Chiat Day Uses Leprosy and Violence to Shill Skittles

I’m not sure I have ever seen a more unappealing ad for candy, seriously. I’m sure it was funny when everyone was high during the concepting phase but it just grosses me out.

(I am not the target. I am not the target. [gentle rocking of the body] I am not the target.)

Hat tip to brandflakesforbreakfast.

Obama Understands Marketing

Obama has thus far out positioned the competition in the Democratic and Republican primary season. He stands for change. While change is perhaps not the clearest positioning when you dig into it, on the surface it resonates. It depositions Hillary, his key rival, as a Washington incumbent. All that’s missing now is “we need a change from the Bush-Clinton-Bush way of doing politics,” which would resonate with both Democrats and Republicans. And this Super Bowl spot is one of the best political ads that I have seen, not that there was much competition.

I Love Toast, SPAM…Not So Much

I’ve never seen toast look so good and SPAM look so…SPAMy. By the way, is there any correlation between email spam and the pork product of the same name? I don’t think I like either one but only one of them comes from Nigeria and promises to make me more of a man.
Toastvertising here.

Equally good making of video here.

hat tip to agency tart

Orangina Advertising or What’s going on in France?

Cadbury Schweppes appears to have spent buckets of money to create this television spot for Orangina in France. Now, I often feel that America’s views on sex in the media should be loosened up a little bit and that our graphic depictions of violence could be toned down. That said, this isn’t how I remember Bambi.

A Lesson About Marketing in the YouTube Age

Unilever has successfully created two strong health and beauty brands in Dove and Axe. Both have strong points of view and viscerally connect to their audiences. Dove does it through “Real Beauty,” asking its audience to reject superficial stereotypes of gender and beauty; Axe through promoting superficial stereotypes of gender and beauty by using promiscuous sex as a vehicle. The brands are two of the best communicated in the industry, leveraging different sides of the same issue. Both score highly on shock value, both have extremely devoted consumer followings and both are, of course, owned by Unilever, which some now see as a big fat (not that there’s anything wrong with that) hypocrite.

But is it hypocrisy or is it just marketing? Independently, both brands are compelling but Dove has chosen a manifesto as its campaign as if on a crusade against traditional beauty brands. It asks its audience to vote with the brand’s mission by buying its product. A valiant effort, but it turns out it’s difficult for the King to lead a rebellion. Especially in the age of increased marketing transparency.