European rant #2

Lately, this new spot for McDonalds France is getting quite a few youtube hits and favourable reviews over at Good and PSFK. Pink News, a gay online news service, says the ad "has had a mixed reception from online viewers", however.

Well, my reaction is rather mixed as well. How does McDonalds "take a public stand for tolerance" in that spot? Not even the dad takes a private stand for tolerance here. In fact, not even the boy himself. He hangs up the phone on his boyfriend as his dad arrives with the food. He is secretely gay.

Did I miss the part where McDonald's great burgers make him come out of the closet? McDonalds want to tell me they "even" serve homosexuals, as long as they are not openly gay? McDonalds wants to emphasize that they will not ask for my sexual orientation when I order a Royal with cheese? Can somebody please explain that ad to me?

Bic prank rant

Apparently Bic pens sell everywhere like hotcakes- except for Germany. So Bic hired the much hyped and super creative agency Jung von Matt to change that fact.

Here is what they did: In a series of so called virals they ask so called celebrities to sign a so called autograph for them. But the stars actually sign things like a marriage agreement with a stranger, a job application as a store detective or a press release that they'll dedicate themselves to Austrian folklore. According to the videos this proves: "With Bic you'll sign everything".



In my view this just proves that no one is impeccable - celebrities are not and great ad agencies aren't, either:

First, don't preemptively call your videos "viral". Online plus video does not automatically equal viral. The very thing about virals is that they evolve because users like what they see. You can't decree virals. If your most watched video has 8.000 views, I would hesitate to call the whole series viral. Especially after you have advertised it on a popular student website.

Second, if you want to improve sales in a country via online tools, at least do your homework and provide a homepage for that country.

Third, the videos could have been really funny if they would have showed the reaction of the stars after they signed the fake autograph. The funniest part about a prank is usually when the victim realizes they just got punked. Without that, all we get to see is a gleeful presenter with a blurry sheet of paper. Unless the stars watch the video they'll never realize that they did something special with a special pen.

And fourth, the message - Bic is such a great pen that you'll want to use it at any price - does not work that way, either. The stars don't know what they sign, they don't care. They don't sign the fake stuff because of the great pen, but because somebody makes them believe it is a boring autograph just like the hundred other ones they sign every day. With Bic you don't think about what you write?

The core idea is still great, however. With or without celebrities: Show Steve Jobs as he signs a receipt for a PC. Show a punk signing a contract for a Wall Street Journal subscription. Show a Democrat signing an "I <3 Bush" flyer. You get the idea... (PS: Yes, Jung von Matt if you get the idea as well: I would be available for a job as a creative consultant with your agency. I would even sign the contract with a BIC pen).

What do you think about the Bic prank?

My pleasure

Congrats to Libby (and Alicia) for guessing the right answer: Last week's Guess what was an ad for Otrivin, a decongestant: The pleasure of breathing.



This week's situation seems to be less pleasurable. What do you think is beeing delivered by the robot? What could be its black box?

Guess what is back on stage

Ladies and Gentlemen, after a err...short spring break, we'll present to you today, the solution to our last Guess What puzzle and a new brainteaser from the wonderful European advertising scene.

Act 1:
Ze French want your organs. The good hearts of prematurely deceased homophobic racists can save lots of lifes.



Act 2:
The Belgians also want your organs. They just tell you differently.



Act 3:
Your turn. The quizmaster wants your opinion. What product or service is inside the black box?

Lesson learned.

Well, according to AdAge, Dawn is all over this oil spill in the gulf that I wrote about yesterday. I will admit a big fail on my part for not looking harder for it. However, in all my Googling, searching press releases and news reports, I saw NO documentation of this happening. It seems the only notifications were on Facebook and Twitter, which neither page showed up while I was Googling.

So today I ask myself - what more can Dawn do so that people actually know about this?

1. Donate More. None of the notes on Facebook + Twitter talk about additional donations.

2. More Press releases: Facebook + Twitter are not mainstream, and apparently not optimized for search. Look at this quote, and tell me that doesn't deserve it's own amount of attention:

"Which made us wonder: After all these years, is scrubbing with Dawn really the most advanced method of oil-bird cleansing? "It's the best product to date that cleans the birds," Holcomb says. (And not just because they give his group donations!) "It almost seems silly, but it really is the right thing." (Source)

I'm sure that in the coming days the clean up will become more intense as the spill hits the shores, and I hope that Dawn gets in there, front and center, with the non-profits that they are supporting. I know they are probably trying hard not to turn this into a huge thing where they get backlash for capitalizing on a bad situation, but Tide Loads of Hope keeps coming to mind as someone who did it right.

Turn Things Upside Down

This might be the second voice over + text commercial that I've ever liked.

Let's also take a quick moment to note the updated features and layout on YouTube. Nice work.

Dawn dishsoap and a big opportunity.

As the oil spill in the gulf spreads and nears the coast, BP is becoming bigger and bigger news (with some coverage directly hammering them for their "green" campaign), and as much as they try to make things right, they are going to continue to look like the bad guy. If you ask me, this press around the oil spill presents a huge opportunity for Dawn to capitalize

Currently, Dawn is running these TV spots talking about how their product is used to clean animals from oil spills. it is heart felt, and they are donating up to $500,000, but you have to get online to register your purchase (kind of a lame step if you ask me):



Well hey Dawn, here is your chance (and quite frankly, I hope that you are already planning this). Practice what you preach and get down there to help clean up the spill. Show up with a big truck, in the Tide "Loads of Hope" style, and make sure that every animal gets a big Dawn scrub down.

The stars are aligned: lots of negative press about one company not living up to their brand = opportunity to be a hero and live up to your brand. Plus, cute animals are all the rage right now on the internets.

NSAC District 8 Competition This Saturday

Hello to all in YAYBIAland! Just wanted to let you all know that the National Student Advertising Competition will be in full swing this weekend for District 8. The event will be on the University of Minnesota campus in Willey Hall on the West Bank on Saturday, May 1st.

This year's client is State Farm. Here is the schedule for presentations:

9:00-9:30 St. Thomas (Room 125)
9:45-10:15 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (Room 175)
10:30-11:00 Minnesota State University Moorhead (Room 125)
11:15-11:45 South Dakota State University (Room 175)

11:45-1:15 Break for Lunch

1:30-2:00 St. Cloud Technical College (Room 125)
2:15-2:45 University of Wisconsin - Madison (Room 175)
3:00-3:30 St. Cloud State University (Room 125)
3:45-4:15 University of Minnesota - Duluth (Room 175)

Remember that even if you're a minute late, you will not be let in to the room, so plan accordingly. Doors open 10 minutes before each presentation.

I know that Chariot (U of M - Twin Cities) would love your support (IT'S FREE!), and it should be very interesting to see what such bright young thinkers can come up with for an insurance campaign targeting their age group!

GOOD LUCK CHARIOT! I know you will make all of us Ghosts of NSAC Past proud!

Facebook Ads: Fan vs. Like

You've all probably formed opinions of your own now that Facebook has officially rolled out the switch from "Become a Fan" to "Like" for subscribing to Page updates. So besides "WTF, Facebook?!" here's something I've noticed that I haven't seen many people talking about.

When setting up a Facebook social ad campaign, you can choose to "advertise something I have on Facebook" or "advertise a web page". Before the switch, it was clear which ads would keep you on Facebook when clicking and which ones were for external websites.

Now that everything is "Like", all the ads look the same. One of the advantages with the "Become a Fan" ad feature was that people could scope out your page knowing they'd stay within Facebook. All ads look the same now, website or not. It's no longer clear whether your click on "Like" will end up with a "you like this ad" or "you like this page". And it's not clear whether a headline click will take you to the Fan Page or to MyFreeCrazyPage4U.biz

So, out of these ads can you tell which ones are linking to websites or to properties within Facebook? Sort of like Facebook ad roulette, no?

Quest for ads continues

Last week's moving mystery was a spot for Belgium Natural Gas by TBWA Brussels and Lovo Film. The thermostat switches on in the morning and voila, the whole house is covered in symbolic warm wool. Simple, straight-forward idea vs. complicated and elaborate execution. The whole thing was shot backwards and required "a month of preparation, 4 days and night shoot, with a professional crew of over 40 men, shot live and in stopmotion with 4 different cameras." Watch the Making of the commerical here.

This week we return to a print ad, which is, well, rather not so warm. Who can guess what this friendly fellow's gut feeling is all about?

Nike, I'm taking your bait

Reactions are running the gamut from love to hate to confusion. I can't decide my reaction because I can't decide what Nike's goal was. Help me figure it out?

• Setting the stage to move forward. "We're not going to ignore the Tiger issue. We can yank his ads or we can run them like nothing happened...or we can do something awesome."
  
• Generate some BUZZ! "Dude, let's do something controversial about Tiger Woods. The bloggers will love it!"
• Branding. "Everybody fucks up, even the most successful athletes in the world. Face your shit, own up to it, get past it, and just do it. It's totally on brand. Let's get a writer on this."

I hope it's the third one but I'm not sure. What do you think? Is it succeeding?

Moving mystery

I am sorry to report to you, my dear loyal guessers, that unfortunately nobody was able to solve the Guess What Easter edition.

Umm... okay, okay, I plead guilty. It was an auto ad again. Far out for anybody except maybe engineers, race car drivers and experimental biologists. This time the ad was for BMW with the subline "This is why we don't have front wheel drives".



There you go! Now you finally know: BMW doesn't construct front wheel drives cause nature doesn't, either. Only Photoshop does. The print series also features a deformed horse and an immobile frog, but unfortunately no kangaroo or T-Rex. Well, at least you got to see a cute, handicapped bunny.

For this week's Guess What, I thought we'd try something new. No car ad and not even a print ad. Instead, I cut off the last five seconds of a very beautiful, artistic spot from Great Britain. New medium, same question: What does it advertise?

You Can Never Have Enough Lash Blast

So I finally got around to watching the Drew Barrymore movie "Whip It" last weekend and there was one line in the movie that was so obvious and out of place I swear it formed a physical entity and glared at me.

When Maggie Mayhem is applying eye make up on Babe Ruthless, she says "You can never have enough eye liner. Or LashBlast."

That's right, Drew Barrymore (the Cover Girl LashBlast spokesperson), in her directorial debut, squeaked that product placement in there. And IMDb confirms it.

I'm not outraged or anything, but for a movie that pretty much avoids mentioning almost any other brands and focuses on the underground culture of roller derby, it just didn't seem to fit the tone of the movie.

So, I kind of have to agree with Kevin Smith. As much as it pains me :-)

Yaybia Easter egg

This week's ad quiz was my personal favourite so far. I don't like the original ad at all, but I love all of your creative and entertaining answers. Fortunately nobody guessed the right source. All your suggestions were far better than the far-fetched original.



Uhm... yes that's right it's a car ad. Get it? Me neither.

Here is the explanation from a Volkswagen fan's website: Apparently the Touareg, one of their SUVs, has a very special engine. It is a 5-litre, 10-cylinder "Turbocharged Direct Injection" diesel engine, a V10 TDI. And this engine runs exceptionally stable and vibration-free. In fact, your trip in the Touareg will be so smooth, your spoon will literally stand still in your cup of coffee.

Quiet a stretch if you ask me. Then again, I am not the target group. I don't usually take china cups on my off-road trips.

Onward we go with the special Easter edition of yaybia's weekly mystery. Who will be able to guess what that Easter bunny is trying to market to you?

Here we guess again

Props to Libby - "German Tide - everything else is shit" - ,

Jeanine - "New: German Tide toilet paper - now you no longer have to use your T-shirts if you want to pamper your backside" -,

and Moritz - "If the ENT doctor couldn't help with that really bad smell every time you lift the lid of your laundry basket it's time to consult another specialist: Go and see your oculist before you can't see your bathroom anymore" -

for making me laugh with their creative ideas for last week's edition of Guess What.

The right answer, however, was again Alicia's and Jeanine's. The original subline is: Alcohol -damages more than you think. I know there are some experts on that subject among us, so what do you think of that ad? And by experts I mean, of course, those ladies that have worked on an anti binge drinking campaign with last year's NSAC team.

That one time when I drank just a bit too much, I remember that a cup of coffee helped against the hang-over. And now, after this truly elegant transition, here is the next picture puzzle for you:

Thoughts on March Madness

Okay... so I've been watching the NCAA tournament at work. I know I'm not the only one out there. (I'm still working... get off my back peeps.) But there are a few interesting things I've noticed.

A) I love the "Boss Button" it's located above the screen on the right hand side.


When clicked, this screen appears:



I just thought it was funny, and it speaks to the fact that CBS knows most people watching the streaming online video probably aren't supposed to be. (a.k.a. at work.) Giggles.

B) I also noticed that a lot of advertisers aren't really paying attention to the fact that a lot of online viewers aren't watching the games with sound. They just repurpose their TV spots in the online medium, not taking into account whether the commercial can be understood without hearing the dialogue.

However, Miller Light's ads aren't affected by the fact that their audience is momentarily "deaf." Their ads for their Tip n' Spin iPhone app have the dialogue written clearly across the screen, so even people watching without sound know specficially what the ad was asking them to do. (Note: I have no clue whether or not this was a planned strategy by Miller, this could very well be a happy fluke that turned out in their favor.)

Basically, it boils down to this... think about where you are placing your ads. Online streaming is a lot like television, but when you're placing ads online, you have to think about where your audience's computer is (work?), if there are any limitations to this location (sound?), and if so, think of ways to better craft your ad to that medium.

I'm not saying that the ads during the NCAAs should just turn into glorified banners. Sound should be there for those who get to watch the games out in the open. But if you want to get more action for your dollar bills, think about the environment they are being used in.

BTW, my bracket is tanking.

"I'll never let go, Jack. I'll never let go!"

How to get a job in advertising

I met with some NDSU kids last week and gave them the scoop on how to get a job in advertising. I can't lie, I was shocked to see the blank faces when we explained to them how potential employers check out your Facebook and how you need to be on LinkedIn. I told them, "Get a blog. You have. To get. A blog." It's 2010, am I right? You must take every single opportunity to surround your potential employers with your brilliance. When they Google you, don't you want to explode their search results with glowing insights and evidence that you get integrated communication?

It's like social media for brands, I guess. If you can post behind-the-scenes footage in social media and help your audience feel like they know you, why wouldn't you? If you have the opportunity to preview the product online as much as possible, aren't you way more likely to buy?

Go read my tips and please leave me some comment love over there so my co-workers can see that I have really smart friends and I don't just creep in my basement lair all day long.

(Also: all the Yaybies have stellar Google results. I love us.)

WCCO Introduces The Wire

I've always loved the Minneapolis new outlet WCCO for taking the cheese out of local news. I mean some stations act like good design costs more or something.

And now they are pulling on my heart strings with this new way to keep up with the news. The Wire. WCCO is now going to feature all their stories on a timeline and users can follow each story as it progresses. So now I'll know exactly when to go save Libby from the Red River.

The timeline is broken into news, buzz, events and comments. And one of the best parts is it integrates tweets from WCCO reporters and viewers. I like that it mixes the more serious news with random Internet goodies. And readers can also do some journalism of their own and submit their own story ideas.

It's always hard to say if these aggregation tools will catch on, but I think this one has a chance. WCCO has a loyal Minneapolis following and it's the same news I would get from the regular site, but organized by story. So now I can read all the dirt about Denny Hecker at one time and then comment about it!

The Wire is still in beta, so we'll see how it progresses. But this is just another great example of how WCCO interacts with their viewers. You should probably go try it out.

Yaybies, get hold of your guessing skills again

Physician: Your findings are back. I am afraid, I don't have good news for you today.
Patient: Oh ok, what's the diagnosis?
Physician: I am sorry. You have cancer and Alzheimer's.
Patient: Well, at least it's not cancer. *

In France, one million people can't get hold of their memories:





Last week's ad is for the Association France Alzheimer. J9 is back and with a vengeance: Congratulations for guessing the right answer right away!

And here is this week's challenge. It should have a familiar ring at least for some of yaybia's guessers. Have fun and good luck!



* I know that both cancer and Alzheimer's disease are very serious and the cause of dire distress for the patients and their families. When I worked on a dementia project for the biggest part of last year, I have learned that humour can be one way to deal with it. Not the only one of course, but one that apparently works for quite a few of the victims. I hope I have not offended anyone for whom it might not work. End of proactive excuse.

Cool city

Thanks to Alicia for sharing this image video about yaybia's great home town of Minneapolis.



Lovely. Now I am homesick (not that I am not homesick the rest of the time, this just didn't help).

They just forgot to mention that those "climate-controlled" skywalks are not only there to shield all the dynamic business people from the burning sun. Now, if you want to attract visitors and investors it's probably NOT a good idea to hush up the very fact that everybody associates with your city in the first place. Winter? Non of our business! Let the Florida people deal with that while we ride our bikes in our evergreen city. Yeah, sure very convincing...

C'mon you urban marketing folks, who do you want to fool? Be proud, but also be self-depreciating and funny and above all, be real.

Minneapolis is in fact a great place. But at times it is also a cold place. Everybody knows that anyways, so just tell potential visitors that they can still do all the exciting stuff they can do in every major city plus all that extra cool stuff they can only ever experience in an extra cool city. That certain chiliness is the very thing that makes Minneapolis and its inhabitants special. And I know from experience how very special they are! Anyone can act cool in a sunny place, but it takes a lot to be hot when your city is cold half of the year.

Also, they forgot to mention yaybia in their video about all things great from Minneapolis. Somebody should definetely shoot a realness remake to set the record straight.