When Janet Jackson exposed her breast during the Super Bowl halftime show, pundits called the stunt a calculated move to boost sales of her upcoming album. Then, a year later GoDaddy made good with a graphic Super Bowl commercial mocking the Congressional hearings held in response to Jackson's stunt. Clearly, sex sells. Now, as before. Carl's Jr. understands that, and they have the numbers to prove it. from Adweek: …
Remembering New Coke
Let us pause (a pause that refreshes, if you will) to remember that this spring marks the 20th anniversary of the introduction of New Coke, one of the most studied marketing blunders of all time. I lived in Atlanta back then, and it wasn't pretty. But the whole episode taught us a couple of things: All the market research and blind taste tests in the world can't predict human behavior, and that marketers don't …
KFC Puts The “Kentucky” And The “Fried” Back Where It Belongs
USA Today and several other media outlets are reporting on the new concept from YUM Brands of Louisville, KY …
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Why Does “An Army Of One” Need My Son?
Sun Times advertising columnist, Lewis Lazare, explores the rigorous work being done by Leo Burnett on behalf of the Army. Gosh, it's gotta be tough -- crafting commercials that persuade parents to encourage their offspring to enlist in the Army, when almost every day we see and read of more carnage in Iraq. And Iraq, of course, is just one of the battlefields where American soldiers find themselves stationed in what …
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The Ad Industry On Drugs
This article in Ad Age talks about the FDA's recent decision to pull ads for Levitra and Zyrtec off the air due to misleading claims. What's interesting here is that pharmaceutical companies seem to be doing what other comsumer marketers used to do, and have been trying to get away from: make claims of superiority, or "puffery" if you will, and bash the competition in the ads. As long as pharmaceutical marketing is …
I’ll Have Quiche With My Spritzer
Jonah Bloom of AdAge waxes poetic as he laments the retirement of Miller High Life man. That many of America …
Tastes Great Less Litigation
from Brandweek: The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has ruled that Miller Brewing did not violate regulations relating to comparative advertising nor did the No. 2 brewer make false, misleading and disparaging statements in spots that took on rival Anheuser-Busch. The SABMiller unit's "Good Call" TV ad campaign showed football referees penalizing Bud Light and Budweiser drinkers for toting beer with "less …
We The Makers Of This Product…
Tim Nudd at Adfreak rightly questions the packaging trend whereby humorous quips are placed on the product label. We …
