Product Placement --Extra Credit

When I was little I remember watching the movie 'Gone in 60 Seconds' and I'll never forget the scene where a Pepsi bottle is set down on a counter so the label purposely faced the camera and my mom saying "there's a million dollar commercial for Pepsi right there." Ever since then I always payed close attention to the way brands were advertised in movies. Once you notice it the first time it becomes a natural habit to point out each time a brand is used and also when a brand is altered to protect legal rights. I feel that paying to have a brand advertised in a movie is a brilliant idea because it's something that will have an affect on viewers for years to come. Plus it incorporates its brand with something the viewer already loves so they are more likely to try that brand or become loyal to it for that purpose.

Some examples of brands that use product placement in movies are:

White Castle burgers in Harold and Kumar



FedEx in Cast Away


Wonderbread in Ricky Bobby

Britney Spears

Out of all the bad habits American's have, Britney Spears has to be one of the leading ones. We can't get enough of the crazy celebrity gossip that floods the magazine stands as we stand in line at the grocery store, or the news stories about the latest trouble so-and-so has gotten into. Most Americans know more about the tragedies going on in celebrities' lives more than they know about the wars and terrors happening in their own, and the leading queen of bad behavior comes from none other than Ms. Britney Spears.

From spontaneous marriages to a bald head and a recent bi-polar diagnosis, Britney has managed to entertain America even after her music stopped playing on the radio. So, yeah, may she HAS cleaned up a little bit compared to the meth-smoking and ecstasy-popping accusations that were seen on the covers of many newstand magazines, but she still has a long way to go before the population takes her seriously again. And I mean a looong way to go. She has managed to bounce back in her music career with her latest song "Womanizer" but how long will she keep up her cleaned-up image?

If Britney can't accept the fact that the media is going to do the best they can to break her down then she needs to get out of the business before it kills her, literally. She needs to cut off the crazy partying and any offbeat behavior because the second the camera finds her slipping up it's going to blow up across the newstands. She needs to think about her behaviors and be more in tune with what she's doing because of all people she should know that the camera is ALWAYS watching. For instance, Britney keep a closer watch on your kids! Not only has the camera caught her driving with her child in her lap, but also with her kids holding her pack of cigarettes. She needs to care more about her diet and her health because the cameras are waiting at every drive through window hoping to catch her pigging out on that Big Mac and large fry.

But in the end I think Britney needs to think about choosing a time to retire, because being a superstar in today's world is much harsher and shorter lasting than rising to the top in the 80's or even early 90's like Janet or Mariah did. This makes it much more difficult to have more successes over slip-ups. So Britney, get a couple more tracks out, retire while you're on top and have a good image, then go live your life like an adult with a family!

New Image Advertisements

When a company is declining and starts undergoing changes to improve business they promote it through advertisements. The following are recent TV ads that I have seen and whether or not I think they work.

The major one out now is Ruby Tuesday. Even at the end of the commercial they say "at the new Ruby Tuesday." For years this restaurant was slow on business because the food didn't make a statement in the consumer's mind and their idea of the restaurant wasn't anything special. Now they are proving that their food is high quality by their hand-crafted burgers made of fresh beef. Their new options like the mini burger, turkey burger, and crab burger. Their commercials show variety and unique food options that even convinced me to give them a try (by the way the crab burger is AWESOME).

Another under-dog trying to prove itself is Burger King. We've all seen the commercials where they're competing with McDonald's on the size of their bargain food. I think this is great advertisement for people that eat fast food. Awhile back they had a very creative commercial where this guy with small hands had to eat a McDonald's burger because he couldn't fit his hands around a Whopper. This advertisement didn't actually make me go to Burger King to eat because I think fast food is gross but I still think the advertisement is great and has improved their business.

Message Appeal

Nowadays companies take different approaches in reaching their audiences through the content of their commercials. What works? What doesn't? Here are a few examples that I personally like or don't like based on their message appeal.

I absolutely love the new Volkswagen commercials with Brooke Shields. It's a good example of how humor and celebrities can be used in a positive fashion. I love how Brooke tries to be all serious in telling the audience that these women are getting pregnant just for German engineering. It is a funny and innovative way for a car company to sell cars when most of the other commercials focus on the serious facts about why their car is so much better or what they are doing to save the planet.

Another set of commercials I like are the new Burger King commercial. For the longest time Burger King has been the underdog to fast food burgers but I love the approach they are taking to advertising their recent menu changes over McDonald's serious, "we're finding ways to make you think our fast food is healthy even though we know it isn't" commercials. They use humor in a great way that keeps your attention while also getting the message across. For example, the commercial with the King reverse pickpocketing people. By the end you are entertained and know that Burger King is saving you money. And even though the newest commercial about the Mushroom 'n Swiss burger is a little out there, you can't help but be intrigued (even though you're asking yourself "what the hell are you watching" during the whole commercial) and watch the entire thing then see the burger and want to go get one.

I think the new truth ads about tobacco truth and safety are ridiculous and annoying. They are trying to get a valid point across using a commercials that turns into a musical halfway through leaving me with a "what just happened to my tv" look on my face by the end. I'm left asking myself why they even made a commercial like this that I'm actually overlooking the message they tried to convey about how a tobacco executive said that "maybe some men would beat their wife if they didn't smoke." This is an example about how humor shouldn't be used in a commercial. It isn't appropriate, it distracts the viewer from the real message they are trying to send out, and doesn't give any credibility to the source what so ever.

Another ad that doesn't work for me is the new Axe chocolate commercial. I find this commercial extremely offensive and I think it used sex appeal in the wrong way. After watching this commercial, I am once again left with the "what the hell" look on my face. It shows a man turning into a human chocolate bar after spraying on the new chocolate body spray. At the beginning the commercial seems like it could have potential but it's the way the women act in the commercial that disgusts me. It shows a woman dipping a strawberry into his melted stomach, a woman biting a chunk of chocolate off his butt, and two women groping on him and licking his face off in the movies. I just find the sex appeal to be very crude and uncalled for.

Creative Brief

Allstate Parent Teen Driving Contract

• Client Info: Allstate Insurance company
  
• Project: Parent Teen Driving Contract
• Prepared by: Allstate Insurance
• Approved by: Various TV networks
• Background/Overview: Allstate Insurance is one of the largest insurance agencies in the world. Trusted and well known they strive to portray a serious, realistic view of the necessity of insurance and safety. For this particular ad, Allstate creates an impact with a statistic by the narrator stating that "every year 6,000 teens go out for a drive and never come back." Allstate wants to make sure to include every type of person that way the viewer, no matter who they are, can somehow relate to the emotions going on in the commercial.
  

• The objective is to set an emotional reaction within the viewer, particularly parents, causing them to react to the request they make that by "just talking to your kids could make a difference" and then suggesting the Parent Teen Driving Contract.
• The target audience is parents; more specifically parents of teens who have recently gotten their license.
• The single most important thing we want to say is that the viewer (the parent) can help lower the number of teen deaths due to car accidents by having a heart to heart conversation and understanding/agreement with their child (Parent Teen Driving Contract)
• The supporting rational reasons include the fact that the commercial states that the amount of teen deaths in car accidents can be prevented by the viewer. The ad definitely hits home on the emotional side by having kids that the viewer can relate to, being able to visually picture and see the amount of cars in the commercial, the acoustic music playing in the background, and finally the last glimpse of the girl turning around to look back at you from the backseat.
• Insights include putting yourself in the place of the parent who just lost their child. Helpful information includes the statistics listed in the commercial.
• The creative team needs to be able to emotionally reach the audience since our main focus is a relationship between a child and a parent. It needs to have meaning, be powerful yet not blown out of proportion to where it appears unrealistic.
  

Messages That Don't Work

When creating an advertising message

The Brand Name Trap