Thursday, July 21, 2011

Terrible Advertising

Here is a commercial that I was much better having not seen, thanks to my room mate for this.  Applebees put out this terrible commercial to promote its new during lunch time offer.  I am not sure what is so special that they brag about being able to deliver microwaved food in less than 15 minutes, but they have found the most annoying way to do it.  The song, while very annoying, does at least convey its message about the deal, but the visuals are terrible.  I would be adding Applebees to my list of places I do not frequent until this campaign goes away, but I long ago refused to eat at Applebees, so I have no consumer threat to bring to bare against them.


Look forward to next week for a large post on radio advertising, with a look as some local, (to Cleveland) national and internet radio advertisements. 

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

In the social sphere, you must be aware of what is going on.

With many people talking about the recent ruling in the Casey Anthony case, somehow the social sphere watcher at Entenmanns saw the slew of #notguilty on twitter, but did not understand what they were for. Jumping onto the #notguilty band wagon, Entenmanns asked "Who's #notguilty about eating all the tasty treats they want?!" which is not terrible, but caused a bit of a stir with those who were following them. 

Once the mistake was realized they deleted the tweet and issued an apology. I do not think that this will greatly effect the company, a small mark that will be forgotten, but it is a lesson to everyone about awareness.  The biggest question that this raises is how does a person tasked with running the social media for a company not keep track of not just what, but why people are talking about or using something.  If your job deals in social media, staying current is one of the most basic things that you have to do, and I think Entenmanns will be on top of this in the future.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Advertising failure

Day to day, everyone sees or hears a ton of advertising, and while much of it is inane, some is effective, every once in a while someone comes along that is just horrid. This Kia Ad is one of the worst things I have seen in a while. It makes me wonder, is there and oversight in their ad department. Perhaps Kia feels that they can compete against white windowless vans in the now highly competitive "pedophile" market segment. As part of the promotion, Kia throws in a $100 Sam's Club gift card for the purchase of candy (thereby making it free candy).

I understand that companies want new ways to reach people, to find ways to make an ad come to the top or all the things a person sees or hears in a day, I am just not sure that any brand wants to become a synonymous with having to inform your neighbors in accordance with Meagan's Law.