until 11PM to promote shopping.

There are over 100,000 employees in the fashion industry in NYC and they are calling YOU to bring FUN back to fashion by joining in this experience. 

 Check out the PSA:

After seeing that, what do you think about the event?  I personally am ALL for the shameless celeb-spotting, the free music and possible snacks.  I am also 100% for the clothing drive and the the T-shirt fundraiser for 9/11.  BUT,  I get the feeling that this glitz and glam is an effort to beg others to shop at their own expense to benefit the also recession troubled fashion industry.  I'm sorry P-Diddy and SJP, did your multi-million dollar paycheck come up a bit short?  The rest of us are struggling too.  I really do feel for the low-end retail workers depending on their jobs/pay BUT I do not feel bad for over-priced designers and boutiques.  

I am on the fence about this Black Tuesday minus the discounts.  We will let the people of NYC decide if they will embrace the "fun" being put back into shopping or let the fashion industry suffer alongside every other one.        

NYC Style

I wish I could show you all the mental pics I took today BUT I can't so here's this real one instead:

Rock On NYC

What Were They Thinking?

I would blame some recent advertising blunders on the recession (people not thinking clearly with lack of job security) BUT the most recent What were they thinking? comes from BRAZIL with WWF and DDB.

Check out this print ad created for WWF by DDB Brazil:

The copy reads: ""The tsunami killed 100 times more people than 9/11. The planet is brutally powerful. Respect it. Preserve it."

Really guys?  Are we going to compare disasters to make one more important?  Can't we help one group of people without belittling another?  I mean, attacking 9/11 loses many possible contributors... the tsunami may have hurt more lives, but that doesn't mean you can create such a tasteless image of another event and stir up memories for those still in pain? And really, are those people going to contribute to WWF now; I wouldn't.

Luckily, this ad that has recently surfaced was created by a creative team that DDB said in a statement on Wednesday that was "unexperienced" and "no longer with the agency."  They also mentioned that the ad  reflects the feelings of the organization or the agency.  Yeah, I wouldn't want the negative credit either.  I don't know how I feel about this modern world where a public statement can get you out of trouble... Bill Clinton anyone?  Australia?  

WWF claims their logo was used in an ad that no branch of their organization ever approved... guerilla ad art perhaps?  Let's hope and just be mad at the artists... they are used to outcastedness.  

DDB Brazil says that although they apologize for the ad, it was approved by WWF Brazil and did run.  It even won a merit award in the One Show.  There is an extremely more disturbing video version of the ad that comes a little too close to home that neither take responsibility for.   

Yes, the ad has legs, is buzzworthy - still talked about over a year later, and is impacting.  However, it is far too self-defacing to another tragedy and takes advantage of it.  The Tsunami was horrific and the WWF is a fantastic organization BUT the two should have never been linked in the effort to promote one or the other.  

I am a firm believer in creating an ad based on an innate human truth.  When a product/service is sold to a person because there is a place it fits in their life - rather than with fancy words or features, they need the brand and desire it. It rescues them from their lacking feeling in life.  This ad does nothing of the sort - it belittles in an effort to scare.  I don't know anyone who desires being humiliated and afraid.  

Good luck sorting this one out guys...    

*** UPDATE: BBD admits to creating the video version also and submitting it to Cannes.  Some speculate the ads are more award driven than produced in the client's best interest.  

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

Ok, I'm ircked.  I am a well-qualified ADVERTISING CREATIVE STRATEGIST (seriously, check me out!)  and cannot seem to get a job as easily as many predicted pre-recession.  Now, my overachiever spirit is getting me places only slowly but surely. 

Yet, with all of those well-seasoned ad people unfortunately laid off and all of us budding ad enthusiasts trying to break into the market, THIS GUY still has his job:

Meet Nike Advertising Executive Paul Dewitt.  Seriously, we aren't talking small time here... this is the JUST DO IT man.  He has a hand in what this brand giant tells the world.

He must be BRILLIANT right?  WRONG!  Maybe he used to be in his prime, but in a time when your job should be gold right now, this man is throwing it at the wind and winging it with a brand people would kill to be associated with.  

The Onion Sports Network informed the world of his pitch this week in this article.  The product: Nike.  The spokesperson: Usain Bolt (appropriate last name).  Product Benefit: goes fast.  Here are my favorite highlights - why I'm ircked that he has a job and I don't.

• "I don't know, maybe in one [commercial] he's running away from a car or a train, or toward a car or a train," Dewitt said to members of Nike's executive board, including company president Mark Parker. "If it's a train it should probably be one of those silver, pointy-looking ones that look like they go super fast."
• Dewitt spent an estimated five minutes listing more than 200 living and nonliving things that Usain Bolt could run up, down, toward, against, or around "in one of those fast circles that are made of smoke," including bullets, airplanes, camera flashes, Internet search engines, really fast dogs, really fast cats, even faster dogs, other runners, the earth, the solar system, a comet, and the universe.
• "What if he runs against a cheetah or a jaguar or maybe, like, a gazelle?" Dewitt said while standing in front of a PowerPoint slide labeled "Animals."
• "He could eat his lunch really fast or do his laundry fast? That could be two separate commercials." - oh yeah, great idea... way to come up with a whole CAMPAIGN!     
• "Maybe at the end of all these commercials, a Nike logo appears and it thumps like a heart to convey intensity," Dewitt said. "So, okay, I'm done now. Any questions?"

So basically this is what I got out of that presentation:  Someone has been reading too many gossip magazines, going home early and must have been nursing a hangover or still in a state that may bring on a hangover soon.  

Nike should open the position to entry level people and allow some of the eager advertisers out there to help them shine.  I mean come on... anyone can figure out that 'Bolt' can be used to show he is FAST.  My head actually hurts having to regurgitate this stupidity to you.           

      

A More Personal Note

It's been a while since my blog served as a portal for my random thoughts to escape from.  So please, bear with me and possibly enjoy...

I am moving from Boston to NYC on Sunday/Monday.  (Watch out, there's a new G.G. in town)

That means there is a lot of loose ends to tie up, packing to be done, hair cuts to be had and nails to be done while I still have my go-to places on tap, favorite foods to be consumed and a whole lot of planning to be done.  (Did you know you have to turn off utilities and turn them on somewhere else?  - oh the things you DON'T learn in a dorm and under you parents' roof - That you have to PLAN AHEAD in a place that you only know from one day trips and movies?!)  Oh and while accomplishing all of this, I also need to work my 13 hour days of multi-family nannying!  

So someone as super organized as I am should be checking off items like a whiz off of a color-coordinated list, right? WRONG.  The list definitely exists, yet it's sitting on the counter.  Instead I am distracting myself left and right with all that the internet has to offer, while simultaneously watching my entire 85% full DVR of WHAT NOT TO WEAR (that's accomplishing something, right?)  Should I feel guilty for learning?  I'm going with NO.  The boxes can pack themselves :)

Here are some of my finds:

• FREE THINGS TO DO IN NYC by Timeout Mag.  I am definitely looking forward to FREE yoga and bootcamp workout classes at Union Square Park compliments of YMCA.
• Mr. Tweet.  This Guy started following me on Twitter and Direct Messaged me letting me know he had suggestions of people I should follow.  I found some great friends and exciting ad industry companies that I had never thought/known to search for!
• SHOCKING pictures of Sharon Stone linked from Cool Hunter.  All in the name of FASHION I suppose.  (Speaking of which, FASHION WEEK in NYC Sept. 10-15 - Search Craigslist Events for working opps to get you in/near the godly white tents.)  
  

Oh and to top it off, I'm also designing a credit card for California Association of Realtors and freelancing for a Ski/Snowboard Travel Company creating a logo, sticker, website and more!  (More to come when the finals are approved!)  Who needs sleep when God made coffee?!

Don't worry, I assure you there has been MUCH more distraction online - many blogs and Tastespotting hours - all in the name of social media and my anthropological cravings to explore the thoughts of others.  However, the guilt of Catholic High School is setting in and I must do something useful.  

(If you know something else pretty cool that doesn't involve tape and newspaper... let me know!)  xx

  

  

Socialnomics

Advertising concept of the day: SOCIALNOMICS.

Socialnomics is, according to Eric Qualman, how social media transforms the way we live and do business.  More specifically, he qualifies it as "The ability of social media to generate exponential returns for individuals and businesses. A subset of this is that in the future we will no longer search for products and services, rather they will find us via social media." Check out his insightful blog here.  

Social media is the way of the future because we have made it that way.  Facebook alone is big enough to be the 4th largest country on planet Earth.  People are fascinated by people and crave integration in an extremely segmented society.  I'd beg to differ that we are a true melting pot, but instead a bowl of many haphazard ingredients.  The internet is what is bringing people together, and faster than a central radio or television set was ever able to.  So thanks Al Gore for inventing the internet. cough cough.

Check out this telling video about social media - the path people and advertisers alike are joyfully exploring and embracing: