REI #OptOutside - Jerry’s Office

On occasion, an ad will cross my path from either tv or internet based tv, that has a message or feeling that I just gotta hunt down and share. REI's #OptOutside ad was one of these. Filmed in a straight-forward mood with inspirational under-tone the ad persuaded message is to go outdoors on Black Friday rather than go shop in-store. The video completes with a touch of light humor to give the spot an incredible feeling of coming full circle on requirements for good advertising. (plus everyone knows that the best Black Friday shopping happens online without the lines!)



I can say that the Idea was a success and, after sharing it with my family, we are planning an outdoor lunch / hiking trip to spend our day. Most likely with our cell phones in hand to shop in the mountains like nature intended!

This Unicorn Changed the Way I Poop - #SquattyPotty

I came across this lovely gem of Squatty Potty's latest advertisement strategy on Facebook. The randomness of the image I was looking at BEGGED for me to click; And, like a renaissance gentleman describing how a stool could be beneficial to colon health using an ice cream pooping unicorn for example, I obliged. The add itself is thoroughly informative while being strangely entertaining in the sense of "WTF am I watching?" kind of way. Riddled with cheesy dialogue and unique sense of humor the add was distracting enough to have me sit through the entire thing AND follow up with a share of the link to derail the productivity of my loved ones. In that point of view the Ad is a total success. In the View of giving me night terrors about ice cream the ad is also a success.

Informative + Entertaining x Distractability = "Good" Advertising

The GOOD - Dos Equis Masquerade

Dos Equis - Choose your own advertisement adventure

Dos Equis has struck advertising gold with a choose-your-own-adventure style advertisement that places you in a masquerade party hosted by whom other than The Most Interesting Man In The World. Upon Entering you are given a mask and are able to choose which route to take through the party on a quest for TMIMITW's little black book.

Bringing you into the advertisement and letting you interact and choose how the story unfolds is a major breakthrough in advertising. Rather than blasting you with product shots and incentives to buy, this advertisement provides something that others fall short of; Entertainment Value.  I stumbled across this as a Pandora ad, and rather than skipping past this, I was captivated, entertained, and actually stuck around for 5 minutes exploring the party (which is amazing considering I usually have a hard time keeping my rather short attention for even a 30 second spot)

Once the little black book is found the user gets an entry to attend an actual Dos Equis masquerade party in New Orleans.


Bravo Mr. Most Interesting Man In The World

And Bravo Dos Equis for being able to capture my interest in a well done advertisement campaign.

Modern Marketing

The modern marketing of companies are at a stale-mate. Fighting over market share of a slow growing economy, companies are now forced to make decisions in marketing and advertising to grow a persona of the company itself. With product features being so nearly identical between opposing companies the choice of which to choose has become trivial coolness and relating to the consumers lifestyle. Rather than focusing on product features companies must focus on building their brand as a trustworthy likable source of consumerism necessity. (Your new best friend that has the newest coolest thing to offer you) 

Companies must move the mentality of their marketing strategy from

"Buy this! look how great this is." to "Look how great this is, If you'd like you can buy one." 

Projection Advertising - Advertising without limits

Projection advertising is nothing new, But when done in a way no-one has ever seen before it can definitely leave some lasting impressions. With projection advertising, 2 dimensional surfaces can become anything that the advertiser or team can think up. Limits are only created by the size of the surface being projected on and the imagination of the team who put the ad together.

You want the car to burst through the wall like an automotive Kool Aid Man?     DONE!

You want it to look like a band is playing a live performance to promote a CD release?      DONE!

Anything you can imagine can be presented to the public to leave a lasting impression of 

"WOW... I have never seen anything like that before"

Here are some ads that have already used projection advertising to promote a message to the masses.

And what can be done with some added shadows and a creative mind.

Here is an advertisement for the movie The Tourist. Even though the movement is interesting the advertisement itself is somewhat dull. ALWAYS remember that the message must match the medium.

(Note the 3 dementionality of the ad and how the advertisers played with space)

THE GOOD - Unique Public Advertising

Advertising success hold itself to two things: The Clarity of the message, and The memorable way in how the message was delivered.  The average person is unwantedly bombarded with advertisements from all angles and mediums, who wouldn't be tired of seeing another billboard or poster proclaiming a reason to buy this or purchase that. What people crave is something out of the ordinary, something playful and WORTH remembering so they can tell a story while standing around their water cooler later that day.  Make someones mundane walk to work or the bus unique and the product will sell itself.  

In a world littered with advertisements; Art is a fresh escape.

Print Ads: The Good, The Bad, and the WTF?

The Good:

Intelligence meets funny and has a success with KelOptic.com. Van Gogh was known for his impressionist paintings, little did we know he painted that way due to an astigmatism. Clever, funny, and easy to understand even if you dont know the artist. But heres the question thats going to be keeping me awake tonight; Could Van Gogh wear a pair of glasses? I would lend an ear to the person who has that answer.

The Bad:

Ok Burger King; we get it. your like a less classy Carl's Jr. You want to attract a demographic and the sandwich was 7 inches, so lets get a pretty girl to simulate sex with it.. Come on BK, Im not saying you cant use a woman to sell food, Im not even saying simulating sex with that food is a bad idea, But if your going to go that route then at least put some clever thought into it!!! Im curious as to what agentcy pulled this out of their ass in 5 minutes. So now every time you eat Burger King, just keep in mind; Dont choke and remember to swallow. 

The WTF?:

Really Babies R' Us?!? Really? Clever coupon pun or joke that came too soon?