Adidas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9EiHz3XzpM
Ever since Michael Jordan came onto the scene with his "Jordan" shoes, basketball shoes have become a part of American culture.  Men of all different ages, especially teenagers, all want to get a pair of the favorite player's shoes.

Often these commercials give the allure that if people buy the shoes, they too will be able to play like a basketball star.  However, with their new commercial Adidas also makes this assertion, but they do so in a different way.  In this commercial Adidas uses humor and ridiculous antics to attract the consumer.

This consumer features "Slim Chin," who is the same actor who was in "The Hangover."  Slim Chin is wearing a gold jumpsuit in the commercial.  He also does all types of ridiculous antics like riding a golden jet ski in a pool of caviar.

The commercial portrays Slim Chin to be extremely wealthy.  Slim Chin claims to have all these things because he is fast like Derrick Rose.  This then shows the new Adidas Derrick Rose signature shoe, and makes the claim that the shoe will make people fast like Derrick Rose.

This commercial is very entertaining.  Though it does not make sense it is ridiculous and will capture viewer's attention.  The target is younger males in the teenage age bracket.  I think Adidas did a good job by having Ken Jeong, the actor from The Hangover, play Slim Chin because The Hangover appeals to a similar target.

Though the commercial is entertaining I do not think it is effective.  With all the ridiculous stuff that happens, the Derrick Rose shoe almost goes unnoticed and is overshadowed by all the antics in the commercial.  Overall, though the ad is entertaining it is not effective in advertising the product.

Domino's pizza

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dominos+focus+group&aq=f
When it comes to ordering out pizza, people have many different options.  Whether it be a local pizza place, or a well known chain like Pizza Hut or Papa John's, the possibilities are infinite.  However, recently Domino's Pizza found that there sales were down, and in research they found that people thought the quality of their pizza was horrible.

Instead of hiding these criticisms, in their latest string of advertisements Domino's has dealt with these criticisms head on and are telling consumers that they have essentially started from scratch and improved the product.

Their latest commercial shows a focus group of people who are all doubting the authenticity of the cheese Domino's uses.  All of a sudden, the walls in the building open up to show that the focus group is sitting on a dairy farm where Domino's gets it 100 percent milk to use for their cheese.  This commercial once again shows Domino's as being honest with consumers.

These string of up-front and honest ads from Domino's are great ads.  What I like most about these ads is that it is almost 360 branding.  Instead of just advertising, these commercials show how the company has changed inside out to better meet the needs of consumers, after doing research and finding what consumers think.

Also, another thing Domino's has done in these ads is show that they are a dynamic company.  Often when people think of big companies, they think of large corporations that are static, out of touch with the consumer, and they do not even care what the consumer thinks.  However, Domino's has shattered that stereotype and shown that what the consumer thinks is of utmost importance to the them.

I believe these ads are incredibly persuasive.  I have hated Domino's pizza for a long time, but after seeing these commercials I now plan on trying Domino's.  These ads target people who have previously tried Domino's but did not like it, and I think these ads resonate with that target.

Though these ads are excellent, at the end of the day the product must reflect the ads and be of better quality, otherwise Domino's will still find itself with unhappy customers who feel taken advantage of by Domino's.

Mayhem is coming

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFhM945dXok
For years Allstate had straight forward commercials.  They would talk about the insurance rates, and Allstate's benefits programs for safe drivers.  They were informative, but not very entertaining.  However, all that has changed.

Recently Allstate has changed their commercials dramatically.  No longer are they informational, but instead they entertain.  Recently Allstate has launched commercials featuring a man who is referred to as "Mayhem."  In these commercials Mayhem is doing many different things that all end with the same result: crashing or damaging a car.  In the specific commercial I watched, Mayhem was a satellite dish that fell off the roof and landed on a car.

The message in these commercials is simple, accidents happen all the time and you need to be covered by Allstate to avoid paying for these accidents yourself.  These commercials are entertaining and funny.  Yet what I find interesting is that with these new "Mayhem" commercials Allstate has shifted their target demographic.

It seems that with their new commercials Allstate is targeting a younger demographic, probably around 18-24 year olds.  This shift in demographic reflects the fact that Allstate's commercials are no longer informational, but instead humorous.

I find the shift in demographic to be an interesting strategy.  Allstate is taking a chance by targeting younger people who are not yet ready to buy insurance, but by targeting them now Allstate hopes that when they are ready to buy insurance they buy Allstate.

I find this to be a very good commercial.  The use of humor helps Allstate stick out in the mind of the consumer, against other insurance ads which tend to be more mundane.  Overall, I think Allstate's sales will go up as a result of this new ad campaign.

Stride Mega Mystery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzLkRr2g3aAGum.  It seems to be a straightforward rather boring product.  Because of this, many would think that commercials for the gum industry would be rather mundane and boring.  However, this has been quite the opposite.  Many commercials for gum companies have been outrageous and ridiculous in an attempt to attract consumer.

The gum company Stride just launched a new commercial for their Mega Mystery gum, and the commercial holds true to the ridiculous gum commercials.  The commercial features a guy on his Webcam, he is talking to the computer about how he figured out what flavor the Stride mystery flavor is.  At that moment, men riding ostriches break down the walls into the room and start harassing and attacking the man.  Then the message comes on the screen: "Don't reveal the secret flavor of new Stride Mega Mystery.  Or we'll find you."

This commercial is ridiculous to say the least.  I believe it is appealing to teenage audiences with the use of humor and the overall ridiculousness of the ostriches.  I like this commercial because it makes an impact and seeing the men ride down on the ostriches captures the viewer's attention.

Yet another reason why this commercial is successful is it perks the viewer's interest in the product.  After seeing this commercial most people wonder what the Mega Mystery gum tastes like and what the flavor is.  This commercial gives attention to the product.

Also it makes the product assume more interesting than it is.  I have tried the gum before and I did not find to be anything special it tasted fruity but I could not determine what the exact flavor was.  That being said, though the product may not be anything out of the ordinary, this commercial gives a lot of attention to product and makes it appear to be a special product.

All of these reasons show why this is a good commercial and generates interest in the product, and Stride uses humor to resonate with their target.

Forever Young

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdafSHne5wM
Songs are often a major component to commercials.  The tempo of the song can often set the mood for the commercial.  Not only tha,t but sometimes songs in commercials can serve to bridge generations.  No commercial has done this better than the "Forever Young" Pepsi commercial.

In this commercial, the Bob Dylan song "Forever Young" is played.  The commercial shows Bob Dylan and scenes that were common in the 60's and 70's.  Then the rapper Will.i.am. comes in and adds his own remix to the song.  When his voice comes into this commercial, images from the 60s and 70s are shown next to images from the present day.  At the end of the ad Pepsi is shown being consumed in both the old era and in present day.

Overall, I think this is an extremely effective commercial.  The reason why I believe this is an extremely effective commercial is because it appeals to a wide variety of demographics.  For instance, young teenagers are fans of Will.i.am., whereas older people are Bob Dylan fans.  By blending these two genres together, Pepsi is appealing to a wide demographic of people.

Yet another reason I like this commercial is the message it sends.  By showing all the different generations and years, and then showing Pepsi the commercial shows that Pepsi stands the test time of and is a constant in American culture.

However, though I like all those aspects, I believe this is an effective commercial mostly because it created a pop-culture phenomenon.  Before that commercial aired, no one had ever that version of "Forever Young" featuring Will.i.am.  Because of this, the song generated interest in the commercial because no one had ever heard of it before, and thus took notice of the commercial.

Overall I believe this was an extremely effective commercial and appealed to a wide range of people.

Sierra Mist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQZ0Cf2Qx98
For years diet soda was the craze in the pop industry.  Recently however, the American population has become fixated on consuming things that they view as natural.  The increasing sales of organic food prove this to be true.

Thinking along the same line, Sierra Mist has come out with their new pop "Sierra Mist Natural."  The commercial that Sierra Mist came out with promoting this product reiterates the natural theme.  It shows two boulders in a grassy area of nature.

Both these boulders can talk and one is having a bad dream about if he had a mouth.  The commercial then cuts to Sierra Mist Natural in nature and how it has real sugar and nothing artificial.  Then the tagline comes up that Sierra Mist Natural is "The soda nature would drink if nature drank soda."

Though the commercial is dumb, it is effective.  I believe that because of the low-brow humor the commercial was directed at children.  I believe that naming the product Sierra Mist Natural is also very smart.

For instance, kids who go to the grocery store  typically always go with a parent.  So since the commercial appeals to kids, if a kid was to grab the pop and give it to their parent, the parent would examine it.  Since the label reads Sierra Natural Mist the parent might be more inclined to purchase it for their child because they believe that is healthier than most sodas.

In actuality however there is nothing really special about Sierra Mist Natural.  Though it does not contain anything artificial, it does have sugar which is not good for people.  But by calling their product natural, people associate good and healthy things as natural, and thus making them more likely to buy the product.

It seems that this was a good ad from Sierra Mist and the product Sierra Mist Natural allows Sierra Mist to appear different from its competition.  In the end I believe this ad will increase Sierra Mist's sales.

Find your own beach

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-6V2ap7Vdk
For years Corona has been a beer that has been associated with a warm tropical location.  Their commercials were some of the most identifiable, always showing people relaxing on the beach with a Corona in hand.

But now it seems Corona is trying to change their image.  In their new commercial Corona shows people in all different types of places drinking Corona and looking out into the landscape.  The commercial shows all different types of settings like cities, valleys, and even snow-covered ground near mountains.  All of these settings have one thing in common, the people are drinking Corona.

From there the commercial goes to the familiar setting of two people sitting at the beach drinking their Coronas.  The tagline then comes up on the screen reading "Find your beach."  Though some may think Corona is making a mistake by straying away from their traditional ad campaign, I believe that this new commercial is a smart move by Corona.

From this commercial it seems that Corona is targeting current customers and attempting to make them more loyal to the brand.  Many people view Corona as a summer drink, and as a result only drink it during the summer or when they are in a warm climate.

However, with this new commercial Corona is trying to show consumers that Corona is not exclusively a summer drink.  This commercial shows that Corona is a great drink for any environment, and ultimately brings relaxation.  Though for years Corona has been identified with the beach, this new commercial breaks away from that idea but also preserves some of it by still having the beach scene in the end.

Overall, it seems that this new commercial has the potential to increase consumption of Corona during colder times of the year.  By showing people drinking Corona in all different types of seasons, Corona is showing customers that they are more than just a summer drink, but at the same time they are still not straying too far away from their recognizable brand image.

VW Dream Team

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--JsK88xUtk
For years, I have always hated and despised one type of commercial:  car commercials.  Though I often like commercials I could make no exception for car commercials.

They always just seemed to be so boring and all similar.  No matter what almost all car commercials would just show the car performing on the road or in a studio, and they would always have multiple camera angles just showing off the sleek design of the car.

There was no story to car commercials and no human aspect...well until now that is.  Recently Volkswagen has redefined and challenged the stereotypical car commercial.  In their new commercial Volkswagen highlights the people who work to develop the car.

The commercial is very aesthetically pleasing.  It takes us through the Volkswagen company, where workers are trying to engineer the new Jetta.  The commercial shows the workers frustration and how hard they are working to come up with a new car.  An uplifting song is playing as the commercial is playing which also helps to grab the viewer's attention.

The commercial goes on to show the workers testing the car and frantically taking down notes to make sure the car is of the best quality.  Finally, the car is unveiled as the "Dream Team" looks on at their proud accomplishment.  To their dismay it is announced that car will be a sold for a measly $15,995.

As soon as the workers see this they begin to cry and freak out, because they cannot believe that for all their hard work the car is only worth $15,995.  Then the tagline comes up saying "The all new Jetta.  Great.  For the price of Good."

Overall, I think this an extremely effective commercial.  For one, it captivates the viewer and gives them a sense of who Volkswagen is as a company and how hard their workers work to give consumers great quality.  Secondly I believe that this commercial will persuade people to buy the new Jetta.

It seems that with this commercial Volkswagen may be targeting people who have in the past bought more expensive and higher-end cars than Volkswagen.  However, with the current economic recession Volkswagen is aware that people are looking to cut-back on their purchases, thus opening a new market for Volkswagen.

With this commercial, Volkswagen is not only appealing to this new market, but also showing them that just because Volkswagen may be relatively inexpensive, they are still of high quality and that possible consumers are not sacrificing anything by switching to Volkswagen.

Overall, this is a highly effective commercial and it could end up changing car commercials.  Again not only is this commercial entertaining and funny, but it has the potential to persuade people to switch to Volkswagen.

Ally Bank

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWnX8i9--UQ

In today's society people love all types of things.  Whether it is sport teams, celebrities, food, family or even money.  People love various things, but almost no one loves their bank.  Yet in their new commercial Ally plays off this idea and says that people will love their bank if their bank is Ally.

In the commercial, a person is having a job interview.  As the interviewer is asking questions to the interviewee, the interviewee is explaining things about himself such as his likes and dislikes.  As he goes on he says that he loves his bank "2-Year Raise Your Rate CD."  The interviewer is in shock and says other things that rhyme with the phrase of 2-year raise your rate CD because he simply cannot believe that someone would love their bank.

From there, the commercial goes to narration.  They explain that if people switch to Ally they will love their bank and love their 2-year raise your rate CD policy.  It becomes clear from this part of the ad that the commercial is specifically promoting the new 2-year raise your rate CD.

This ad is funny and it catches people attention.  It uses humor effectively and also from the beginning of the commercial it is not clear what the ad is promoting.  Because of this, it effectively captivates the viewer and has them wondering what company the commercial is for.

Also I like that the ad is not only promoting the bank, but more specifically the 2-year raise your rate CD policy.  That being said, the commercial does a very poor of explaining what the policy is or what it does.  All it does is give a very brief explanation that is not very informative.

If Ally wants to persuade people to switch their bank to Ally, they need to give more information as to why the new policy is important and beneficial for customers.  Though the commercial is funny, because Ally did not do a good job of explaining the new policy they are promoting, the commercial is relatively ineffective at getting people to switch to Ally.

Miller Lite

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykvLiVqp8wc

When it comes to trying to exclusively target men, no one can beat beer commercials.  They do it better than almost any type of product, and almost all of their commercials appeal to men whether it be through humor or sex appeal.

Recently Miller Lite launched a new commercial for their vortex bottles.  The commercial features a guy in a bar.  When he asks for a beer the bartender asks if he wants a vortex bottle.  He then questions why he would want a vortex bottle, and then it is revealed he is wearing sunglasses inside and his "manliness" is questioned and made fun of.

This commercial is funny but it is also effective.  For one, it is sending the message that people who want to be manly should drink Miller Lite.  But also it does something else.  It promotes the vortex bottle and gets people to think about the bottle and to ultimately consider purchasing it.  For this I give Miller Lite credit, because the product itself is pretty unremarkable.

The vortex bottle is essentially just a bottle with grooves.  Though Miller Lite makes the claim that the vortex bottle improves the beer and makes it taste better and more smooth, it is really just a marketing ploy and does not enhance the beer at all.  Yet the commercial is giving attention to the vortex bottle and making it seem innovative.

Though this commercial may not make someone go out and buy the vortex bottles, it does cause them to take notice of this product.  This means that when consumers are at their local liquor store and they happen to be looking for what beer to buy, they might see the vortex bottles and think back to the commercial.  As a result, these viewers may give the vortex bottles a try.

Overall, this seems to be an effective commercial and Miller Lite does a good job of bringing attention to an average product like the vortex bottle.

Facing Uncertainty

http://www.adweek.com/aw/creative/ad-of-the-day/article_display.jsp?creativeId=274250

With the economic recession, fear about what people should do with their money is at an all-time high.  People are weary of who to trust.  Examples such as Bernie Madoff have proved that even some of the most reputable people cannot be trusted.

The financial group Barclays has played off this fear with their latest commercial.  In the commercial Barclays addresses the idea of uncertainty.  It does this by showing a number of amusing events such as someone walking into an elevator only to find that it is an empty elevator shaft, and someone walking on the sidewalk only to sink into undried cement.

The theme of the commercial is that much of whats ahead of people remains unknown and uncertain, but Barclays is a company with a well-known track record and has been around for 300 years, thus it can be trusted.

The commercial is very entertaining and captivating.  I am impressed by the fact that the commercial is able to take a boring topic such as financial advising into an action-packed and interesting commercial.  However, I do think more could have been done with the commercial.

For instance, only the last four of five seconds commercial mention Barclays or gives any information on the company.  And the information that it does give is rather limited.  If the goal of the commercial is to get people persuaded to make Barclays their financial adviser, the commercial should have given viewers  more information on the company.

Though the commercial is entertaining, it will not persuade many people to invest their money with Barclays because it gives limited information on the company.  In the end, Barclays chose to have an entertaining commercial instead of one that is informative.  And although it may have been entertaining, in the end I do not think it will give them the results they were looking for.

Old Spice, New Ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRAHa_Po0Kg
For years Axe ruled the deodorant and body wash commercials targeted at young men.  However, recently there has been another brand of deodorant who has their own string of ridiculous commercials to target young male consumers.  Step aside Axe, because Old Spice has now beaten you at your own game.

For the past two years or so, Old Spice has launched ridiculous ads targeted at male teenagers.  Recently Old Spice launched a new commercial with football player Ray Lewis.  The ad is even outrageous by Old Spice's standards.

The ad features Ray Lewis full of bubbles.  As he comes out the shower he begins talking about Old Spice and holds up the body wash.  However as he continues to talk, it becomes clear that outside his window their is a giant raven(ironic because Lewis plays for the Baltimore Ravens).

As the ad continues Lewis throws a saddle onto the giant raven.  He then jumps onto the Raven and flies it into outer space, all while he is covered in bubbles.  The commercial makes no sense and is for lack of a better term, dumb.

But that being said, it nailed its target audience.  This commercial, like all Old Spice commercials is memorable.  And guys will definitely find it funny.  For instance as I was watching the commercial my roommate came up to me and asked me to play it again and began to crack up.

Old Spice also made a very smart move in having Ray Lewis promote the product.  Lewis is known for his tough guy exterior, and is one of the most identifiable football players.  Male viewers will immediately recognize Lewis and his persona matches the persona Old Spice tries to convey.

Overall, this Old Spice commercial will connect with male audiences.  It will stick out in their minds and eventually lead them to remember Old Spice when passing body washes and deodorant at their local convenience store.

"That's logistics"

        

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRAHa_Po0Kg

For years UPS’ “What can Brown do for you?” was one of the most identifiable slogans.  However, UPS has decided its time for a change and now has a new slogan. 

 Their new tagline is “That’s logistics”.  The slogan itself does not exactly roll off the tongue.  To combat this and try to make the slogan more catchy their commercials feature the tagline being sung to the tune of “That’s amore”.

Somehow throughout the commercial the saying “That’s logistics” becomes catchy.  In the commercial they show UPS packages traveling throughout the globe as the song plays.  The commercial itself is interesting and fun to watch.  It captivates the viewer and keeps them interested.

 Not only that but UPS did a very smart thing in the commercial.  First off the message of the commercial is something that resonates with viewers.  The commercial is telling potential customers that UPS is always figuring out logistics with packages and therefore can be relied upon.

This is then giving audiences a very positive image of UPS.  Also, many people are fond of the song “That’s Amore” and find it to be very nostalgic.  By using this song in their commercials UPS is making itself more memorable in people’s mind.

Though these commercials are good, they may not necessarily be persuasive enough to get someone who was not already a UPS customer to use UPS.  However, at the very least UPS made these commercials memorable, and they will stick out in viewers’ minds.

Diet Mountain Dew

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf8zmzp2rKo

Recently, I came across a commercial for Diet Mountain Dew.  I figured the ad would be ridiculous because most Mountain Dew commercials tend to be crazy; however, I was still not prepared for what I saw.

The commercial starts off with two guys sitting in their office drinking Diet Mountain Dew.  They begin to talk about how unexpected the flavor is and how good it is.  Within seconds they begin to say that in the few moments they have been drinking it they both have gotten a bald eagle tattoo, and rip off their shirts exposing their tattoos.

As if this situation was not ridiculous enough, a woman walks into the room takes of the sip out the diet drink and makes a loud eagle noise which breaks all the glass in the office.  To say that this commercial is unbelievably ludicrous, is an understatement.

However, at the same time it was a smart commercial on Mountain's Dew part.  In today's society people are becoming more and more health conscious.  As a result of this trend, Mountain Dew is probably trying to promote its diet version so that way that will not lose any customers and may even gain some new ones in the process.

Yet, by promoting their diet drink Mountain Dew still has some problems.  For instance, the majority of people who drink Mountain Dew probably are men.  Though men may be health conscious, they are also weary to drink diet drinks, because they feel that it is not manly.  This idea has been exemplified by coke creating Coke Zero as an attempt to have a no calorie drink that appeals to men.

Keeping this in mind, though the Diet Mountain Dew commercial is ridiculous it is trying to show that Diet Mountain Dew still packs a punch and is a manly drink.  Overall, though the commercial may be considered dumb, I believe it is an effective ad.

Discovering Peggy

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/creative/new-campaigns/e3i4a25a9f106904fc1a83b09f1d61936e8

We've all been there.  As soon as something goes wrong with your credit card or you wish to change your account, you're on the phone with the credit card company for what seems like an eternity.  With their new ads Discover tries to make light of situations like these.

In their ads they depict customers from a different credit card company all trying to have a conversation over the phone with "Peggy."  It just so happens that Peggy is a big bearded man with a thick accent whose office is in the middle of nowhere.  Peggy is not able to answer anyone's question competently and frustrates the customer in every commercial.

Unlike their previous ad campaigns, with the "Peggy" commercials Discover tries to implement humor into the ads to resonate with customers.  The purpose of the ad is to show how mediocre customer service is at other credit cards company; whereas Discover offers great customer service.

The ad itself is genuinely funny and it is a concept that most viewers will be able to relate to.  However  not all demographics may find the ad funny.  It seems that most people who would find this commercial funny would be in 18 to 35 demographic.  Yet, older audiences may not find this ad particularly funny because some of the humor with Peggy tends to be more dead-pan and simple.

So although the ads may get some people to consider making Discover their credit card company, it seems that these ads won't necessarily get older customers to go out and leave their current credit card providers for Discover.