I probably see more than 100 films at the cinema each year. In addition to the films, I see at least 500 previews for even more films, as long as I'm on time, which I usually am. I love the previews; they're the best parts of the films, scientifically (probably) constructed to whet the viewer's appetite for more movie. Then there are those delicious turn-your-phone-off-messages, a stroke of brilliance brought to you by Cingular Wireless, once upon a time with Sydney Pollack and now with Martin Scorsese.
But the best advertisement of all - the one to help wash down all that other cinematic goodness - is easily the one from Coca-Cola. Coca-freaking-Cola! Whether it really is the best cola or not doesn't matter because you don't drink Pepsi. And if you don't drink Coca-Cola, it's only because your mummy and daddy said you'd be sinning if you did. But I bet you drink it anyway.
But let's just say you don't drink it. If you don't, it's certainly not because of their advertising. I just want to say right up front that Coca-Cola has the best advertisers in the world promoting the Coca-Cola brand. Not Sprite, not Coke Zero - Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola adverts are never boring. That's not always true of Sprite or Coke Zero adverts, but that's beside the point. Anyway, let me prove it. Here's a 60-second spot from cinemas a year or two ago:
That was so cool! So likely most of you don't like Grand Theft Auto. But that was a cool piece of advertising. Did you even realise that was GTA-themed? The man at the counter in the shop ... wait a minute, what's this? He's not robbing me? He is just buying a Coke? Cue happy music from 1976 film Bugsy Malone (that's right, not just something the youth can relate to).
♫ You giv'a little [Coke] and it all comes back to you! Da da da da da da da. You're gonna be remembered for the things that you [drink] and do. Da da da da da da da. ♫
Anyway, the lyrics go something like that. Give money to the poor, save an old lady's bag from being stolen, da da da da da da da. Walk down the street with a smile on your face and you'll be followed down the street by a procession of joy. Da da da da da da da. Gee, that's a catchy tune, and I've got chills down my spine. Wait a minute. Coca-Cola is making people feel good about themselves? Does that work? They are trying to sell a product, right? I mean, didn't we just learn in class that advertisers don't want you to feel good about yourself, right? Was I sleeping? Can this paragraph possibly be more rhetorical if I ask another question?
Sorry, back to the point. You probably don't think I have one, but I do, hidden somewhere in the dregs of this post. But first let's watch another advert I've seen a lot in cinemas:
Hehe, so that was pretty neat, too. Good-looking guy stands at Coke machine and thinks he hears that clever little Coke jingle and we find ourselves thinking it really would be cool if all that effort went into each and every bottle of Coca-Cola. We smile and another chill goes down my spine.
Stop. I promise I'm not advertising for Coca-Cola. I don't even drink it (though not because I think I'll burn in hell or anything, fyi). But we can learn a lot from the kind of advertising we see year after year, not just from Coca-Cola, but from dozens of other well-established brands. Do companies like Coca-Cola, Nike, McDonalds, etc, actually have to advertise? They aren't exactly struggling. Their brands are institutions. You would think it's an advertiser's dream to work for a company like that, because work would be effortless and high-paying.
No one is above advertising, not unless they don't want to make a fortune. Ramble, ramble, ramble, sorry, I'm almost done. But it seems we're entering a new era of advertising. What do I know? I'm just a silly print major. Can advertising actually make us feel good about ourselves for being ourselves? Well, maybe if being ourselves means we have a coke in our hand. Wait, no, we don't even have to have a Coke in our hand. That was just a feel-good message. Well, I'm convinced I might buy a Coke, so the advertisers have done their job, and they did it better than anyone else.
They didn't just make an advertisement. They made a piece of art. Advertising is art. Some of it is really good, some of it is classic, some of it is pornographic, some of it is not art at all. I guess that just depends on what you think about it personally. So what are your favorite pieces of art lately?
34 comments:
My favorite pieces of art?-- Well that fairy tale, each bottle of coke is so special ad-- well... it just tugged at my heart strings! I think advertising has two broad categories and both can work well depending on the product you are trying to market. A girl who gets scorned at school for having acne, uses the new facial wash and becomes the "home-coming queen." can work. ( Category 1) But so can the average joe who buys a coke and feels like his coke was brought to him by fairy tale characters, after it was prepared for him alone, making each drop with love and care, and optimizing the temperature by placing it on poler ice-caps, and when he gets his coke, he becomes a macho man who can make everyones day as he walks down the street. (Category 2) I think we have desire to be needed and appreciated and advertising shows you what will happen to us if we do NOT have the products to make us special ( Category 1) and what will happen when we do have the products (Category 2).
FYI - Coca Cola is way better in Mexico! But as for art in commericials, Apple wins with its ipod commericals with a black figure dancing in a colored background. Unfortunatly you don't see those now, and Apple's new ads are rather boring and stupid.
Honestly something I don't understand is why there are so many awful TV ads. You would think with all the creative advertizing majors in the country we would never have to watch a crummy commercial again, but we do more than we don't! Coke and Apple as well as many others do a great job with the thought and care they put into advertizing, but what about everyone else?
I think that the best commercials are the ones that make you laugh. Now I don't know if I have ever bought something just because the commercial made me laugh, but they sure are more fun to watch. I think the best advertisements are the ones that go outside the ordinary and make you think. That is what gets people thinking. For example http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/files/2006/02/lorry%20advertising.jpg
I agree with Nathan that the funny commercials are usually the best.
The idea the funny commercials are best relates back to the idea that we live in an entertainment culture. We want to be entertained, and a boring commercial about health insurance isn't going to be very exciting.
I think in that aspect Coca-Cola and other established companies have an advantage. They don't have to work as hard to see a product that millions of people already buy. All they have to do is keep making ads that entertain, in order to remind their customers that they are a cool and fun company.
In contrast, new start-up companies might not be able to put the same humorous spin on their ads because they have to explain more of who they are and what they do in order to inform consumers. Rather than simply entertaining or pacifying. these companies must work first introduce a product, before they can sell a lifestyle.
http://soundboard.com/sb/real_men.aspx
haha i know this is for beer, but they are hilarious and one of the longest running radio commercial campaigns ever.
please make sure you listen to:
silent killer gas passer
and
overzealous foul ball catcher
My favorite was a Dove commercial that showed a woman sitting down in a makeup chair, having her face done and hair curled, and after the photographs were take, her neck is digitally lengthened, her eyes made larger and other fine tweaks, then place up on a billboard.
The caption read something like "When the model doesn't even compare to her own image, our ideals of beauty must be messed up." I loved that ad.
Still, I think you were arguing against a fairly moot point from that documentary. Sure, there are times when our advertisements are socially conscious and don't buy into the general spread of discontent, but those individual works are isolated.
What is more harmful is the general trends presented by the social institution we call advertising. It isn't always helpful to look at the individual works of art if the trend is still going the same way.
But it does prove that there is a high road for those advertising majors.
Favorite art...if we're talking about advertising art I'm going to have to go with the advertisements like on the jcrew website. I love color placement, music, foreign countries, etc. I'm a classic romantic. The ad on their site tells a story without blaring the message right in your face. It's simple, classy, and beautiful. Something like that could become timeless. I agree-it's not totally creative, edgy, and groundbreaking, but it is beautiful. And they tailored their ad to those in their target market, a market that appreciate the beautiful things in life.
I haven't had TV for awhile, but my favorite commercial when I was watching TV was the honda one were the people are stuck in the road stranded by a buffalo and the guy with a Honda SUV stops and offers them a ride, but they don't think they'll fit, but they will, then they are worried about not having enough cupholders, which they will, so they all get in and the closing line is, "that bison got my blood a-boiling". it's a great commercial because it answers questions about the car, and is informative, but because it's humorous and so far-fetched the viewers are too busy being entertained to realize that they are being educated about a product.
I am a huge fan of the Mac and PC commercials (and it has nothing to do with my bias toward Mac computers!). I think it's genius how they have personified the different operating systems. I also have a long time favorite that can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg8HePf3wzw
I think it's beautifully filmed with the one continuous movement as the car parts create chain reaction. Everything is natural with no special effects. The only CGI was the lighting.
As for companies such as Coke, Apple and Nike, I think they've created such a monopoly on product placement in television and movies that we are so used seeing their products and logos! It's such a smart move on their part and a creative way of advertising to the masses. Think about it: When we see a new movie and one of the characters has a laptop, you can be sure that a white apple will be looking back at you. Genius!
my favorite ad showing a lifestyle instead of a product...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTU2He2BIc0
(and just to keep it balanced, i'll throw this one in, too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hde4xYDmJf0&feature=related)
i don't know if it's because i'm from the east coast and know too many people who act like that, but that video is just so hilarious to me. the first time i saw it i thought it was so clever. i like when ad campaigns are more about just the product and give people something to talk about.
I agree with people, the Mac commercials are pure genius. I like the ones where the guys are standing in a white room, one being a Mac and the other a PC. It seems to create this huge gulf between the two, basically saying you're a poindexter if you use a PC. I think ads are brilliant, as stated in the blog, when they sell a lifestyle or an experience rather than just a product.
The best ads (like the best blogs) are short, funny, and to the point. To me, ads are the most convincing and memorable when they are part of a series like the Geico caveman commercials or the Mac vs. PC ads.
The Mac vs. PC ads are especially effective because the viewer not only remembers the brand, but also the overall message. This is because the overall message of each of the ads is the same. When you hear "PC," you probably immediately have the image of a middle-aged, obsolete, out-of-touch, overweight man that is clueless about his shortcomings come to mind. Hearing the word "Mac" undoubtedly evokes images of a young man that is fun, smart and in-touch, yet too cool for school.
If you are fun, smart or cool (or want to be), your computer-buying decision has already been made for you.
-- Michael Williams
Your first question.."Can advertising actually make us feel good about ourselves for being ourselves?" You mention that Coke advertisements do this, but their not the only company that does. Dove came out with an amazing ad campaign called "Dove Campaign For Real Beauty Worldwide." The campaign's website states: "Dove Mission: to make more women feel beautiful everyday by widening stereotypical views of beauty." Here are some ads that make you feel good about being you!
And Artwork!?! Audi (Automobiles) came out recently with some of the most classy ads I've ever seen. The shots mixed with the music is amazing. It's a random one, but it's one of the few ads I get sucked into immediately and think about after it's past! Check out their "Audi A4 'Separation' commercial" and "A4 'Living Room' Commercial"...
I love when advertising is unique and entertaining. As an advertising major I love watching commercials, when others flip through the channels when your show goes to commercial break. That's when my show begins. I love to sit back and see what kind of messages will be told, how will they be told and if they will be executed appropriately. I love the Jack and a Box ads, Nike, Coke, Sonic and so on. They all leave you with a feeling, whether it be shivers down your spine or a motivation to get up and work out.
Coke does do an amazing job of advertising their product, and it is so refreshing to see an ad that doesn't promote feelings of inadequacy but instead makes you smile. And i agree completely with your point that advertising is art. The better artwork you create the more buzz you create and consequently the more product you sell. I recently saw an ad for Honda using a intricate Rube Goldberg contraption with the tag line, "because it's nice when things work." This was a seriously awesome commercial and it was super fun to watch--It was really effective at the same time. Advertising is definitely an art form.
My favorite pieces of advertising lately have been from Nike. The amazing thing about Nike for me, is that they create culture. Their advertising creates culture that people follow, a culture in which Nike is predominant (and that's why they keep making money). I know that this is a few months old, but the NIKE SPARQ ad, is my mind, one of my favorite in a long time.
The last commercial that required my attention every time it showed was the Nike commercial featuring Stephen Jackson of the St. Louis Rams and another player from the Chargers - I'm sure you all remember it. The theme song to "The Last of the Mohicans" is playing and it shows one of the player running, juking and dancing his way past the defense and the numerous defenders. His actions never cut away, but as he cuts in and out we are treated to flashes of rain and snow - very seamless. At the end, he dives for the end zone and it cuts away before we see him making it. Every time I saw that commercial for months, I had to watch it. It was spellbinding. Nike makes wonderful commercials that has always made me buy their shoes or at least select their brand when possible. I can't say the same thing about Reebok.
Secondly, as an owner of a Mac and a PC, I must say I am very tired of the Apple produced "I'm a PC" Ad's. A few have been clever, but after another year of negative advertising with unfair stereotypes that unfairly skew the differences between the two, I must say those ad's had no effect on my purchase and have caused an increase in my animosity towards Steve Jobs. That's another story. I am proud of Microsoft for the latest campaign that acknowledges the Mac ad's by saying, "OK, I'm a PC, and I'm proud of that." The ads actually show users, real and normal people - they are not all fat computer nerds like Apple shows - some are very "cool" with all sorts of backgrounds. Apple has only 5 to 6 % of the 2007 market.. So I think positive advertising stressing the positive experiences of their users would be a much more effective and respectful campaign, in the "Coke Spirit."
I have to agree with you that it is pretty weird that Coca Cola is uses these feel-good type advertisements to sell their products, but like you said, their product is so well known, they hardly have to sell it. What they are promoting is their brand name and image, and they're doing a great job of it.
As far as pieces of art, I don't know if it would be considered art so much, but I'm of the group that loves the humor, especially weird humor, and the best at that to me are the Skittles, and Altoids commercials. They're a little SNL-ish and I dig that.
I think those Campbell's Soup print ads are pretty good, they're done by some creative boutique, what was it's name?... Andy something or other...
I just saw this ad for the first time today and it really caught my attention. I was interested in how much it appealed to everyone which has always kind of been what PCs are about. I personally am a huge fan of Apple products and I'm not sure how much creativity this really took to create but it did it's job quite well. I was running at the gym and it caught and kept my attention and I remembered it long enough to go find it online and share it with everyone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V7NoRjI0H0
I think that the true art in advertising comes out when it can move you to want to talk about it and doesn't have to necessarily rely on humor to do that. I agree that usually funny ads do really well and get the most viral attention, but the art that I see in advertising is in ads that you want to watch over and over again because of the powerful imagery, music, and message. I love the VW Cabriolet commercial where Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" is in the background and it just shows some friends driving through the night. We watched it in my Comms 495 class the other day and without even saying a word it had me so entranced and captivated. I love when advertising can evoke that much feeling while selling a product.
I love the funny commericals. They grab my attention and I end up actually wanting to buy a product/service. I come from Uganda, and the ads that Mercedes has down there are just amazing. They aren't the traditional boring ads that car companies come up with but they are just brilliant. Anyway of late, I'm in love with the Seinfeld-Gates ads. Very hilarious. Maybe cos I'm a Seinfeld fan but I thought that they were just brilliant.
I generally don't tend to remember ads unless they are funny or somehow visually appealing. It is interesting to consider the huge companies that still advertise. Why does McDonald's need to advertise, or Coca-Cola? Those companies are generally only in such a position because of the money spent on advertising and continue to do so.
Funny commercials are good... but really the ones that blow me away are more visually impressive. take this commerical that i will never forget actually watching my roommate watch it for the first time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1latJ7K8zc
Possibly the sweetest commerical ever... and it made my roommate freak when he saw the dude jump head first onto a basketball court... good times.
but that's effective because even though i really don't know what that even has to do with sprite, i will never forget the commercial! it's one of my favorites!
Wow, that was a long post. I agree that Coke has always had great ads. Right now my favorite ads are from Nike. I loved the ones the showed during the olympics. Especially where they showed when Marvin Gaye remixed the Star-Spangled Banner. They had all the highlights from the practices of the olympic team. I also like the ads from Burger King. They are getting funnier and funnier with the use of the King when he is putting money in people's pockets.
Just like the super bowl, my favorite ads are from the Olympics. They are so creative and unique and keep the attention of the audience since they are all related to sports. And if you do not like sports, you probably are not watching the Olympics to begin with. I agree with Michael by saying that the Nike ads were the best. They motivate all of us at home to get up and be active! Nike's definition of an athlete is everyone with a body. That means everyone. There is no excuse, and Nike easily motivates us to be an athlete, whether we will make it to the Olympics or not.
this was a good observation. i think coke completes the american dream, whether we believe it or not. it's the drink of drinks. the ads further this statement.
I like the "art" that is usually really random. Someone talking softly in the camera and then is brutally attacked by a football player. Those ones always seem to resonate with me. But an advertisement that can completely create and display and conclude a creative thought is what I call "art". The money that goes into these advertisements are incredible. I would say that even the most causual, seemingly thrown together advertisement, was in actuallity maticulously thought out and planned.
Coca-cola commercials are pretty good, especially the GTA themed one. I've seen that one before and thought the message is very good and it is interesting that it doesn't even market the product...COKE! But usually whenever advertisments appeal to the emotions of consumers I think it always goes over well. I personally like the humorous commercials during the Super Bowl. The Fedex commercials are usually pretty good and funny like the caveman trying to send a package.
I like the Pepsi commercials just as much as the Coke ones. One Pepsi one I like is with this little boy watching TV, and then Shakira comes on. She comes from out of the TV screen and takes a drink of the little boy's Pepsi bottle. If only that could happen in real life, but unfortunately, it's just TV. ha.
Somebody mentioned that the Coke is better in Mexico. If you want to know why, I recommend you read "The Revolution" by Ron Paul (my president). Anyway, my favorite piece of advertising art right now would have to be the recent Sony commercial where some shopper tells Peyton Manning and company that he doesn't like sports. To me, it's art--comedic art. I died laughing the first time I saw the mascot chicken try to jump the table to attack the shopper. Does comedic art count?
"Give a little love and it all comes back to you!" I love this commercial. I took a no carbonated drinks vow over a year ago, but this commerical made me seriously reconsider. I don't have cable at my house so I haven't been keeping up with the latest ads, but there are a few companies that always have good advertisement. Apple ads always make me want to go buy a new computer and wish I would have never invested in my PC. Also, while I was home over the summer I loved the Olympic themed advertisements. I really liked the Visa Go World commericals...I thought they were pretty ingenious. Also the AT&T commerical with Nastia Liukin was pretty creative.
Lots of people have already talked about this, but I love the Mac and PC ads as well. I think they are very simple while still being extremely effective in creating a brand image for Apple. I have certainly caught myself watching these commercials several times and convincing myself that I needed to buy a Mac. I also really like how they are almost a continuous story line...each new ad includes at least the usual two main characters (mac and PC) in some sort of humorous interaction, that in the end gets Apple's point across to show how their computers are better. I think the use of sarcasm and humor really appeals to our generation.
I love coke. I actually grew up calling all soft drinks coke. Does it really give you the things it says it will like popularity or being cool, but it sure does taste darn good. advertising doesn't make us feel better, but products do sometimes fulfill emotional needs. so let's have a coke and a smile.
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