http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQfZRnqQr-k&feature=related

I thought this ad was quite interesting because it got quite a bit of buzz on the internet as being racist.  Apparently KFC was the sponsor of the cricket match between the West Indies and Australia.  When I first saw this ad I almost died because I wasn’t thinking about cricket, or about this ad in the right context at all.  Yet, after I realized it was a cricket match and an Australian cricket player was on the opposing teams stands it made a lot more sense to me.  I thought this ad was a good example of how it is so easy for advertising to get misconstrued and how imperative it is for agencies to realize that how your ad is interpreted depends on the eye of the beholder.  To an Australian, or someone who is familiar with cricket, this ad makes complete sense, but with the associations that people in the United States make about KFC fried chicken it’s a bit more confusing.  I think this ad is also a good example of how people really do look for the bad, or assume the worst, especially with all the hype concerning racial slurs etc. and how it is so important for agencies to really take this into account.

Mars, a huge chocolate manufactuer (M&Ms, Snickers, Twix and Dove to name a few) has assured that it will team up with the Rainforest Alliance in order to make their chocolate more sustainable, and they want to only use sustainable cocoa by 2020.  This is huge, because human trafficking and child labor are  a huge problem in African cocoa farms so much of the worlds chocolate is linked to abuse.  With Mars being such a huge chocolate producer, if they really are to be completely sustainable by 2020, this could mean huge benefits to farmers and wildlife.  I would certainly feel better about myself if I could rest assured that a slave had nothing to do with my Snickers bar.  I think this will have a very positive impact on the Mars company and others should follow.  I think Cadbury has taken a step towards more sustainable cocoa production as well!

http://adage.com/globalnews/article?article_id=143598

I found this article on Advertising Age and thought it was pretty neat.  Actimel, a pro-biotic yogurt sold in Argentina was faced with a dilemma: a viral email claimed that Actimel was “addictive, destroyed the stomachs natural flora and couldharm children’s health.”  We all know how negative word of mouth can be extremely detrimental to a company and its reputation.  What Actimel did to fight back was pretty innovative.  As opposed to just denying the e-mail through PR objectives, Actimel fought back.  As a matter of fact, initially they responded to bloggers and even ran a TV spot claiming you could “trust” Actimel (anyone reminded of the CEO of Domino’s YouTube apology?) but they decided to take a more innovative approach.  They created a website called Creador de Rumores where visitors can create their own rumors (about themselves) claiming they have won a trip to the World Cup in South Africa etc. and submit a picture of themselves along with the fake rumor.  It sort of reminds me of a play on “sticks and stones may break my bones but words may never hurt me.”  By creating a website that ridicules the impact of rumors and pokes fun at them while engaging consumers in a form of entertainment, Actimel positioned itself as a confident, trustworthy company.  Good job Actimel!

My first reaction to this SlimFast ad is that it is hilarious.  It is simple, in fact it doesn’t even needs words, the image does it justice enough.  I also think that, ran in the right magazines, it is extremely effective.  It’s clever, short, and even kind of humorous.  Yet, when I gave it more thought I realized, once again, it is placing a lot of emphasis on the way women look.  If someone who was having a wedding soon saw this ad in a bridal magazine they are likely to stop and think about their weight, even if no previous insecurity or concern about their weight for their wedding existed.  In a way it’s another example of advertising creating needs and desires where they did not previously exist.  Yet, one could also make the argument that losing weight before your wedding is a prevalent enough desire in our society that the ad is only a response to a need that is already there.

GoDaddy.com advertisement
This was a godaddy.com Superbowl ad this year. Godaddy.com is known for having racy ads during the Superbowl. What I find interesting about it is that when I saw this ad this year I had no idea what on earth Godaddy.com was in the first place, and the ad certainly did not do much to explain it. It was this mystery factor that compelled me to get online and figure out what Godaddy.com was all about. For all I knew it was some kind of internet pornography making site. Godaddy.com commercials, although racy, certainly elicit a response. It especially helps that throughout the year Godaddy.com does not do much advertising so when Superbowl runs around and these hot girls are in your face talking about godaddy.com and then they start taking their clothes off only to stop at “see more now at godaddy.com” Superbowl viewers are wanting to know what is up. The CEO of godaddy.com, Bob Parsons, comments on godaddy.com’s racy ads by saying “most ads are like a fat guy: not offensive, everybody likes him, but he gets no action [...] our ads, though maybe a little offensive, a little in your face, work.” To me it is people like this that give the advertising industry a bad rep. This is just another example of tasteless advertising that is effective, and in this particular instance I believe Parsons thinks he is being witty by going against the “norm” and doing what he needs to do to elicit a response. In my opinion this isn’t wit or cleverness, it is just plain cheap.

\"Learn English\" commercial
Most people are aware that the kind of advertising you see in Europe is much different than what airs here in America. It is more typical and accepted to see advertising in Europe that us Americans would describe as racy. This ad in particular ran in the Netherlands. It was work by Young & Rubican for the Soesman Language Institute. The first time I saw it I thought it was absolutely hilarious. It is so simple, in fact there is no dialogue (other than the vulgar song playing in the background) yet the message is certainly carried across. As simple as it is, it also embodies modernity because what is considered “pop” or “hip” music these days is becoming increasingly more offensive. Yet, this is one of those instances where this ingenious ad probably should not have circulated further past the coworkers at Young & Rubican. In a way it is saying “hey this is why you need to learn english because you don’t want to jam out to this” but at the same time its forcing that song into people’s ears. I thought this was a great example of how advertising can be clever, witty, entertaining, and effective yet completely inappropriate for the public’s eyes and ears.