Burger King’s tagline- Have it Your Way was brought to the next level when Ogilvy in Lisbon, Brazil set up a security camera and a printer behind the ordering station at the fast food restaraunt. When customer’s gave their order they would take a picture of the customer and put their face on the wrapper of the burger. Very cool!

All the customer’s were surprised and excited when their personalized order came out with their face on it. This was a really cool way to reiterate Burger King’s tagline and philosphy. It gives the customer a good feeling about the company and the food, and puts a personal touch on the fast-food process which is always rushed. In pretty much all fast-food restaraunts you are given a number that corresponds to your order. With the Whopper Face campaign, it puts a personal touch on the experience that I am sure that Burger King’s customers will not forget.

Under the new FTC ruleing, testimonials must clearly disclose the resuts which consumers can generally expect to see. This effects advertisements in a tremendous way. No longer can companies boast about exceptional, but rare, results. Now brands are required to clearly tell consumers what they can generally expect to find.

This is clear in Jenny Craig’s latest ad campaign featuring Sara Rue. Consumers have grown wary of constantly hearing ads claiming that their product can make you lose 40 pounds FAST. Now, rather than seeing the extreme cases, we are given more typical cases.

I was caught off gaurd when I first saw Jenny Craig’s ad where Rue exclaimed, “I’ve already lost 5 pounds!” Five pounds? Seriously, big deal. But then I remembered the new FTC ruling and it all clicked. This is the direction all weight loss advertisements are going to head as companies begin to catch on.

However, are these ads even effective? Why waste millions of dollars on a TV campaign ‘bragging’ of 5 pounds of weight loss. Seems like a poor use of ad dollars to me.

To see the advertisment:

http://jennycraig.com/?dfa=1#

And click ‘See Sara’s new commercial’

I am Second

‘I am Second’ is a great example of cause marketing intended to promote God as the source of a purposeful life. Norm Miller, CEO of Interstate Batteries initiated the campaign with the help of partners from e3 Partners Ministry in Dallas. Rather than pushing religion on people who may see the ads, Miller and partners from e3 say that the campaign uses personal testimonials to offer direction and choice to those who may be seeking God’s help. Iamsecond.com features personal stories from well known athletes, actors, celebrities and regular people who each believe they are second to God and stronger because of the strength they seek from Him.

‘I am Second’ specifically uses testimonials in a way that influences others through the use of celebrity as well as normative influence from regular people sharing stories. I think the campaign shares a fundamental message in a unique and highly interactive way, giving active and interested consumers a way to initiate change and gain insight into the important message the campaign stresses: put God first. In my opinion, an effective and truly virtuous example of advertising for a solid cause. 

On another level, could more campaigns like ‘I am Second’ affect what society thinks about advertising as an institution? Yes. Maybe with more campaigns like this, people would view advertising in a more positive light. 

I saw this ad in church while listening to a sermon on parenting. I am still watching my behavior… 

Where are these ads in the US and why is the US government not more active in promoting social values?

Advertising done well makes poeple think, change their attitudes, and can ultimately affect behavior. What did you show a child today?

A broken gate remote control receiver. A new one for $64 retail. A discount one online for $22.

Easy choice, right? A class discussion about our throw-away society got me thinking about easy chocies, so I took a moment to open up the receiver. Looking at the circuit board I immediately noticed the antenna wire barely hanging on. Taking out my trusty soldering iron took less than 15 seconds to fix the problem. Putting the gate opener back together took another 5 minutes and viola!  

Not everything gets thrown away, but many times it just seems easier to buy a new one. Where are the ads that encourage people to think, to question, to just try another path? Please comment if you see one or remember one from the past.

This amazing collection of ads, stories, and inspirational quotes shows all of us how to be better than we are. The site highlights values to which we should all aspire and in doing so is making the word a better place. Kudos to the private foundation!

I challenge everyone to sample an ad or two and not be changed… Click any image below.

DVDs and sample posters are available from the foundation here.

http://adage.com/article?article_id=135015

So according to this article in Adage, General Mills has decided to bring back the retro look of their cereal boxes. Their goal is to make the box and the food appear comforting which will hopefully lead to an increase in sales. One of the most important things that stood out to me was that they are trying to create this as an “exclusive” event. It is also planned to last for a month. And as we learned in class a “good” topic is exclusive and buzzowrthy. Another interesting point is that they are steering away from advertising, and giving all of the power to the bloggers. It will be very interesting to see if the bloggers find this information buzzworthy and worth blogging about!

The website listed below is an article from Advertising Age. It is talking about how Frito Lay is sponsoring 7 blogs and allowing the bloggers to produce creative content for the Cheeto Brand. The Bloggers create content that will appeal to their blogging community. It was really interesting to come across this because it deals directly with what we have been talking about in class. How important it is to appeal to your blogger community. It’s cool to see companies taking the first steps toward word of mouth marketing, and giving the power to the talkers, ie: the bloggers.

http://adage.com/madisonandvine/article?article_id=134558

It may seem like a no-brainer, but I think the recent actions taken by Wrigley’s and Got Milk are worth recognizing.  It is admirable that these two companies decided to suspend their endorsement deals with Chris Brown after his incident with the law this weekend.  While it may be an obvious PR response, it gives me faith that these companies understand the impact their spokespeople have on society.  Dairy Council says that “Brown’s image won’t help them sell products.”  I’m proud of Wrigley’s and Got Milk for doing the right thing and pulling these ads despite their success.

Check out these articles about Chris Brown and the lost endorsement deals:

“Wrigley suspends Chris Brown, Rihanna silent” (Reuters)

“‘Got Milk?’ Chris Brown Doesn’t” (Starpulse.com)

“Wrigley’s puts Chris Brown campaign on hold” (CNN.com)