Give The Gift Of A Dad!

Finding the perfect present for someone isn’t always the easiest task, especially when that person already has everything they could ever need or want. An ad in People Magazine’s June 25^th 2007 issue has the perfect gift for those who may not be as fortunate as those who are difficult to buy for. Before you get your hopes up, let me break it to you gently: This is NOT a Christmas ad, instead, it is advertising for the perfect Father’s Day Gift!

And just what is the perfect Father’s Day Gift you may be wondering? It is not the typical neck tie or Hallmark card, but involves a trip to Wendys! That’s right! Of course everyone loves food, but that’s not really it either. This ad’s tagline reads “Give the Gift of Dad” and contains a vintage drawing of a little boy whose arms are thrown up in the air with excitement standing beside a tall wrapped present resembling the shape of a man. The body text at the bottom explains that during Father’s Day weekend, fifty cents of every frosty purchased will be donated to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. So, take dad out for a frosty on Father's Day and you'll be giving two gifts!

After seeing the excitement of the cute little boy and reading the body copy, this ad really played with my emotions. I then pictured myself in the little boy’s position and just imagined how exciting it would be at his young age to receive the lifelong gift of a dad. How wonderful would that be?! A gift that would keep on giving, and keep on loving!

This ad’s placement in People Magazine is a great spot to attract its target audience. The colors and vintage look of the ad improvises the time aspect of their phrase, “Finding Forever Families for Children in Foster Care.” Overall, I believe this is a very effective ad causing Wendy’s effort to support adoption appealing to others.

TEACH MAKE SHOW ART

I was getting off the elevator in Breck this past week when a multicolored flyer caught my attention. To no surprise, this awesome advertisement was from the Art Department, promoting their Art Faculty Show.

What I really like about the design is the way the text is lined up to where it spells out in black, the most perfect description: TEACH MAKE SHOW ART. As far as color scheme goes, they done a great job incorporating sequence of a rainbow by starting with red toward the bottom and ending with a shade of violet toward the top.

Although I find this to be very creative and impressive, I would suggest increasing increase the space between the groups of text or putting a shadow on the black text to better distinguish the idea of the formation of the letters into words.

Finding the placement of this flyer was a smart move for the art department, since many of their students, or those who are at least interested somewhat in art, are also advertising majors or minors and have numerous classes in Breck. I consider this a job well done on pin pointing their target market.

Overall, I believe this is a really impressive ad. It gets its point across in a very creative manner by displaying the faculty’s names as a piece of art and has actually convinced me to check out the Art Faculty Show for myself! In all honesty, I wish I had designed this poster. You better bet I would be taking all bragging rights!

Can't touch this! Or can you?!

Multi touch meets multi applications

Just to let everyone know, I am pretty jealous of this “Nick Haley” guy, a student who just received a nice “donation” from Apple for creating a commercial showcasing the new iPod touch.

I had no clue what so ever that this type of iPod was on the market until I watched this commercial. I am amazed that in a matter of thirty seconds, with the help of sharp editing and a fast beat song, the ad nicely highlights every feature of the device which are available by a simple touch of the screen.

With both the images and song appealing to wide range of demographics, this tells the viewer the iPod touch is for everyone! Also, with a solid black background and the idea of yourself being the person in the ad, carries on the same well known iPod style. Its sleek design and sophisticated shiny black color makes it very appealing to the eye, yet with the same classic iPod feel.

With the merge of music, video, photo, and internet capability, this is the perfect gadget for any multitasker. I also noticed that when displaying the music choices, it shows the newest hit songs such as one of my personal favorites Bubbly. Mentioning Facebook also targets many of us college students. All this allows me to better relate with the product by imagining having everything I enjoy at the tips of my fingers. Honestly, in my opinion, this iPod is the next best creation to the apple iPhone!

The apple logo appearing numerous times is a real eye catching strategy which is used as a great call to action! Also, I like the way apple’s website also gives a link for web surfers to purchase the song from the commercial from iTunes. Smart thinking!

Although it doesn’t mention how much it costs, the ad is certainly designed well enough to convince me to add it to the top of my Christmas wish list!

This commercial actually leaves me wondering though… why do our everyday desktops and laptop computers not have touch keyboards? Humm… now that’s something to ponder about!!

You Son Of A Biscuit Eating Bulldog!

If you were to ask what my favorite gum was, hands down, it would be Orbit! Not only do I love their gum, but I love their commercials as well, which have been replayed numerous times lately on tv. With their unique themes, they leave the viewer with a witty thought of their product.

The opening screen of the commercial is very plain and lacking any bright colors. A glass bottle flies in out of no where and the funniness begins! You just have to see the commercial for yourself, but let me warn you, you may want to watch it frequently just for a good laugh! Also, pay attention to the guy and his coworker who are chomping away on their gum the whole time! Do they really need to chomp that hard?

I hear people say “What the French toast?” and “Stinky McStinkface” all the time. Even though these catch phrases are not very nice, I love the way this commercial spins common expressions which its viewers have adapted. This is just another way to publicize the Orbit brand

It’s funny when the Orbit lady randomly appears and simply says “Fabolus” and Bill, his wife, and the co-worker are suddenly smiling! They are in the background trying to basically kill each other though when Orbit’s famous phrase is shown: “A good clean feeling, no matter what!” Also, if you pay attention, the colors of the Orbit lady’s tie matches the packaging colors of the Raspberry Mint flavor being advertised. You can also relate her white suite with the clean white look the gum will make your teeth!

Overall, I believe this is thirty seconds of very random yet entertaining advertising. After all, “over reacting was when I put your convertible through a wood chipper!”

The Beauty of Smoking?!

US Weekly Smoking AD

I was flipping through the first few pages of the October 15^th edition of US weekly when an ad immediately caught my attention. A minty-green teal box and hot pink fuchsia and gray letters on a black background read “NOW AVAILABLE: IN STILETTO” and it was surprisingly for Camel No. 9 100’s cigarettes.

Although the word stiletto is referring to a new thinner and longer cigarette, I believe there is an additional hidden meaning. Smoking’s effects are ugly, yet the advertisers tried to make the cause of the problem compare to the beauty of stiletto shoes. So when women who purchase this brand will appear to be cooler than other smokers when they take the lovely box out of their purse.

Apparently they have found a way to target women with their sleek new design and feminine boxes. Although I am not a smoker, this ad and product design appealed to me. However, if I were a smoker, I would definitely purchase their cigarettes in the pretty boxes. Also, the name “Camel No. 9” sounds very similar to the perfume Channel No.9. I find this to be another way for the product to connect with their target audience.

Overall, this is a beautifully designed ad, yet I believe these ads will have an impact on the raise of young female smokers. Magazines should value the health of their readers over profit when publishing these ads.

May Cause Confidence!

After the conclusion of the premiere episode of Donald Trump’s Pageant Place, I glanced away from the TV. I mean, isn’t that what most viewers do after a good show goes off? Who really cares about the commercials? Well, my room went silent for a whole 10 seconds, and then I heard an “excuse me sir” come from our TV. I looked up to see a college student, who looked pretty average, in a quiet classroom, telling an older guy who had been standing around speechless, apparently for 10 seconds, about a trick to make people relax when public speaking. Although picturing someone naked was not what I had expected him to say, I do admit my roommate and I laughed pretty hard!

When the college guy says the same thing to a girl sitting near him, I was quite impressed, thinking he was quite brave for such a bold statement! After the nice display of the Clearasil kit, I automatically thought it was a pretty nifty commercial concept, unlike some of their others. Their commercials heavily rely on one’s need for confidence, which is good since that’s what their teenage target audience usually lacks. I also absolutely loved the way the brought back a little humor by having the college guy growl in the mirror. Overall, I believe this commercial done its job, brought a laugh, and could help with sells of their products. If buying Clearasil makes you feel that confident, count me in!

After reading the comments posted on YouTube about this commercial, I learned that some parents want this taken off of TV. I agree with the one writer who says there are defiantly more offensive commercials aired on TV than this one. Sure, it may have a little humor not suitable for all ages, but at the same time, I watched it on MTV, not Nickelodeon, the Disney Channel, or Cartoon Network!

Smoke Free Tennessee!

Smoke Free Tennessee Ad

When designing ads, I sometimes find the simple black and white ones the most difficult. You do not have as much versatility as color ads, yet you still have to find some way to try to catch one’s attention. A recent Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids was very successful at grabbing my attention and maintaining it until I had read the whole ad. I immediately noticed the listing of the governor and legislators’ names in the shape of Tennessee, which was a very clever idea! This is defiantly different than your normal columns and rows of names. Also, by using a black background on the upper portion and a white on the lower, everything is nicely balanced, complete with a simple row of the sponsors at the bottom. Explaining the problem of second hand smoking, the statistics given are very informative. There is not much to say about this simple ad, but that it is effective enough to be straight to the point and get its message across. It simply works! Personally, I would love to see this ad in the future for other states! Maybe Kentucky will be next!?!?