I saw it in an Ad...

Action-packed Antiques Roadshow

akamian — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:07:39 +0000

I just saw this very interesting commercial for BBC TV.

It is a commercial informing viewers that they can catch their shows in high definition.

I wasn’t going to watch the ad at first because I saw “Antiques Roadshow” on it and I thought that it was going to be a boring commercial. I was pleasantly surprised when it turned into an action-packed cinematic short.

I found this commercial to be entertaining and funny. I enjoyed the action part of it and it kind of adds to the reason why I thought it was so funny. It was funny that a whole bunch of people going crazy over that one thing just because it was worth a lot of money.

The commercial didn’t get me to want to watch the show, but I thought that it was really good and it captured my interest for a while.

Ultimate Video Relay

akamian — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:37:57 +0000

The Microsoft Corporation, in collaboration with some other companies have launched the Ultimate Video Relay, a filmmaking contest. Microsoft is using the contest as a way to stimulate sales and improve its image since the release of Windows Vista.

Are Dove’s “real” pics really fake?

akamian — Thu, 08 May 2008 03:40:41 +0000

I came across an article about the pictures used in Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty.” The article talked about a profile in the New Yorker online about Pascal Dangin.

According to the profile, Dangin is “the premier retoucher of fashion photographs.” In the article, Dangin makes a comment about having retouched some of the photographs used in Dove’s campaign.

Since learning how to use Adobe Photoshop I haven’t been able to look at images without wondering if it was altered in some way. I think that Dove really needs to look into the situation and get some answers. Are the pictures real or were they altered?

Two tongues and an eye

akamian — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:30:19 +0000

Here is one of the Coca-Cola Zero tongues and eye commercial:

I just have one thing to say about this commercial, ewww gross! Seriously, when I first saw this I wasn’t focusing on the soda.

When my roommate watched this commercial with me, she didn’t realize that the tongues were tongues at first. She thought they looked like a certain male body part. I wonder if other people had that first thought about the tongues too.

Okay, so Coca-Cola Zero tastes like regular Coke, I get it. But why use body parts?

Domino’s Pizza used people with exaggerated features to represent different senses in this commercial:

Why couldn’t Coca-Cola Zero do that?

Make your own “Pharma Ad”

akamian — Thu, 01 May 2008 06:27:34 +0000

Advertising agency Holton Sentivan + Gury created a website where users can create a commercial for a fictitious drug. The name of the fictitious drug is a variation of the users name.

I went to the site and tried it out, the name of my drug is Ashleyterol.

I think it was a really good idea and I thought my spot was hilarious.

The only thing that bothers me about the site is that I can’t figure out what they are trying to do with the it. Do they just want to get the name out there or something like that? I think the site is very creative and pretty funny, but I don’t know what it’s for.

UT Loop

akamian — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:48:05 +0000

UNIQLO, a clothing company created UT Loop, a website where people can kind of create their own little commercial.

Here is an example of what you could create if you visit the site:

I think that this is a really good idea, kudos to UNIQLO.

My source for advertising news and stuff

akamian — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:24:33 +0000

I haven’t really come across any funny ads or any interesting advertising news lately. What I think is interestsing and funny might be different than what everyone else thinks is funny and interesting. So here is where I go to find out about new commercials and news. I go to either Advertising Age or Adweek.

AirTran Airways targets college students

akamian — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:04:44 +0000

Fly Free Till You’re 23 Sweepstakes is a contest for AirTran Airways. The sweepstakes is only open to individuals between the ages of 18 and 22.

I think that the string of commercials for this sweepstakes are hilarious. The ads feature senior citizens trying to pass as 21-year-olds to be eligible for the contest. You can take a look at the commercials at YouTube. My favorite one out of the four commercials is the Gamer.

I thought it was really funny the lingo the “21-year-old” senior citizen was using when he was talking to his on-line opponent. I thought the actor’s performance overall was hilarious. I also thought it was really funny when the other player said, “this did not just happen” when he lost.

Live commercials on Jimmy Kimmel Live

akamian — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:13:00 +0000

I read in an article that ABC’s late-night TV show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, will be hosting live commercials. They expect to air the first live commercials starting in May. This was a technique used way back in the day as explained in the article.

Advertisers think that these live ads will help them stand out because the style hasn’t been used in TV in a really long time. They also think they can catch the people who record the show in order to watch it later. The ads will look like a part of the show so some people might not recognize that it is an ad. This is what I have to say about that, what a dirty trick.

It looks like advertisers will try anything to get consumers to pay attention to them. Advertising is everywhere. Sometimes it’s annoying and sometimes it’s entertaining.

I don’t really have an opinion about what ABC and Jimmy Kimmel are doing right now because I don’t watch the show. If this technique does catch on and more shows start integrating live ads into their show, then I might have something to say about it.

Customize your M&M’s

akamian — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:43:57 +0000

I was flipping through Fortune magazine today and I came across an ad for M&M’s. It was advertising to businesses and it was selling customized M&M’s. Companies could have their logos printed on the little M&M’s or a custom message. It is advertised as a way to connect with clients, employees and customers.

I almost didn’t recognize the ad as for M&M’s. It looked like a very “grown up” ad compared to it’s other ads where people are “M&M-ized” and the ads are colorful. This ad had a lot of text in brown and it looked kind of boring to me. There were customized M&M’s on the ad and I thought that was pretty cool.

I think it would be cool to get some M&M’s with custom messages on them, but if I was going to give them to someone I would probably have to tell them. I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t really look for the M on M&M’s when I eat them so if no one told me that there was a custom message on them I probably wouldn’t even notice.

If you want customized M&M’s click here.