And they say advertising is dead. So not true. Thank you to my friend Sarah Dryden for finding and sharing this. It’s one of those live ads that are just so cool. Not sure if they sold any new phones that day, but it was some major brand building and drove tons of traffic to their youtube page and probably other campaign pages. As Sarah put it “Thank you T-Mobile, and Saatchi & Saatchi for making life joyous, even when you’re trying to sell something”
I also really enjoyed the “Making Of…”
My thoughts:
I love how it starts with just one person and slowly spreads. Out of the 400 hired dancers, I would say 100 more joined in spontaneously. And like most things in life, what seems to natural and graceful involved a lot of practice, patience and hard work. I also love the documentary style it was shot in. Very different feel than the xbox commercial I posted a in Sept. I hope Saatchi & Saatchi have a good campaign to back up this great piece.
Flying into work yesterday morning I was surprised to see Zappos at the airport. More specifically, in the shoe/stuff tray at the security line. I snapped a photo on my phone after I got through security, yes the officer looked at me a little funny.
I really like this, it fits into Zappos’ brand personality. It’s fun and a little quirky. Also perfect for the holiday season.
Because it is Saturday and I have been failing to produce a decent blog post in the past hour, and also because my laptop is running low on battery, I’m just doing a fun post with two advertisements.
The first is a weird sort of advertising trend evidently hitting in Australia. People with big cat heads. Go figure.
Next up we have AC DC bringing us the first music video in Excel. Once again, creativity trumps shiny and flashy.
Next up is a funny/awkward sexual innuedo from Arby’s.
I like how both halves of the couple seem rather normal (I will point out that the female is attractive, even in an Arby’s uniform). But if there’s a followup to this commercial, I don’t think I want to know. I hope this ad only airs late, late at night.
If you want to know how to make a commercial, I would normally point you towards Goodby, Silverstein & Partners or Crispin Porter + Bogusky. However, for the moment, I point you towards Team Barack Obama. Nielsen estimates 33.6 million Americans watched a half-hour commercial. That viewership is like MacWorld on Hulk steroids.
This ad does a great job of framing the problem of America’s future in a way that naturally suggests Obama as the solution, not even mentioning McCain. It subtly suggests that McCain is irrelevant.
The whole ad works on multiple levels and keeps a strong consistent theme. There are so many details that are perfectly executed. The music is superb, video editing is spot on. The quotes, people, narration, the video, etc have works amazingly well together. Yes that list included narration. The ad is as much about America as it is about Obama.
It also doesn’t bop anyone over the head with snappy lines or a “strong call to action.” It gives viewers credit for being smart, informed and concerned citizens. I’d like to point out some powerful subtleties.
We see a fridge wall of snacks, a mother naming off each child with each shelf and explaining, “If they know this is it, for them for the whole week, they will make it last longer.” Children self-rationing snacks. That is a great “show not tell.”
When giving his story about his pension, the retired man recalls as his company burning through 19 million from the retirement pool before declaring bankruptcy. Now Instead of getting about $1500 a month, this retiree only ended up with $379. 19 million and 1500 are vague, far off numbers. A good contrast to the very real $379, being more precise gives the story detail and realism. Also while Obama is saying “You earned your pension. You earned it. It wasn’t a gift” the gentleman, clearly moved, softly says “Thank you.”
Later on the commercial doesn’t verbally mention Wal-Mart, there’s just the badge that gets clipped on. We don’t overhear just any old line during the scene on teacher training. We hear “The answer lies in your hands. Effective teaching starts here.”
So if you want a lesson in advertising or persuasion watch and rewatch. The details matter so very much.
I was going through my usual blogroll I found this commercial at the Beyond Madison Ave archives. I think I’ve watched this about a dozen times already. If I were Microsoft I would have totally let this air.
Perhaps it should only air on tv for a little bit to spark some conversations. I think the amount of controversy would be minimal. I mean, they’re using hands! And listen to the music after they start ’shooting.’ Part of what I love about this commercial is how it quickly becomes about having fun rather than the seriousness of first person shooters.
