The desperate problem of advertising

[nancylebov]

Advertising has to be different enough to stand out, while being standard enough to be comprehensible and attractive.

There's been a lot of advertising. The "different enough" part has clearly overwhelmed all other considerations.

Now, just for you.....$30,000,000 worth of WTF! ETA: Actually, these ads are part of a $30,000,000 campaign. I don't know what the ad cost.

I wonder how much of that money was spent on rights to the animated characters. Obviously none of it was spent on anyone with any taste, or if was, they had no authority.

If LSD had anything with this ad, it must not have been as good as what Steve Jobs took.

Link thanks to richardthinks, who's been collecting very odd advertisements.

Correction thanks to agrumer.

Comments

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

Saw that on Tv... up until the bleedingly obvious product placement, it was a case of 'guess what they're advertising'...then it was 'oh hey, advertising for kids with ADHD'.

[andrewducker]

I think it's a fantastic ad - largely because it's had people talking about it. I've not heard people talk about an ad this much since the Old Spice ads. As far as brand management goes, I'd say they've done a great job.

[kiya]

Huh, the Mr. Men guys! I sometimes wonder if I was the only person who knew what they were, but they have enough cachet to show up in incomprehensible advertising somewhere.

[kgbooklog.livejournal.com]

The books were reprinted last year.

[avram]

The article I've read describes it as a $30-million ad campaign. That's not the cost of the ad itself, but the whole range of ads built around this message, plus the costs of airtime to run the TV ad, billboards and magazine placements for the print versions, etc.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Thanks. That makes more sense.

[richardthinks.livejournal.com]

what gets me about it, retrospectively, is that it's not advertising to the kids at all - it's advertising to their parents. The kids don't know about Knight Rider or probably Yogi Bear. They may know Transformers but it's not the latest greatest thing. So this is a nostalgia trip aimed squarely at the people actually paying for the yogurt. That would be me.

I felt less scared when I thought it was aimed at those crazy kids.