Tag: advertising

Chum That Makes You Go Huh? — Toilet Paper, Car Personalities, Mystic Dates, & Structural Glass

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Here are some more articles that just caught my eye during my lunchtime reading:

  • CNN has a Mental Floss article on how toilet paper is uniquely American. We’re evidently the leading consumers of the product; we’re the inventors of the product; and of course, we’ve come up with ways to market the product without referring to its specific function. Think of what the “strength”, “softness”, and “absorbancy” are really saying…
  • The San Diego Union-Tribute has a link to an AP article about personality traits of cars. It talks about how the shape and styling of a car often reflect a personality the manufacturer wants to project. Given this, why do so many manufacturers want to reflect the personality: “dull”?
  • USA Today has a piece about something that is going to happen tomorrow morning: the “rare” date/time alignment of 04:05:06am 07/08/09. They are tying to imbue the date with all sorts of meaning, and why it is a good day for this and that. Of course, I read the article on the heels of watching the Penn & Teller Bullshit episode on Astrology, so I’m thinking, “This is news?”
  • The New York Times has an article about the new observation boxes in the Sears Tower in Chicago: the ones made of glass that suspend you ¼ mi above the sidewalk. I’m sorry, but I don’t think you’ll get me in one of those. The article’s take on the boxes is interesting though… it doesn’t look at them from the fear factor — rather, it looks at the use of glass as a structural building material. Those boxes are laminated tempered glass. Of course, that doesn’t make a difference to your psyche…
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Tuesday Business News Chum: Keyboards, Painted Airline Employees, Amazon Associates, Tata Nano

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

I’m finally coming up for air after a long telecon this morning — and thus this late lunch break and news perusal:

  • From the “Now Where Is That ‘Any’ Key?” Department: For years and years folks have tried to change the layout of a keyboard. Nothing has succeeded. Levono is trying again: with a new keyboard that slightly enlarges the DEL and ESC keys. The research and history behind this change is fascinating.
  • From the “I Bet Your Smile Is Painted On” Department: Air New Zeland has a new marketing campaign touting the fact that they have no hidden fees… and they’ve extended it to their safety videos. Specifically, the campaign features unclothed workers… well, they have their clothes painted on with body paint… and have these workers in their “Bare Essentials of Safety” safety video. The video and commercials are not as revealing as some might think. The realistic body paint makes it look as if the employees — flight attendants, baggage handlers and a pilot — are wearing uniforms. The one person not shown doing his actual job is the company’s buff chief executive, Rob Fyfe, who plays a baggage handler. The commercial is available on YouTube.
  • From the “Associates” Department: Many folks are probably Amazon Associates. I am (for both the SCJ FAQ and California Highways). However, your associate fees may be at risk. Amazon has already cut associates lose in two states because of new sales-tax rules, and may cut off more (including those in California, if a proposed tax-collection scheme is passed). Be forewarned, if you want to keep up your steady supply of Amazon gift certificates!
  • From the “Small Car” Department: The NY Times takes the Tata Nano for a test drive… and actually likes it. This doesn’t appear to be your father’s Yugo, folks.
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Various Chum Buried Beneath Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Now that I’m starting to feel a bit better, some chum gathered over the last few days. You might not have seen these, given how Michael Jackson seems to have forced any other articles off the page:

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Put Another Chum on the Memorial Day Barbee

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

I guess all the papers waited until Saturday for the interesting articles. Here’s some chum for your Memorial Day weekend. Stay safe, whether you be at home or on vacation.

  • From the “Well, I Guess Jack Does Know Shit” Department: Remember those Jack in the Box commercials where Jack sings about “…cattle the size of schnauzers…”. Turns out, he wasn’t far off. According to the LA Times, farmers are starting to use smaller cattle. No, not schnauzer-sized, but collies can see eye-to-eye with them. These miniature Herefords consume about half that of a full-sized cow yet produce 50% to 75% of the rib-eyes and fillets. Ranchers across the country have been snapping up mini Hereford and Angus calves that fit in a person’s lap. Farmers who raise mini-Jerseys brag how each animal provides 2 to 3 gallons of milk a day, though they complain about having to crouch down on their knees to reach the udders. No word about any contracts with Mr. Box.
  • From the “We Answer to a Higher Power” Department: Turning from cows to dogs, it appears that there is a battle a’brewin’ in the hot dog department. According to the San Diego Union Tribune (AP), there is a battle going on between Sara Lee (the maker of “Ballpark Franks”), and Kraft (maker of “Oscar Meyer”). Sara Lee alleges that Oscar Mayer’s claims that its Jumbo Beef Franks are “100 percent pure beef” are false and hurting sales of Ball Park franks and the brand’s reputation, according to the suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Sara Lee also questions ads claiming that Oscar Mayer wieners outperform Ball Park and Hebrew National hot dogs, made by ConAgra Foods Inc., in taste tests. Oscar Meyer spokesman counter that “”Clearly, Ball Park does wish it was an Oscar Mayer wiener, since we are America’s avorite hot dog brand”. He continued, “That is what they truly want to be. For if they were an Oscar Mayer wiener…”. Expect to see a battle in the hot dog wars this summer. Oscar Mayer is holding a promotion to give away $1 million worth of hot dogs. Sara Lee is emphasizing its new low-fat angus franks, with in-store promotions this weekend offering a free package of buns with the purchase of two packages of Ball Park franks. Hebrew National, answering to a higher power, is giving away 45,000 hot dogs on Monday in Times Square in New York, as well as handing out 30,000 coupons for $3 off a pack of Hebrew Nationals.
  • From the “Shayna Punim” Department: Speaking of Hebrew National and New York, the NY Times is reporting that Mattel’s American Girl division is introducing a Jewish historical doll. The doll, Rebecca Rubin, is the newest historical character doll to be released by American Girl. She is a 9-year-old girl living on the Lower East Side in 1914 with her Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, siblings and a grandmother known only as Bubbie. They’ve actually done their research, and supposedly the accompanying book get things close to right, with no offensive stereotypes.
  • From the “Skating on Thin Ice” Department: Speaking of stereotypes, one of the most stereotyped pieces of sports equiptment is the Zamboni. The NY Times has an article today on the manufacturer of Zambonis. Turns out they are made in SoCal’s San Gabriel Valley the LA County city of Paramount, and tested on Colorado Blvd Ave. The article notes that on the television sitcom “Cheers,” Carla’s hockey-playing husband, Eddie LeBec, died when he was run over by a Zamboni; that Sarah Palin said last year that she always wanted to name a son Zamboni; and that Car and Driver recently test-drove one, finding that “the vague steering is totally ’70s Cadillac.”
  • From the “Call Now, Operators Are Waiting” Department: One place you won’t find a Zamboni is on an informercial. But you will be seeing more of them. Infomercials, that is. They are currently working well. The SD Union Tribune had an interesting article on Infomercials, given that there is an informercial convention going on down there. Yes, it does talk about Billy Mays. No mention of Ron Popeil. I think he retired.
  • From the “Is There Anyway To Stop Them” Department: Lastly, the NY Times has an article about a product making its return to the pharmacy shelves: the Today Contraceptive Sponge. There were days this was a really popular product, even making Seinfeld. But today, there’s such a variety of contraceptive products out there, who knows if it will succeed.
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Chum for a Tuesday Afternoon

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Some select items for your enjoyment. I really tried to see if there was a theme to connect them, but I couldn’t find one. Perhaps it will come to you.

  • From the “Meet Ronald, Your Barista Today” Department: The clown is taking on the mermaid. Or, to put it another way, McDonalds is taking on Starbuck’s caffeinated market. Now, I’m not a coffee drinker (my opinion is that coffee should either be in ice cream or covered in dark chocolate), but the marketing angle of all of this is interesting… as well as the writing of the article. McDonalds is evidently blizting the media with ads for its new McCafe, and I find advertising interesting (perhaps it is the Stan Freberg in me). I think these four paragraphs say it all:

    Sensing the opportunity to peel off some of Starbucks’ priced-out customers, the Ronald is launching a menu of cheaper cappuccinos, lattes, iced coffees and hot chocolate, most of which — judging by the first TV commercials — will be smothered in a foot of whipped cream. A series of three commercials will begin running this week: One, set in a nightclub and featuring Detroit soul singer Dwele, is directed at the African American community and highlights the sweet, chocolate-y McCafé options; a Spanish language spot has a young woman walking to work, daydreaming about her iced mocha, which apparently “complements all” her “desires” with sugar and caffeine. Me encanta.

    Speaking of being lost in translation: This campaign has a bit of a language problem, doesn’t it? “McCafé” is hard to say — having three stressed syllables — and American audiences have almost no experience with diacritical marks, so the acute accent mark on the final é is going to leave some fast-fooders bewildered.

    In spite of, or perhaps because of, the diacritical issue, the campaign’s general-audience TV spot (DDB Chicago) features ordinary people’s daily drudgery being transformed by a McCafé drink, so that “commute,” becomes “commuté” and cubicle becomes “cubiclé.” That seems somewhat lamé.

    In response to the McCafé campaign, Starbucks is pushing back with print ads this week touting the quality of its coffee. It needn’t fret its little mermaid head. McDonald’s isn’t selling coffee so much as caffeinated milkshakes, and the visuals associated with the first round of ads are likely to send dietitians screaming into the night.

    Mmmmm. caffeinated milkshakes.

  • From the “Avoiding the Screams” Department: Of course, if the screams are getting to you, you just need to concentrate more. The New York Times has an interesting article on concentration… and why we can’t concentrate. This explains the “ohhh, shiney” phenomemon (do do do do do phenomenom do do do do…, but I digress). Anyway, as I was saying:

    When something bright or novel flashes, it tends to automatically win the competition for the brain’s attention, but that involuntary bottom-up impulse can be voluntarily overridden through a top-down process that Dr. Desimone calls “biased competition.” He and colleagues have found that neurons in the prefrontal cortex — the brain’s planning center — start oscillating in unison and send signals directing the visual cortex to heed something else.

    More significantly, according to this researcher “It takes a lot of your prefrontal brain power to force yourself not to process a strong input like a television commercial. If you’re trying to read a book at the same time, you may not have the resources left to focus on the words.” Now, my opinion of this is … oh, look, another article.

  • From the “You Can’t Blame Dreamwidth For This” Department: Ever wonder why frank hasn’t been posting lately. Simple answer: LJ isn’t paying him enough, so he’s working at Google.
  • From the “I’m a Pepper, You’re a Pepper” Department: Frequent antique stores. You might find something valuable… like one of Dr. Pepper’s Earliest Formulas. Doesn’t sound very tasty, though…. Maybe frank will eat it.
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Marketing Fast Food

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Fast Food Advertising seems to be the subject of a number of news articles today. The LA Times Business section kicks it off with an interesting piece about how Carls Jr. has “sexed” up their advertising. The talk about a recent spot (YouTube link) that features the former Mrs. Salman Rushdie (better known as Padma Lakshmi) sitting on a brownstone stoop in a clingy sundress hiked up mid-thigh, cramming a giant burger into her educated maw and sucking barbecue sauce from her fingers and wrists. These come from the same agency that created the 2005 commercial with a nearly naked Paris Hilton lathering up a Bentley, and who directed the 2007 campaign for Carl’s Jr. flat-bun burgers, featuring a hip-hop duo serenading their high school teacher’s flat butt.

Speaking of butts, Burger King has brought out the creepy King to sell kids meals with ads aimed at adults. In an ad called “Spongebob Burger King” (YouTube link), the music is all about how the King likes square butts. Avert your eyes — it’s as bad as the Burger King Cologne. Burger King has also insulted Mexico with their ad, running in Europe, that uses the image of a small wrestler dressed in a Mexican flag (YouTube link). The wrestler teams up with a lanky American cowboy almost twice his height to illustrate the cross-border blend of flavors. Mexico’s ambassador to Spain said Monday he has written a letter to Burger King’s offices in that nation objecting to the ad and asking that it be removed. Jorge Zermeno told Radio Formula that the ads “improperly use the stereotyped image of a Mexican,” the Associated Press reports.

It really makes one appreciate the cleverness of Jack in the Box (which has a new logo). They’ve always had clever commercials (and yes, I remember Rodney Allen Rippy), and their latest, with the little cowboys, is quite cute (YouTube link).

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Super Bowl News Chum

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Now, I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that I don’t really follow sports. But this is Super Bowl weekend, and one just cannot escape it. So here are some Super Bowl observations noted from the lunchtime newsreading:

  • From the “Protecting a Brand, Part I” Department: The St. Louis Paper has a very nice article on A-B advertising for the Super Bowl, including how this year’s advertising will include a fable about how one Clydesdale came to America. At first, the horse struggles to find his way. But he perseveres and finds his true calling, paving the way for future generations. Along the way there is comedy and pathos. The immigrant horse would come over on the boat from Scotland, just like the huddled masses. (And a little bit like brewery patriarch Adolphus Busch, a German immigrant who came to St. Louis in 1857.) The horse would struggle to make his way. He would “try his hoof” at racing, but would be too slow. He would be too strong to move pianos. He would be bewildered in the big city, humiliated by little indignities — flowers in his mane, face covered by a girly pink mask — until he finds the job he was made for. Oh, and you should buy beer and not fear In-Bev, the new corporate overlords. They care about tradition. Of course, some are worried about how long A-B will keep up the tradition of shelling out the Super Bowl advertising bucks. A-B currently has 4½ minutes of advertising this year.
  • From the “That American Tradition, Football Advertising” Department: Although spending is down on other forms of advertising, prompting infomercials to run even during prime time, companies are still spending big on the Super Bowl. Well, at least some are. Some, such as FedEx and GM, have pulled out. But the big ads are still there, with some paying up to $3M for 30 seconds. This year there will be 3-D ads (including a 90-second commercial for Dreamworks’ “Monsters vs. Aliens”), and tire commercials that feature Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head taking a drive…, and of course A-B’s ubiquitous ads. Will the spending be there next year? Unknown. Most of this year’s buys were made before the October crash.
  • From the “Protecting a Brand, Part II” Department: Of course, Super Bowl Sunday is all about dignity and style. We saw that with Janet Jackson a few years ago. One thing we won’t be seeing this year is the PPV Lingerie Bowl. It has been cancelled, for various reasons. The first is that they couldn’t find a good location: when the organizers couldn’t obtain the proper permits to stage their event in a West Tampa vacant lot, they opted for a place called Caliente, which bills itself as the most luxurious of the dozen “clothing-optional” resorts that allow Pasco County to call itself “the nudist capital of the world.” The models in the bowl, however, refused to play there, citing either fears about having to “blend in” with the locals, or that it would be degrading to play football in their lingerie in a nudist camp (they did, after all, have their standards). As for the host site, Caliente was excited about the event until promoters suggested the locals there would need to dress, which they aren’t about to do. As a result, it appears the event is cancelled. But don’t worry. There are plenty of alternative locations with similar scenery hosting Super Bowl parties.
  • From the “Alternative Programming” Department: Not to worry, non-football fans. Animal Planet is bringing back its highly rated counterprogramming: Puppy Bowl V, with the Kitten-half-time show. [insert your puns here]. I’ve actually watched this some years — it is sickenly cute, but then again, <disgustingly-cute-voice>puppies</disgustingly-cute-voice>.

Me? I could care less about the Super Bowl. I am, however, interested in a program that will air after it out here in Los Angeles: A 1 hour special on KNBC’s 60th Anniversary of Broadcasting in Los Angeles. The TIVO is already set.

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How To Balance California’s Budget

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Riding the van home, an idea came to me. Consider:

  • California is having major budget trouble, and needs to raise cash.
  • Lots of people are upset about wrap-around advertising on buildings, which are (a) gigantic, and (b) block the light for those inside.
  • Freeways are state-owned properties, not subject to city regulations.
  • Freeways have miles and miles of empty sound walls, often covered with ugly tagging.
  • Taggers seem to not hit billboards as much.
  • Advertising brings in lots of money for those that put up the advertising.

Did that CFL just go on above your head? Did you just figure out how Caltrans could begin funding highway projects?

What’s next? Well, schools have all this wall space and are underfunded. Our universities? Loads of tall buildings, and a captive student population.

Of course, I wouldn’t want this happen (well, I might be able to live with it on soundwalls, as it does seem an effective use of the space and would only be present in urban areas). However, I could see the state turning to this if things get bad.

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