Monday, April 03, 2006

ADVERTISING ANOMALIES



I have some questions about the advertising industry. If you guys know anybody who is familiar with advertising, would you please ask him/her to please answer my questions? It seems to me (but what do I know from advertising?) that the advertising industry and those who criticize the people in advertising have gone over the top. Examples follow.

Do you remember the Budweiser ad that showed during the Olympics, the rooftop beer drinkers? These neighbors were telling their wives that they had to fix things on their roofs and in reality they were just going up to have some Budweisers. One of the guys sorrowfully informs his buddies that he really does have to fix his leaky roof and then proceeds to crash through the roof into his own living room. I thought the ad was funny.

But here come the critics! The critics complained that the commercial was dangerous because it showed guys drinking beer on rooftops and it’s dangerous to drink on a rooftop. (Somebody better tell all those guys on the rooftops outside Wrigley Field that they are in danger!) It seems that the beer industry has set standards for themselves and this ad allegedly fails to live up to the standard that says ads “should not portray beer drinking before or during activities, which for safety reasons, require a high degree of alertness or coordination.”

Oh, come on! Give me a break! They’ve been showing guys drinking beer when they are out with women forever and if that isn’t an activity that requires a “high degree of alertness or coordination,” I don’t know what is! And what about all the ads that show guys drinking beer at ballgames? How many guys have we seen drink a lot of beer at a game and then trip on the stairs and almost fall over the railing? Or the ads showing guys drinking beer and dancing? Dancing is dangerous enough when you’re not drinking beer!

How stupid do they think we are? The critics go on to complain that the Bud Light ad that shows football referees stealing beer and running from the police portrays illegal activity and sets a bad example. I don’t know about you, but I never knew it was so easy to run into a liquor store and swipe a six pack out of the cooler! Gee, maybe I should go try it! What a swell idea! If only I could find a referee’s jersey!

I’m really hoping someone will help me out here. The whole thing seems nuts to me. What do you think?

Please drink responsibly. And remember, blogging can be dangerous and should not be attempted while drinking Bud or Bud Light.

Thanks for stopping by.

1 Comments:

Blogger Smoking Christian said...

Well, I guess it's my job to answer your plea. Over the years, I worked for some pretty big companies and the state. All I can tell you is the following.

1. Most people, or in my experience, all the people who take the time and energy to find out the phone number of the client or the ad agency to lodge these complaints are nuts.

2. Yet, to me, it was always unbelievable how seriously a client would take one or two complaints. I always said if people knew how seriously their nutty complaints were taken, more nuts would call.
Most of my clients really freaked out.

3. On the other hand, it's a common ploy to run commercials hoping to get complaints. This is free publicity. Look at the famous Paris Hilton ad for Carl's Jr.

My advice? Ignore these complaints completely. Give them no thought whatsoever. You're either going to fall into the agency's trap or the nut's trap. I give it a 99.7% probability that it's one or the other.

What makes me such an expert? I was in advertising for 25 years and now I am a nut. So who could possibly see both sides better than I?

Case closed. Thank you for asking.

11:33 AM  

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