Ah the cute kid in an ad that speaks to the parents of other cute kids, concerned with their finances, their son's future, college, retirement.  Softens things up nicely.  This kid's proud.  Not ashamed to wear glasses.  Shoves out his chest.  Rock on with your bad self, cute kid.

This isn't heavy investment stuff for the Wall Street audience.  They're pushing their "Office of Financial Education."  "Knowledge is your greatest asset (TM)."  Get smart about money.  "We'll help you get smart.  Because we're smart.  And this nerdy kid with glasses is smart too...you can relate, right?"  

A few years back Citibank, still dragging around that Travelers umbrella Sandy Weill hung around their neck, had a campaign that spoke in soft tones like this.  Lots of white space.  Funny, eye-grabbing pics.  Simple messages.  Feel good Banky-ness.

Oh but for the bank that a few years later would collapse under its own weight after not heeding the financial education it was peddling around through "organizations in more than 40 countries."  This second reading of the ad then tells the story of the thin little kid with glasses who thinks he's hot stuff until the Big Bad Bully of Reality comes over and knocks him out cold. 

Posted by lee sachs at 11:13 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

I will one day open a wing to the Museum of Marketing Madness devoted to the "sex sells" premise.  It's tried and true.  Generally, in today's modern world, you might as well be up front about it.  Axe cologne and other products are dripping with sexuality; there's nothing subtle about it. 

But the folks promoting oil heat, well they're reluctant to have latex dominatrixes dancing cracking whips so they went with the softer sex sell.  Whadya get?  Mish-mosh.  Crap.

What is going on here?  Looks like fun, but is it?  Let's look closer.

Oil heat is RIGHT SEXY, as Fat Bastard would say.  This guy's dancing with FOUR (4) women.  There's a fifth but her face got cut off.  It does look like a lot of fun, that is if they're dancing.  Are they dancing because they have oil heat?  I wonder if they looked at this image and thought about the fact that, not only does this 5 women to one guy party have nothing to do with oil heat, but it actually suggests, "Look, if you're cold, you don't really need oil heat.  Just invite a lot of women over and dance your face off!" 

Alas, there's another level to this scenario.  Our spiky hair, spectacled young man may not be having such a good time.  

This guy looks like he's about to get sick.  So what was once a sexually suggestive add about oil heat, devolved into the message that you don't really need oil heat if you can dance up a storm, and by the way, you might get sick because of the fumes from the oil heat.  

Someone really needs to think these campaigns through before launching them.  

Posted by lee sachs at 10:40 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

From movietickets.com, where you buy tickets to movies that you've already selected.  The message here is not "go see this movie."  They're saying, "We don't make enough money off of you buying tickets from our website, so we're going to pummel your pupils with as much paid advertising as we can cram onto a page."

This isn't marketing.  This isn't advertising.  This is like going to supermarket for some towels and having the  ShamWoW guy follow you down every aisle screaming. 

Posted by lee sachs at 12:59 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

This was a full-page ad in some internet marketing trade publication.  Now right at the top left, you get the feeling that if this is about web design, then somebody is not a designer.  You've got some "Internet Retailer" hammered out in Universe font, looking modern enough and then they slap over that, "Web Design '09" in some cheesy pseudo-script rendering, with a shadow behind it just to make it even more nauseating. 

But screwing around with fonts and colors does not a marketing madness make.  "It's a storefront.  See!  This Web Design '09 thing is about retailing online and the storefront of a website."  Okay, I'm running along with your metaphor, go ahead.

"Well, we're actually going to show a website being built!  Like a building!  Like a storefront!  And the web page will have signs that are really the buttons, but the buttons on the web page are really signs.   Get it?  (no, but keep going.)  "And then, there'll be a crane!  And a truck!!  It'll be fun!!"

Okay, Smartypants Designer Dork.  If this is SO much like a storefront, and you have a truck and a crane and the crane is lifting up the "Search" button, well, WHO IS GOING TO ATTACH THAT BUTTON TO THE STOREFRONT, WISE GUY?!!  I don't see any scaffolding!  No workers!  Are you saying the crane is going to lift that up and it's just going to magically attach itself to your storefront?!  C'mon! 

And, while we're at it, your storefront?  WTF?!  ILOVEAHAT.com?  How about, "I'd love to see you get your head examined...dot com."     

Posted by lee sachs at 12:30 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Two pictures of the same basic Pizza Man statue at two different restaurants in midtown Manhattan.  Below, this guy looks weird because he's missing what should be one of those giant pizza trays.  Without that in his hands, they don't look empty.  They look, uh, wrong.  

Following that fellow, not too far away, is the same statue in a window of a Fridays.  As opposed to making us feel like we're missing something by not being inside, we're seeing all we need to see right here. 

Posted by lee sachs at 12:38 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Tucked away in the corner of a supermarket was this stack of bottled water cases.  You can tell it's not an optimal spot because it's near the freight elevator.  Everybody knows sales drop off the closer you get to a freight elevator.

After the manager finally figured out a spot to shove the water bottles they were pushing this week, he asked a cashier to make up a sign.  And there it is.  And the stuff just flew off the shelves.  

Posted by lee sachs at 12:14 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)