today's AMAZING TV AD : honda's "cog" 2 minute tv spot

for more on this, go to this post : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/2008/04/cog-honda-tv-spot-another-amazing-ad.html; april 14 post.
the inspiration is mount pinatubo when some years ago, all of a sudden, after decades of being dormant, it decided to erupt, spewing debris and ash several kilometers high, blowing ashes to float everywhere, far and wide, turning the skies gloomy gray as far away as metro manila, hundreds of kilometers away, covering metro manila streets and rooftops with thick ash. the pinatubo eruption was so powerful that its ashes changed the color of sunsets not only in the philippines but also worldwide.

that's what happens when clients and advertising agencies decide to run ads not worthy to be called advertising. its dark, its huge and very irritating and unfortunately, everywhere!

all they are doing is wawam! what a waste of advertising money!

here is a first row view of Philippine Advertising and Philippine Marketing.

mount pinatubo erupts shooting ashes several kilometers high, then floating to blanket many other towns hundreds of kilometers away

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Monday, September 8, 2008

microsoft seinfeld ad's hidden meanings discovered!

ads are supposed to be self-explanatory, not to mention they are supposed to be interesting. advertising talks about ad clutter and the fight for the attention of the audience. ads don't just fight against invisible enemies like boredom and disinterest, they also fight against a very concrete and real enemy -the tv remote control unit and the dreaded "change channel" button.

you know an ad is in trouble, that you have done a lousy ad and it's a WAWAM! when you lose on all fronts, above. the first sign and this is an absolute disaster, is when you find yourself having to defend and explain the meaning of an ad you just launched.

and that is what micrsosoft has been doing on their seinfeld tv ad since they launched their tv spot last thursday.

WAWAM! is again posting a link to this ad so that readers of this blog can watch it again.






after being in the advertising industry for a long time, i normally have to see an ad only once and i can tell if it's a good ad or not. it comes with years of training and thousands of ads that i have viewed and analyzed. i only view an ad more than once, usually 3 at the most when i need to make a formal analysis of it, something written and there is something wrong with it and need to find exactly what went wrong. this microsoft tv spot, i had to view 6 times.

after becoming a veteran watcher of this tv spot, i think i have found the secret meaning of the ad. as i have said, the power and the meaning of this ad is not obvious. it's not at all self-explanatory and that is why i embarked on a self-exploration of the tv spot.

since the meaning of this ad is not self-explanatory, i am forcing myself to draw the meanings from it :

  • the ad is about the problems of vista -- if at first install, there's a problem with it, over time, with hard work and lots of fixing, it becomes ok. that's what happened to the shoes bill gates bought. they didn't fit at first but with some stretching and a change in size, it turned out ok.

  • talks about value - with bill gates himself buying cheap shoes, it tells you that windows is good value on the long term. who would imagine bill gates buying cheap shoes? there is supposed to be humor in that. please, laugh.

  • the everyday-ness of the ad talks about how we use windows on a daily basis. and that it holds promise for the future. that's the last part of the ad. really, it is.

  • why bill gates wiggled his behind to fix his shorts is another story all together. don't ask me about that, i don't know everything. i guess there is also humor in that? laugh, please.


conclusion - yes, it's a boring ad. it suffers from a bad case of ADS! Sindrome. i had to firce myself to pick out those meanings from the ad.

the microsoft chief marketing officer said the ad was meant to start a conversation. first time i have heard of an ad like that and i honestly do not know what he means exactly by that.

aren't ads supposed to build brand equity? build brand image? persuade people? what happened to those? does that mean this ad is really not an ad? it's like a teaser for future ads?

it seems to me its all an excuse for coming up with a boring ad. if it's just talk or discussion that is their objective, they have achieved it. people are talking about it but unfortunately for the wrong reasons. most of the talk that has occurred centered on why they don''t like the ad and asking each other what the ad means. why spend money on ad that is not really an ad?

if this is just a teaser ad for future ads, i am totally scared to see the next ones! this ad is like a sample of what is to come, a track record established and it does not make me feel excited about the next ads. if the teaser ad is this boring, how can be next one do better?

no matter how you look at it, it's a WAWAM!





read more posts on this microsoft and apple ads here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/search/label/i%20am%20mac%20i%20am%20pc

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Microsoft tries to explain Seinfeld ad
Deborah Gage
Saturday, September 6, 2008


Did you "get" the new Microsoft commercial? Apparently, some people didn't, so Microsoft officials were calling reporters Friday to explain it.

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Nevertheless, the Microsoft officials who phoned reporters Friday said it is indeed a campaign to brand Windows, "the start of a conversation ... easily the largest marketing campaign we've ever had."

article parsed, read in full here : http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/05/BU7Q12P30T.DTL

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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 11, 2008 at 5:30 PM

    i've seen this ad so many times and i still don't get it. i don't even think there is anything to like in this ad.

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