Save the Polar Bears & the Cans

Those loveable polar bears are a staple in Coca-Cola's holiday ad campaigns.  This year, in addition to portraying the cuddly polar bear, the company is raising awareness of the threatened species.  Although ratings have lowered in the past presenting the polar bear, the company made a pledge to return the image for the holidays.

Coca-Cola thought they were being festive when it announced a snow white can for black Friday.  Unfortunately, consumers were not to jolly of the idea.  In fact, the company recently withdrew their holiday 'white can' sooner than originally planned because of consumer’s confusion with diet Coke. 

In an effort to raise money for the conservation of polar bears, the remaining $3 million funds for the Coca-Cola campaign will be donated to the World Wildlife Fund if the company does not redesign the holiday can by next week. 

Though it was a risky advertisement scheme, I hope other industries join Coca-Cola in helping protect the wildlife.

Wild Shopping

Black Friday commercials are all sort of annoying that have a tendency to get on my nerves.  Though for the 2011 shopping season, the crazy Target lady provided some comic relief from the overplayed ‘huge sale’ commercials. 

In the commercial, the crazy Target lady trains in various environments ‒ at home, inside and outside of target ‒ to prepare for the wild black Friday.  Counting down the days on her calendar, she physically and emotionally prepares herself to receive the ultimate sales Target has for the holidays.

I think the commercial perfectly personifies some of the outrageous shoppers the black Friday festivities have to offer. 

A father, a family, a Chevy

Marketers have long understood that emotion can play a critical role in branding. To achieve brand persistence, the consumer must buy your brand and feel an emotional connection to it.  People become emotionally attached to a brand for a number of reasons; the brand stands for something important to them, the brand never disappoints them or the brand just makes them feel good.

Chevy’s recent campaign slogan, ‘Chevy Runs Deep,’ does a great job maintaining the emotional connection their consumers feel when using their product.  Although the campaign has received lots of criticism, the promotion has done exactly what General Motors and its agency, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, intended: It’s a campaign that is “anchored on heritage.”

On the new campaign, the one advertisement that excited my senses was the commercial Chevy True Stories, “My Dad’s Car.”  It begins with a grandfather playing with his grandson on the swing set in the yard, when suddenly he hears the sound of his old Chevy.  As he turns around, he witnesses his son getting out of his old 1965 Chevy Impala.  The father nearly breaks out in tears when he realizes it’s the exact car he sold to pay for his son’s college education. 

It’s not the high-tech engine or the specificities that makes the Chevy an emotional brand, it’s the memories and basis for what binds families together.

It’s not crazy, it’s sports

While watching the Green Bay Packers take down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers yesterday, one commercial lingered in my head throughout the game.  Although I typically don’t pay much attention to sports commercials – since they're basically all the same – this advertisement caught my eye.  Want to know why? Check it out:

Alhough I am not a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, I loved the creativity ESPN portrayed through die-hard Steelers fans’ and their insistence on bringing The Terrible Towel with them all over the world.  In an effort to show that NFL fans are some of the most rabid fans in the world, Terrible Towels are being waved at Big Ben, Mount Rushmore, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Stonehenge, Macchu Picchu, Times Square, Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China. 

Personally, I would prefer to see people wearing cheese heads across the globe, but I must admit this is an impressive advertisement to reach out to sports fans.

Endorsements Never Stop

While the NBA is in the midst of a lockout, sports apparel brands are left in an extremely complex situation.  How do you advertise a sport that is currently not in commission?

In late September, Nike released an advertisement utilizing several NBA stars such as LeBron James and Kevin Durant in an exhibition game, having them wear t-shirts with the slogan, “Basketball never Stops.”  Recently, Nike followed up this campaign with a commercial of LeBron James, ‘the chosen one,’ in a spotlight independently practicing basketball on an outside court.  Even after the city closes business for the day, James dedicates his time to improve his physical strength and conditioning while perfecting his basketball skills.  The advertisement implies that the NBA is not the prime wellspring for basketball, and, contrary to popular belief, the sport will continue to exist in several forms.

The powerful advertisement personifies that while the NBA season may be on hold, Nike will expand their relationships with high-profile endorsers like Lebron James.  This brilliant advertisement has sparked player and fan interest in the game of basketball – and consequently the athletic attire used to play the sport.

Well done Nike, well done.

“Could I get a number two and a medium coke please?”

Over the years, this expression has become a popular custom in nearly every society around the world.  In fact, McDonald’s investment of billions of dollars per year in advertising has led to the Golden Arches being more recognizable than the Christian Cross! 

Although McDonalds has been a fascination across the globe and continues to produce quality hamburgers at an extremely low rate, they have acquired several enemies along the way.  The McSpotlight is a website consisting of a group of volunteers who are anti-McDonalds and debate why the company is harmful to the society.

Though it is clear the website has a strong bias against the franchise, I was astonished to find this print advertisement that McDonalds released in Sweden. 

It was hard to accept as true, but after reading it again, there it stands in bold yellow print: “We don’t hire Turks, Greeks, Poles, Indians, Ethiopians, Vietnamese, Chinese or Peruvians.”  Excuse me, are you serious? 

Only in the fine small yellow print on the bottom of the advertisement does the franchise express the meaning for the outrageous claim above.  It reads, “Nor Swedes, South Koreans or Norwegians. We hire individuals.”  Technically speaking, the advertisement accomplished its primary objective of getting people to talk about McDonalds, except it lacked the unique brand identity that McDonalds has constructed for itself over the years. 

Was this ad worth the potential racist tag as a franchise? Why did McDonalds in Sweden agree to such a campaign? What do you think?

America's Pastime

Baseball has one attribute that sets it apart from the other popular team sports such as football, basketball, hockey, and soccer. It has no clock.

In clock-limited sports, games often end with a team that holds the lead by killing the clock rather than competing aggressively against the opposing team. In contrast, baseball is a slow and relaxing game which is not constrained by time. 
 

Budweiser exploited this concept in a recent commercial promoting the Major League Baseball World Series.  From the beginning of the day when workers are watering the grass, raking the dirt and chalking the foul lines, the commercial has a relaxed feeling in preparation for the big game. 

As fans start showing up to the game while batting practice is going on, vender's begin grilling up rows of sausages, peppers, and onions.  Meanwhile, Budweiser displays how their product leaves the factory, carried onto the trucks and finally delivered out to the drinkers.

Just before the game begins, we see fighter jets flying over the stadium with the St. Louis Arch accurately displayed in the background.  Though I am still bitter that my Milwaukee Brewers fell to the St Louis Cardinals this postseason, it was an enlightening commercial to express the endless fun that Budweiser and baseball can offer.