Monday, September 22, 2008

Put down the remote - it's time to review commercials

It's not a huge leap of faith to hate on commercials. It's probably one thing most people can agree on. They interrupt our beautiful television watching and force us to waste our disposable income on fancy toothpastes and magic towels.

To be fair, some are decent. In fact, although I think I'm one of 16 people that enjoyed the Seinfeld/Gates ad (go here to see what I said - and recognize my fear they would quickly soften the message and therefore weaken their overall campaign - exactly what they're doing by going away from the original ads). I will (and do) admit when I like an ad and think it's effective.

However...

Recently, I've seen two ads that I would probably rank as two of the worst ads in the history of television. One for it's attempt to pull at syrupy sweet heartstrings while at the same time be maddeningly hip, and the other one for using the stupidity of humanity as a marketing tool.

Check them both out on the flip side...


Eating McDonalds makes you a winner!



The sheer audacity of McDonalds airing this ad during the Olympics is mindboggling. It's bad enough to showcase poor sportsmanship at a pee wee soccer game (regardless of who gets their comeuppance in the spot) but to position the team of 8 year olds as "winners" because they received a bunch of happy meals and greasy products that the FDA has questionably categorized as food should be your quick ticket to Hell. And the other team that drops the trophy because they aren't currently scarfing down meat things and fried lard sticks shouldn't be depressed; they should at least now know why they won the soccer match. They weren't weighed down by fast food!

To use the Os Mutantes on the soundtrack works on a much more devious level in my opinion. As we all know soccer is beloved in the Latin and South American countries the song connects with all our Spanish speaking brethren and gets them to place at least one foot closer to the golden arches, not to mention the fact that it's trendy to have a hip soundtrack for commercials now.

But to play it during the Olympics has to be the cherry on top of the float. Yes, I am familiar with Michael Phelps billion-calorie-a-day diet which probably includes McDonalds from time to time. But if you think other athletes make McDonalds an essential part of their diet, like this ad subtly implies, well, then you are probably better off eating there.

As good as it gets...Pizza Hut Pasta



If I were from New York I would sue Pizza Hut immediately after seeing this. It uses stereotyping and stupidity to favorably compare Pizza Hut pasta to a neighborhood restaurant. I wouldn't be surprised if the mob already had a hit out on the makers of this commercial. On the flip side, what sane, rational human being would fall for this gimmick, see it played back, and then willingly sign a release form? I would say no one, but apparently there were enough to make this campaign.

3 comments:

khop said...

Make that 17 people (or among the original 16, whichever).... I liked that campaign too....

Anonymous said...

The KFC commercial where the dad is getting out of the car with a bucket of original and the kid is walking out of the house with "new" original strips...the "That is this?" commercial annoys the shit out of me.

I don't think my dad and I have coincidentally eaten KFC in the same month in our lives let alone within the same hour.

Goose said...

unfamiliar with the KFC one - or at least I've put it out of my mind. But I'm pretty sure my dad and I have never coincidentally brought home a bucket of KFC for dinner one night.