Commercials: Season of giving and misgiving 2006-07
Written: Dec 31 '07 (Updated Dec 31 '07)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Programming Quality: |
 |
|
| Program Cycle: |
|
|
| Commercial Interruption: |
|
|
|
Pros: Remember FDR's four freedoms: of speech, of worship, from want and from fear?
Cons: He didn't envision that it would be incarnated to Madison Ave's whim.
The Bottom Line: I still get a kick watching "Mad Men" on AMC.
|
|
|
| javajoop's Full Review: Commercials |
Are you ready for a brand new television season? Your not! Oh, I see, you have Tivo. Hmm, well let me tell you about what your missing. As a New Yorker, I live in the media capital of the world. There are ads plastered all over the place. On billboards, buses, taxis, subway stations, all promoting new shows. There's even flat screen tv's on top of subway entrances for your amusement or distraction. All of this so you can spend prime-time with a loved one and watch the season. Which ever programs you're watching, invariably, you might be engrossed, viola, with a commercial.
Now, I'm no marketing expert but what I'm about to lay out is what our commercials say about Americans. Television is always the reflection of the wants and fears that we all see. It's meant to connect in some way fulfillment or lack of a lifestyle we all cherish. After all, if I can't keep up with the Jones', I'll buy into it. As a non-scientific samplng of what's on, I'll be sharing my musings on what's worth commenting.
GEICO Auto Insurance
Love the gecko. The reason being is that when I go back to Indonesia, these reptiles are the most noticable along one's house walls near where pests lay. They do eat cockroaches and termites so he's always welcomed. Nature's best pest exterminator. However, when he's shilling for "the Man", well, it's a whole different story. True, he's cute and mighty green, can he truly sway you to switch your car insurance?
Recently, GEICO have featured their own customers to pair off with B-, maybe C-list, celebrities to portray their experiences. Seems like Burt Bachrach, Charo and Little Richard need a little face time for publicity sake for they be consigned to "Where have they been?" list; although, they are humorous and entertaining while the claimants surprisingly remain composured. I wonder really how many takes did they do to complete each segment?
My misgiving:
Hate the service. They weren't truthful in my quote way back when I was shopping for auto insurance. Actually, after determining that they were the lowest price, concluding the binder for the card, they called back a few days later to say they made a mistake and quoted wrongly. It spiked up to a few hundred dollars more. Since then, I have never returned to them. Sorry Mr. Gecko. Maybe I was dealing with Mr. Gordon Gecko where "Greed is good."
Burger King
When I first saw Burger King's commercial on TV promoting their breakfast sandwich, I had the frights. Picture a man waking up in the morning and turns around to find a man along side of him wearing a Mardi Gras-style costume with an oversized head. Silently, the King hands over a delicious bacon, egg and sausage sandwich on a plate towards the astonished man. Dubiously, the man munches on his breakfast and gleefully enjoys his treat then hugs the King. "It's good to be the king!" Those were the words of Mel Brooks's King Louis XVI.
Granted, it's amusing and kudos to Burger King to adopt a sports-style mascot. Yet, there's a certain pantomine feel to it that I can't place. Possibly, Burger King is a worldwide product so having him mime his way to your heart would be perfect and universal. How can you say, "Have it your way" in your language?
My misgiving:
I really have none. MacDonald's recently introduce breakfast anytime though so I can enjoy a muffin in the evening. Hope the King is listening.
Volkswagen
This ad begins with two men having a normal conversation inside a non descript car. One is driving and the other is carrying on about his companions annoyances. Both don't see the upcoming accident except us. BANG. Full on full contact. A classic t-bone collision. Moments later, you'll see the two occupants remark with the usual expletives redacted. Then, comes the VW Jetta on a turntable with all it's damaged glory.
Wow, you just witnessed a real accident in real time and you don't have to testify in court. I can quite imagine Madison Ave say, "Why don't we show an actual accident and demonstrate the safety features: five point airbags, crumple zones and stunt people speaking expletives?" It's VW way of showing shock and awe. Rather, in my opinion, it's more of shock and ouch.
My misgiving:
While it's great to demonstrate Rabbit/Jetta/Passat's feature of safety, what about those who've lost friends and family in a car accident? I've been in a car accident numerous times and survived but could it also trigger post-traumatic syndrome? How far are ad agencies going to get to seize our attention? What will get my attention is for them following up on a new VW bus. For the love of Jerry Garcia, please!
Apple Computers
It's a classic Apple ad with a trademark white background. Justin Long (Herbie - Fully Loaded, Accepted) and John Hodgman (The Daily Show) each representing the Mac and the PC, respectively, extolling the virtues and vices of their systems. Except you'll find the corpulant PC infected by either viruses, attacked by phishing or worms and woefully unable to speak to other peripherals. On the other side, the hipster young man is able to operate right of the box with no worries in the world. Other entertaining vignettes show how both need to communicate and co-exist together in front of a counselor as Hodgman dismissively acknowledges Long's Mac attributes.
My misgiving:
While the ad is very clever and minimalist, it won't drive me to buy an Apple. Yes, I do have an ipod but because it is compatible with Windows XP, ergo speaks with a PC, Why bother? I wish political debates were as this entertaining though.
© javajoop 2008
Recommended:
No
Average Program Rating: TV 14 -- parents strongly cautioned
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
javajoop
|
|
Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 23
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Cacoethes scribendi - "Bad habit of writing"
caveat venditor/emptor - "Let the seller/buyer beware"
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.