Selling Out or Buying In?

In the trailer for Morgan Spurlock’s new movie, he asks an expert, “Where should I go where there is no adverting?” The man’s answer: “To sleep.” A poignant moment, it displays a truth of our society today: advertising is everywhere, and it is unavoidable, even in movies. This is the basis for the award-winning filmmaker’s new documentary, “Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.” While it is not as stomach-churning as Spurlock’s previous hit “Supersize Me,” it is nonetheless just as intriguing. He explores the world of product placement, marketing, and advertising, while attempting to find brands who will finance the movie. Cameras follow Spurlock as he meets with executives of different brands, trying to get them to finance his project.

In short, this is a movie about making a movie. It is financed entirely through product placement. As Spurlock describes, the goal for the movie is transparency, an attempt to show movie watchers all the work that goes behind subtly manipulating them with carefully placed products and brand logos. As the title of the film suggests, Spurlock is indeed successful in his conquest to find companies to sponsor his work, including Pom Wonderful, Old Navy, Petland, Jet Blue, and Hyatt. Spurlock showed this off when he arrived at his movie premiere with a suit with all of the different logos patched onto it. 

“Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” is an innovative look at one of the little-considered aspects of advertising today: product placement and other subtle forms of exposure that are intended to unconsciously influence the mind of the customer. As usual, Spurlock uses humor and satire to get his point across. While the movie has not yet come out (it comes to theaters on April 22), I think that one of the main things that viewers should get from it is that advertising is everywhere and that we should constantly be aware of it all around us, in many different forms.

Is product placement a bad thing? One could argue that directors sell out when they allow companies to influence work that should be artistic. On the other hand, one could argue that product placement is harmless and allows movie makers to raise much-needed money, which allows them to make movies even better. While there are many arguments for both sides of the issue, I find the debate to be irrelevant. Whether we like it or not, the fact is that product placement has been around for a while and doesn’t show any signs of disappearing any time soon. I think the importance of Spurlock bringing light to this issue is that we can not keep ourselves from being manipulated unless we are aware that we are being manipulated. Ok, so a can of Diet Coke next to Carrie Bradshaw while she types on her laptop making us thirsty all of a sudden isn’t the end of the world. But what about the more important stuff? Just because moviemakers sell out, doesn’t mean we have to buy in.

To find out more about the movie and if it's coming to a theatre near you, visit: "Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold"

The Mayonnaise Dividing America

Every commercial we watch usually does nothing but extoll the benefits of the product it is trying to sell, making it seem as if all our problems can be solved if we just open up our hearts (or wallets) to the latest sugary cereal, dating website, or nutritional supplement. It makes sense: advertising is intended to make people realize how much they will love a certain product or service. Knowing this makes Miracle Whip’s latest commercials ever more surprising. The premise? Miracle Whip is a polarizing product: people either hate it or love it. Which one are you?

The video ends with: “Are you Miracle Whip? Get a taste and Decide”. These commercials are ingenious. Somehow, even with people talking about how much they dislike the condiment, I wanted to go to the store and buy it to see which side I was on. Now, whenever anyone ever complains about the product, consumers will simply put them in the "hate it" category, and not view their opinion as a reflection of the brand itself. 


They also make the statement that Miracle Whip is “a little loud” and “a little tangy,” demonstrating that it is not just an ordinary mayonnaise. The commercial itself is a little loud, with people using humor to describe just how much they hate Miracle Whip. My favorite line? "It's like a lotion sandwich...who wants to eat a lotion sandwich?" I’m not sure if I’m Miracle Whip or not, but considering Pauly D doesn’t like it and apparently won't date a girl who does, I can take an educated guess....Are you Miracle Whip?

Spokesdancer of the Year

Ok, so I’m not exactly sure if this qualifies as advertising, but I do know that it lends itself to wayyy too many comments about glittery 80’s t-shirts and short shorts to not be included in this blog. While my exposure to Richard Simmons is limited to his brief cameo in Nutty Professor, Air New Zealand travelers will be seeing much more of the flamboyant exercise star. The airline just came out with this safety video featuring a team of aerobic dancers and way too many headbands to keep count.

I have to give Air New Zealand credit: how many of us really pay attention when the safety procedures are discussed before the flight? It’s more likely that we’re trying to get that last text off on our cell phone while trying to ignore the obnoxious crying baby behind us than that we’re listening to information that could actually save our lives. This video is able to draw attention to something truly important in a unique and humorous way. Ok, so people that have a terrible fear of flying might not be amused. But, for the 99% of us who just hate the cramped space and constant ear-popping, this video would be a welcome distraction. Who knows, it might even inspire someone to exercise once they get off the plane!

This Comes From Awesome Advertisers

Admittedly, I’m not the most environmentally-friendly person. I mean, it’s not like I’m walking around campus emptying bottles of hairspray or throwing trash on the ground, but I haven’t put as much effort as I probably should into the whole “green” thing. However, this latest example of marketing changed my perception on this a little bit.

The subject of this blog begins in a bathroom. Yes, a bathroom. Don’t worry, it’s nothing gross (although with three brothers I could probably come up with a story or two). After washing my hands in a Marquette bathroom, I went to go get a paper towel to dry them. On the towel-dispensing machine was a sticker that read: “Remember: These Come From Trees”. Underneath this message read: “This sticker will save up to 100 lbs. of paper every year. Help spread the word. Get yours at: TheseComeFromTrees.com”. 

Immediately I thought: “What a smart way to spread a message.” The stickers, dedicated to helping the environment through the saving of paper, were located at one of the roots of the problem: people taking too many paper towels after washing their hands. Plus, the stickers are asking people to do something relatively easy, as often we take too many paper towels not because we need them, but just because we don’t think about it. This campaign makes people think about it at the exact time that they need to be, without being too pushy.

Visiting the website for this environmental campaign makes it even more impressive (These Come From Trees). The header reads: “Welcome to the world’s first guerrilla public service announcement! An experiment in environmentalism, viral marketing, and user interface design with the goal of reducing consumer waste paper!” With tons of information, an impressive Facebook following, the cheap price of the stickers, and the undeniably awesome results, this advertising campaign makes even people like me want to make the environmentally friendly decision. Visit the website and look at all of the blogs documenting the progress of the stickers!

Friday Flashback

It’s the second Friday of Lent and as I sit behind my laptop I can’t help but reflect on the important parts of this special season.....prayer, repentance, alms-giving, and quality fish advertising. It comes as no surprise that during these 40 days, restaurants and fast-food companies work hard to appeal to the pious side of their Catholic customers, highlighting their seafood options and deals for fish, on Fridays in particular. So for this week’s Friday Flashback, I can’t think of any better example of Lenten advertising in the past to highlight than McDonald’s “Filet-O-Fish” commercial.

Premiering in 2009, this advertisement’s strength rests in it’s simplicity: “Frankie the Fish,” a mechanized version of Big Mouth Billy Bass, hangs mounted on a wall plaque in a very plain-looking garage, singing the short diddy: “Give me back that Filet-O-Fish” over and over again. Meanwhile, two friends eat the sandwich and watch the fish without saying a word.

It’s amazing how such a simple commercial can have such a great effect on customers. The advertisement led to an increase in sales, inspired a Facebook fan page with more than 40,000 members, increased online searches for the sandwich at Google by 100% in the subsequent four weeks that it aired, and even led to mounted “Frankie’s” that sung the jingle being sold in stores.

During this Lenten season, businesses can learn a lesson from McDonald’s popular fish sandwich campaign: keep it catchy and simple. After that, when it comes to their customers, all businesses have to do is have a little faith.

#HappyBirthday

Happy Birthday Twitter! As Twitter celebrates its 5th anniversary, FunnyorDie.com just came out with this hilarious video about Twitter's brief past. While it is more than 140 characters, the video includes celebs such as Soulja Boy and Perez Hilton. This is not necessarily an advertisement, but I felt compelled to include it in this blog because of the social medium's undeniably huge influence on advertising today. True, Twitter is often abused, with followers having to hear about the meatball sandwich someone ate for lunch, or the hangnail that they've been dealing with all day. But, when Twitter is used well, it can help with a brand's image and make people aware of a new product or service. That's why people like Kim Kardashian-whose fame may not be questionable even though her talent is-reportedly get paid up to $10,000 for tweeting about a company's product! Will Twitter fade away with the emo punk rockers of MySpace? This is yet to be seen. However, for now, Twitter should enjoy it's birthday and keep on rocking those @ symbols!

Quacking and Tweeting

In advertising news, Gilbert Gottfried was just fired by Aflac from his job as the voice of the iconic duck in their commercials. This comes after he made a series of Tweets about the tragedy in Japan that I’m sure he found to be very funny, while nobody else did. Among the “hilarious” tweets that Gottfried sent out over the weekend: “I just split up with my girlfriend, but like the Japanese say, ‘They’ll be another one floating by any minute now.’” The dozen or so tweets, all making light of the recent horrific events in Japan, did not sit well with Twitter followers, news analysts, or Aflac.

The giant insurance company released a statement saying, “Gilbert’s recent comments about the crisis in Japan were lacking in humor and certainly do not represent the thoughts and feelings of anyone at Aflac...Aflac will immediately set plans in motion to conduct a nationwide casting call to find a new voice of the iconic Aflac Duck.” While I usually find media and public outrage to be misplaced (with people getting worked up over the slightest comment or implication unnecessarily), even I found Gottfried’s comments to be offensive and insensitive, and I think Aflac handled this situation perfectly.

Gottfried’s firing reinforces the importance of brand image in today’s marketplace. Did Gottfried’s comments have any direct effect on Aflac’s financial status or the products and services it provides? No. However, his snide remarks would have surely cost the company a lot of business from the outraged, and severely tarnished the brand’s image. Aflac is an insurance company, and one whose tag line reads: “We’ve got you under our wing.” Their company stands for safety and providing comfort in times of trouble. Therefore, nothing could be worse for Aflac than to be seen as making light of a crisis such as a tsunami, or the exact type of situation that they are supposed to help their customers in case of. Oh, and according to reports, Aflac does 75% of its business with Japan. 

In firing Gottfried, Aflac not only protected their brand image by disassociating themselves with such controversy, but also showed that they are responsive to their customers. In addition, their future nationwide casting call to find a new voice for the Duck presents an opportunity for an awesome PR and advertising campaign. 

Thoughts and prayers are with those in Japan.