Piers Fawkes got his panties all up in a wad last night.
Check this out:
What the heck? Steve Hall and gang spend Wednesday posting about a “new advertising” opportunity: advertising on eggs. Woo hoo, let’s write that into the media plan shall we? Or maybe not.
I really belive that the ‘Ads On Eggs’ articles that have run on AdPulp, MIT, AdRants reflect the misservice that the ad blogs are providing the advertising and marketing community. First of all, advertising on eggs is not new. It’s been around for years – couldn’t any of the experts writing the ad blogs remember that? Secondly, it’s dull. Thirdly – and most importantly – ‘Ads On Eggs’ is another celebration of what’s wrong with advertising – disruption and personal intrusion.
As a new batch of young recruits enter the industry, you know where they’re getting their industry info – from the ad blogs. I know there’s lots of people working hard behind the blogs but all ad blogs seem to do is celebrate the latest (non) viral and shiny ad. While innovative voices in the industry call for the development of intelligent conversation in the marketing process, the ad blogs tend hold up any intrusive ad method as leading example fo their industry’s work.
No wonder no-one likes us.
This critique is so off-base, I hardly know where to begin, or what to say. I’m shocked that it’s coming from Piers, I will say that. It seems so out of character. I wrote to him and asked him what his deal is, but no response as of yet.
Normally, I would not feel the need to explain my rather obvious technique, but given the situation I feel the need. I rarely say what I think about the ad news of the day. Yes, I hint at what I think in the headlines I choose. But I leave it to you to decide. I consider that good journalism. In this specific instance, Piers must think the headline, “How To Crack Consumers Up” is an endoresement of advertising on eggs. It is not.
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Well, leaving the ad blog stuff out, Piers is saying that more intrusion is not the answer. And we can can all agree that simply placing more ads in more places is only going to frustrate consumers more. I get that part, And in general, I agree. However, there is a little word that we all need to keep in mind when looking at the latest place willing to let us load a logo (whether we see it on a blog or not) and that is relevance.
Does it make sense for Nike or Chevy to advertise on Eggs? Probably not. Would consumers roll their eyes about a Dell ad on the shell? Sure. But, for instance, here at SHS, we have a client who provides the world with things like steak, bacon, pork chops and sausage. In this case, despite the intrusive nature of it, I think consumers would feel okay about a mention of our product. Or a URL with a recipe. Depending on how clever we were about it, they might even smile. But that’s only because it’s actually relevant to how the consumer might use the product. To Piers point, though, we’re gonna have to really self-police this slap a logo on everything enviroment we’re in right now. And you know how good the industry has been at that so far 😉
Now, you boys stop this scufflin’,
If you want to talk about the ads on egss thing, I’ll try to be absolutely clear—it’s fucking stupid, even if there is relevance, as there would be for a client that makes bacon. Presented with an ad on my eggs I, for one, would feel my eggs were tainted. And no one wants bad eggs.
Isn’t the whole point of a blog the conversation?
One blogger making a post on any given subject does not an endorsement make. The whole intention here, as I see it, is to start a conversation which can critique the ills (and celebrate the triumphs)of the industry. Audience participation is encouraged, with continued commentary from the author/blogger, which is where the opinions begin to reveal themselves.
Posting on a subject is supposed to begin dialogue, and part of the responsibility within your industry of Ads is to shoot down the intrusive stupidity in order to elevate the work, no?
Don’t shoot the messenger, yo.
Now who needs to chill! It’s no more stupid than ads anywhere else, David. Which is Piers point. Still, I think relevance does make a difference.
Eggs are food! Magazines, TVs, websites, outdoor boards, etc. are not. Advertising on food is stupid.
Then all those “Got Milk” stickers that Goodby put on bananas and other edibles (and got in the books) should be recalled! There are already lots of adlets all over food, David. Regardless, this line of discussion is a digression of the point I was really trying to make. And that is, as advertising people, we owe it to ourselves and our consumers to keep relevance in mind when we’re presented with all these “opportunties.” Which is why I said that this is no more “stupid” than the millions other “new” tactics out there. We can all agree that more interruptive ads in more places are only going to make things worse. But intrusive tactics are not going away tomorrow. As an industry, we’re going to experiment with them no matter what is blogged about or what isn’t. So, it does all involved good to put a strong focus on making sure that the messages carried by ads on eggs or on grocery carts or stamped into beaches or whatever is, at the very least, relevant to what the consumer is actually doing. That’s all. Now, let’s go to breakfast! Or lunch.
Of course, relevancy matters. I’m not arguing that point. I’m simply saying printing on an egg shell ruins the integrity of the egg (for me, at least). A sticker on a banana does not.
Lunch sounds good. You buying?
Can we also keep in mind that the point of the laser etching technology is to put expiration dates on eggs, which is a good thing. Advertising on eggs is now just a possibility – it’s a side “benefit.” I doubt clients are lining up to put their logo on an egg. I agree with American Copywriter – a message like “Just add Jimmy Dean” on an egg is an interesting, possibly even effective, use of advertising dollars. But eggs won’t sell Dell.
“it’s fucking stupid”
“no one wants bad eggs”
“Eggs are food!”
“Advertising on food is stupid.”
“Lunch sounds good. You buying?”
Anyone going to lunch with you had better book at a place with high chairs and plastic sporks.
Now that’s some funny shit, and so well informed.
Based on that heavy-handed sarcasm, I’d concede that you might be on 8th-grader form today, so forget the high chair.
Go back and read your posts, and ask yourself honestly whether your panties might not be wadded a little more tightly than Piers’.
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA This is the most ignorant thing I have read today.
Maybe you should head over to the National Review. I’m sure they can top it.