Superbowl Ads

Newcastle won.  The End.

www.ifwemadeit.com

Random Musings

So I was trying to download something, and before it would let me, it had me enter a CAPTCHA...for all of you that live under a ball of silly putty (a rock sounds too harsh, and you can choose the color of silly putty :)), according to wikipedia,

A CAPTCHA (pron.: /ˈkæp.tʃə/) is a type of challenge-response test used in computing as an attempt to ensure that the response is generated by a human being. 

 And to my surprise, Discover was advertising on the CAPTCHA page.  Brilliant!  You need to enter their slogan to be able to download.

Though I admit, I kinda like ads...no, that's a lie...I'm an advertising obsessee (if that isn't a word, it is now)...so obviously I would notice this, but still, in the subconscious, a user has now seen the Discover ad, and participated in the message by typing it.

Once again, I say brilliant...note to self, who is Discover's agency and/or media planning company

A while ago I saw a really good, interactive ad.  Though, if they weren't tracking what people chose during the ad, then the ad was completely useless...(trust me, though tracking may seem obvious, it isn't always executed)

So I clicked and got this...

And then you could drag in what you felt made up your Chateau.


That's all for now :)

Good ads, okay ads, and bad ads

About this blog: The previous posts were blog entries I made for a fashion class. The assignment was to maintain a blog about something fashion related...I convinced my partner that we needed to post about ads...and they should probably be fashion related to fulfill the requirements.

Future of this blog: I have graduated college and now work at a Digital Publisher. I see tons of ads every day. While these are banner ads instead of print ads, I still look at them and pick my favorite. We get some really good ads, some okay ads, and some really bad ads. For the bad ads, my co-worker used to say that the advertiser had their 12 year old son create the ad. In college, a speaker came to one of my classes, among many words of advice, he said every ad should be tested with the face test. If it hurts your face to look at it, send it back.  


Tips to creating an ad that I feel fails the face test, and I have seen on banners

• Comic Sans - Don't expect me to take your ad seriously if it is written in Comic Sans and is not for a child related product.
• Random off-center line of text - it's pretty easy to center text if everything else is centered. For that matter, how did someone approve this ad?
• Put a picture of everything you sell on your GIF animated banner. Then in the last frame, list every way a person can contact you so there isn't a need to click on the ad to go to the site
• Spell your company name wrong - especially when you spell it correctly in the site URL  

And those are just a few of the things I've seen.  But this blog isn't about the bad ads that I see. This blog is about ads that I like. Ads that stay with me to the next day, to the next year. The ads that have made me buy something, and continue to buy it. The ads with a story. The name of the blog: Advertising Anonymous. I love to discuss ads, what I like and don't like, comparing the ads when the agency has changed. I was talking to my coworker about my love of ads, he didn't realize how much until I mentioned that I have a 3 inch binder full of my favorite ads through the years, all in plastic protectors. There should probably be a meeting for this...Hello my name is Sara and I'm addicted to ads. For this blog I will post different ads that I come across that made me stop and think, interact with the ad, or a great branding strategy that can't be ignored.

Holiday Ads

Since tomorrow is December 1st, I guess it is time to be getting into the holiday spirit.  Every year I look forward to The Gap's holiday ads.  They always make me feel warm and fuzzy.  And most recently added to the looked forward to ads are H&M. 

All I can say is, what happened?  In 2009 they changed ad agencies for their holiday campaign to Crispin Porter + Bogusky, and then in February of this year they changed to Ogilvy.  I don't like this most recent change.  Are they just advertising for kids?  While the ad is cute, the little girl recently did a cover of Lady Gaga's Born This Way song which was amazing, but what about adults?  Also, though they say print is dieing, why have they not published their print campaign? Last year in early November, their Holiday Campaign was released.

There is a small? community of advertising and fashion lovers like myself who scan ads or just view ads on forums.  These are national or international campaigns.  You can always expect a "leak" of some sort for big campaigns.  On thefashionspot.com, there is a section for ad campaigns which has 2,774 threads and 165,353 posts (as of 6:08 on Nov 30).  On October 7th, they started a post for people to list who would be in each fashion campaign for Spring Summer 2012, and who the photographers were.  So, when I went searching for The Gap holiday ads, I was greatly disturbed when there wasn't a thread for it.

Then, when I went on bwgreyscale, a more condensed site of ad scans categorized by magazines they are featured in, I was very surprised when they didn't have any ads from The Gap.  So in a lead up to the current holiday campaign, we will look at my favorite Gap ads of previous years:

Last year, by early November, the ads were out, they focused on what celebrities, famed fashion blogger Susie Bubble, models, and business people wanted.  I thought the campaign was photographed perfectly, with the right models, and the right message.

The text for all the ads (courtesy of http://thewondergirl.com/2010/11/)

“If you could give anything in the world what would it be?”

True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten supports City of Hope    “all hugs, no worries”

Social Media whiz Alisa Leonard supports Goods for Good     “One zillion laptops and one epic hat”

Model and co-founder of FEED Projects, Lauren Bush, supports FEED Projects    “a seat for every kid at the table”

Style blogger Susie Bubble (Style Bubble) supports Shelter England     “Play down the crazy, dial up the cozy”

Comedian, writer and star of NBC’s Community, Donald Glover supports Community Connections   “less naughty, more nice”

Actress and Activist Isabel Lucas  supports Sea Shepherd  “Sequins in the city and more fish in the sea”

The Dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied supports Baryshnikov Arts Center    “To get the whole world moving together” 

Foursquare founders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai support Camp interactive   ”for kids to know where they’re headed but remember where they’ve been”

Broadway’s “Spider-Man,” Reeve Carney supports Partnership for the Homeless   “Sun in New York, snow in LA”

Actress Yaya DaCosta supports Women for Women international     “A little shine and a lot of faith”

Models Lily Aldridge and Boyd Holbrook   “For everyone to find the one”

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2009

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2008

The campaign included a wide variety of celebrities and models

jennifer Hudson, Rainn Wilson, Mila kunis, Ashanti, Jon Heder, Jason Budakis, fred armisen, seth meyers, will forte (from snl), Jason Bateman and his daughter francesca, milla jovovich and her daughter ever, Lily Donaldson and her brother Jesse, Mary Louise Parker, Nina and Chiara Clemente, Alice Braga, Erin Wasson, Anja and Sasha

(thanks to the fashionspot and fashionologie)

One of my favorite models: Lily Donaldson

Angela Lindvall

Frankie and Missy Rayder

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2007 ****LOVED****

Amanda Peet, Amy Adams, Amy Poehler, Angie Harmon, Caroline Trentini, Broadway, Frances Benioff, James Marsden, Jason Sehorn, John Krasinski, Will Arnett, Will.I.Am, Zoe Saldana

Caroline (model)

Amanda Peet and baby

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And now this year's....let me say that NONE of the images were posted on The Gap corporate site, as has been the case for many many many years.  Also, no one had scanned in the images....here is the commercial since apparently they want to focus on that.

For some reason I wasn't able to embed the link so here is the link http://youtu.be/XaH0mWj_NR8

and the images I was able to get from random sites

(This was in Lucky Magazine)...maybe a misprint?  They had a supplement magazine called Lucky Kids, which had Gucci kid advertisements, but no Gap kids.

And this ad I found on a site dedicated to the breed of dog.

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So that is The Gap.  If they have an adult campaign, if they went with the same schedule as the last at least 5 years, it should have been out in early November.  Maybe they hope the little girl Maria will bring people to the site since she has so many views on YouTube that probably weren't viewed by little kids.

Also in the past, aside from posting the images online, they used celebrities and models so fans of both would upload the images to different sites.

******

Other Holiday print ads

Tiffany Holiday 2011:

Beautiful as always.  After many marketing classes, I still get sucked into this image they portray.  It looks like a fairytale...I want it.

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Banana Republic Holiday 2011

Cute, expected, unoriginal, but I still like it.  They almost look like robots in the first picture, but maybe some people aspire to be robots (*sarcasm*).

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H&M Holiday 2011

I feel H&M ads have now replaced what The Gap ads once were.  They are using celebrities, models, and kids.

Love it.

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Lastly Zappos Holiday 2011 - with the downturn of the economy, it seems, especially in magazine ad pages, the less expensive brands are showing up more often.  Zappos is creative, yet no one had scanned in images except the illustrator for it.- Kendall Bradford

Then you open it up

And you see this.  All the clothes are stickers which you can peel off and put on the figure.

And this is once you take the stickers off.  It tells you the brand on the leftover white space, and on the back of the sticker is the SKU number.

I love it.

It reminds me of one of my favorite ads.  I used to love paper dolls, and I thought the ad was so cute.  I cut out the outfits and framed them, and kept a copy of the ad...

It came out in 2005.

This is my last blog entry.

- Sara Jacobson

Banned Ads of 2011

There are always ads being banned.  Some bans I feel have more merit than others.  So far this year, a few ads have been banned:

1.  Dakota Fanning for Marc Jacobs Oh Lola - Banned in the UK

Reason: “the length of her dress, her leg and position of the perfume bottle drew attention to her sexuality. Because of that, along with her appearance, we considered the ad could be seen to sexualize a child.” - UK Ad Standards Society

It also has been said the image is very reminiscent of Lolita.

My Opinion: First of all, I strongly dislike the photographer, Terry Richardson.  I feel all of his pictures look like they were taken in a sleezy hotel room that is about to shoot an old fashioned porno.  Otherwise, I don't have a problem with the dress, but the placement of the bottle is awkward.  Especially with the name of the perfume as "Oh, Lola!"  It seems as if they are questioning her position.

Verdict?  I think the ad could have continued running

2. Wodka Vodka Christmas Billboard - Taken down the day after it was put up because of complaints

Reason“reinforces anti-Semitic stereotypes.” - Anti Defamation League

   

My Opinion:  Wodka Vodka is known for making humorous ads.  In previous ads, they have had the saying "Escort Quality, Hooker Pricing" and "Hamptons Quality, Newark Pricing."  The placement of the ad is also in question.  They placed it near New York, which has a high Jewish population.

Verdict?:  While it is funny, I feel it is inappropriate and rude.  I'm glad it was taken down.

3. Hailee Steinfeld for Miu Miu - Banned by UK Advertising

Reason: “irresponsible because it depicted a child in an unsafe location.”  Prada responded to this comment with: she “could have easily moved from where she was sitting because she was not restrained in any way.”

My Opinion: Ridiculous.  I like the ad, though the dress isn't too cute.  She is 14 years old, she knows that if a train comes, she should move.  I've also heard that maybe it promotes suicide.  I don't think it either promotes or suggests this.

Verdict?: Dumb.  I don't see why they banned it.

4 and 5. Lancome and Maybelline banned in UK for excessive airbrushing

Reason:

“If advertisers go too far in using airbrushing and other post-production techniques to alter the appearance of models and it’s likely to mislead people, then that’s wrong and we’ll stop the ads,”

“Advertisers must be able to provide appropriate material to us to demonstrate what retouching they’ve done in the event we question them, and they mustn’t mislead,”

Lancome responded with:

“L’Oreal admitted post-production techniques had been used in its advert featuring Turlington to “lighten the skin, clean up make-up, reduce dark shadows and shading around the eyes, smooth the lips and darken the eyebrows”.

"The company, which provided the ASA with pictures of both women “on the red carpet” to show that they were naturally beautiful, admitted that digital post-production techniques had been used on Roberts but maintained that the changes were not “directly relevant” and that the ad was an “aspirational picture.”

My Opinion: While it is true there is deceptive advertising when it comes to makeup, I feel it is expected.  In reality, if Maybelline and Lancome changed all their ads to be photoshop free, no one would buy their product based on the ads because the competitor's ads would all look better.  Of the two ads, I feel the Christy Turlington ad to be much more deceptive, further proven by their statement.  If they point out that it hides crows feet, then I hope that it actually does.  If it says it hides dark circles, why did they have to edit that with photoshop?  It makes me wonder if she is actually even wearing the product.

Verdict?: I think the Lancome ad is fine.  Julia Roberts is gorgeous and this is the same image we see of her in all magazines.  Maybelline I feel is very deceptive, but not to the point of it being banned.

6. Nivea - Ad found to be racist, they promised never to print it again

Reason: Racist

My Opinion: I think this ad is very racist, especially in the unequal society in which we live.  Nivea should have known that the ad could be received poorly.  Before they approved it, especially with the caption "re civilize yourself," they should have noticed the racist connotations.  True, I am unsure as to who the ad agency behind it was, and thus they may be in a city where it isn't offensive.

Verdict?: I feel this ad was in poor taste.  They may not have done it purposely, but so many people have to approve an ad before it is printed, it is surprising no one questioned it.

Upon searching the internet for banned ads, it seems that the UK advertising review committee has been really busy lately.  Europe has always been more lax about nudity in their ads, but through these examples, it shows they are more concerned with the implied messages.  There are always sexually explicit ads which I find offensive, but they never receive the publicity that these banned campaigns have.

Some companies use shockvertising, purposely trying to cause buzz because of their controversial ads, but I feel these companies weren't purposely trying to offend people.

- Sara Jacobson

Colors

Colors.  More specifically, intensity of colors.

I've been collecting ads (both in print and digitally) for years.  My boyfriend asked me the other day what my favorite fashion ad of the season is.  I told him I thought they all kind of looked the same...nothing jumped out at me, nothing made me drop my magazine and search the internet for the entire campaign.  And then I realized, maybe I was seeing the same thing over and over again...

Tods FW 2011 by Mert and Marcus

Images from Gucci FW 2011 By Mert and Marcus

Images from Uterque FW 2011 by Hunter and Gatti

 

BCBG FW 11 by Camilla Akrans

While this coloration is Mert and Marcus' style, I would be very upset if I were Gucci or Tods because the ads look so similar.  Uterque is a seemingly unknown brand and photographed by virtually unknown photographers.  From looking at the photographers' model.com profile, it seems as if this style (very similar to the famed Mert and Marcus' style) is something they are trying out.  Camilla Akrans is well known photographer, which surprises me that she would do something so similar to something other photographers are doing.

And here we come to brand image and positioning.  I believe Tod's is trying to reposition itself in the marketplace by using different photographers and different themes.  On the website http://www.formapura.net/tods-advertising/, they chronicle the brand's ads through the years

FW 06/07 -Anja

FW 07/08 - Sienna Miller by Mikael Jansson

SS 08 - Julia Stegner by Mikael Jansson

FW 08 - Gwyneth Paltrow

SS 09 - Gwyneth Paltrow by Mikael Jansson

FW 09

FW 10

SS 11 - Socialites, Photographers, and others in Italy by Kalle Gusstaffsen

FW 11 - Anne Hathaway by Mert and Marcus

Tod's seems to be shuffling through their photographers pretty fast these days and mixing up their spokeswomen.  Also interesting is Anne Hathaway is the only brunette they've featured in the past 5 years.  I wonder if management, art directors, or brand managers changed.

These new ads all seem to be going for the same "bright colors will grab your attention" idea.  When ads are evaluated, it can't just be that specific ad that is looked at, it is also important to see how competitors and others in the market are advertising. 

In this case, if I was Gucci, for Spring 2012, I would use the same color intensity to keep with the brand image, but not the blue and red, it has been overplayed this season.

As Tod's, I would revert back to the ads of Spring 2011.  They seem to be much more of what Tod's stands for and their target market.  Obviously they are trying to make the brand seem younger, but in my opinion, it makes it seem like they are trying to be Gucci or Louis Vuitton.

As for my favorites now that I've looked beyond my magazines...I'll post that next time

- Sara Jacobson

Images and facts from models.com, thefashionspot.com, i-blogged.com

Mission Marketing

According to "Advertising Principles and Practices" by Moriarty, Mitchell, and Wells...mission marketing is: linking the mission of the company to a good cause and committing support to it for the long term.

Many times I feel mission marketing and cause advertising is cheesy and trying waaaay too hard.  Though Dove's "Real Beauty" campaign was very successful, and changed most people's view of Dove, as well as their view of advertisements:

http://youtu.be/iYhCn0jf46U

This video was an eye opener to many who don't realize the power of photo manipulation.

While this whole campaign was great, I didn't like it.  It may be because I felt it was too forced, or because I am/was a female 5 ft 3, blonde hair, blue eyes, and have a slim build.  Either way, I wasn't a fan, but I understand its intentions, aside from gaining more customers, of changing the perception of beauty.

In one of my recent magazines I came across an ad I instantly fell in love with.  All my marketing classes tell us this is a visual society, so a lot of copy in an ad won't work...another thing I disagree with.  I think Bare Essentials did an AMAZING job with it's current campain..."Be a Force of Beauty."

This ad has a much bigger effect on me than the Dove campaign.  Maybe it is the words that tell me there is no limit to what I can do...but as ignorant as it sounds, Dove's campaign made it seem that it was the company to go to if you weren't confident in your appearance, and Bare Essentials is saying that you need to do something.

After looking up the campaign, I saw an article in the New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/business/media/for-bare-escentuals-pretty-isnt-good-enough.html?pagewanted=all#  The article explained how they blindly chose the women in the campaign through questionnaires...and then I came upon the company who created this great ad...TBWA/Chiat/Day...my dream company to work for, and thus I fell more in love with the campaign...correction, if there is "no limit to what I can do," my future employer, TBWA/Chiat/Day, was the company behind it...more specifically Xanthe Hohalek.

Aside from beauty campaigns, Kenneth Cole is known for having questionable ads, tweets, and ideas...but it creates discussion, and that is the most important, not only in an advertising setting ("omg did you see the Kenneth Cole ad?  I agree with what he is saying" "no I didn't, I'll have to look it up), but also in a social setting ("so why do you feel abortion should be legal.")

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The great thing about this ad is that you look at the bag, look at the copy, and then maybe think about a women's right to choose in a different context. If she has the right to choose her own bag, why shouldn't she have the right to choose to keep a baby?

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This ad is a great play on words.

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This ad still has me a little confused. I feel it is saying you may get in trouble for being armed, but at the same time, if you are armed and you shoot someone who is unarmed, you are in more trouble. Also, recently in Long Beach, a man was shot by the police since they thought he was pointing a gun at them...in reality it was a garden hose head, but it was dark, and the guy was drunk. So could the message be that you are more at risk of getting shot if you have a gun as well? These questions are what makes this campaign worth talking about.

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Another great play on words. Once again, I think copy is more important than the visual, but maybe I'm overestimating the power of words and the intelligence of our world. Finally, another brilliant aspects of these ads is the ability to measure how effective the ads are. With a unique site, wheredoyoustand.com, Kenneth Cole can tell how people came to the site. If they are looking for clothing, they will probably just type in Kennethcole.com, but if they aren't interested in the message, they put in the address listed on the ad.

on a more visual level...fashion is constantly challenging norms.  An amazing, new, and controversial model is Andrej Pejic.

Andrej is an androgynous male model who walks in both male and female runway shows.  In the John Paul Gaultier ad, he is posed with Karoline Korkova.  In Marc Jacobs, he is the one in shorts.  Just by using this model, both designers are making a statement that they don't care what sex their models are, as long as they are right for the part.  

- Sara Jacobson

*credit of pics to original scanners, Kenneth Cole website, and Bare Minerals website