Thirty Seconds Worth 1,000 Words?

It is an old cliché but one that certainly applies to the Super Bowl commercials. Now that a couple of weeks have passed since the big game, I am intrigued by my co-workers conversations about the ads. At roughly $3 million each just to broadcast, the commercials and the products they pitched should stay in people’s minds. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Volkswagen scored big. They knocked it out of the park. People are still talking about the little Darth Vader. I don’t think I’ve reacted so positively to a commercial since the Pepsi ad featuring the Labrador puppies scampering over the little boy. Another contender for #1 was the Dorito commercial in which the fish and the plant were revived by eating Doritos. My coworkers continue to laugh about it. Congratulations, Doritos. You have a winner.

The Doritos ad used humor. Volkswagen tugged our heart strings. All the winning commercials over the years have connected a universal human emotion to the product. In Volkswagen’s case, we remember how it felt to believe in something so thoroughly that we knew it must be true.

Other commercials were memorable this year but perhaps because they were poorly done. Everyone reacted to Kim Kardashian but no one remembered what she was selling. Most thought it was a sports drink. And all recalled “those babies” but couldn’t name the brokerage firm they represented.

It is important to convey the message but it is critical that the whole message be received to be successful. Think back. Can you name the products featured in your favorite Super Bowl ads? Which ads were the real winners?

Mayhem Makes Me Flip

Have you seen the Allstate Insurance Mayhem commercials?  They are the ones in which “Mayhem”(the condition of chaos, bedlam, and turmoil) is personified in a human male wearing a scruffy suit and a three-day growth.  The actor is seen in a variety of situations in which bad things happen to cars as a result of Mayhem’s presence.  Mayhem, representing a puppy, eats the car’s back seat.  Or Mayhem causes a tree branch to fall and crush a car.  Mayhem is a comely female out for her run.  There are several variations on this theme.

The point of the commercials is that Mayhem can strike any time. Allstate covers these types of accidents where some of their competitors may not.  The ads are effective in that my 84-year old mother, who doesn’t drive, got the message.  I wonder if the demographic Allstate wants also gets it.

I understand the point of the ads.  I got it right away myself.  However, I do not watch these ads.  I hate them.  I cannot grab the remote fast enough. 

I have nothing against Allstate or its insurance.  I like the ad about the hazards of frying the Thanksgiving turkey; I just can’t stand the Mayhem ads.  My aversion to them interested me so I thought about it.  I decided the concept was fine but I just don’t like the character.  (I’m not supposed to like Mayhem - I get that.) 

What it is that repels me?  His appearance?  Mayhem isn’t nice and neat. Mayhem is supposed to be a mess.  Could it be what he does? No. All those accidents would bring mayhem into our lives.  I don’t know.  I haven’t figured it out.  I just know that I click to a different channel the moment one of the Mayhem ads begins. 

I wonder why.  Your thoughts?

No Sale for Black Friday

Black Friday is a black mark on those who promote it.  Let me explain.

The Friday following Thanksgiving is a retail extravaganza that is the official start of the holiday shopping season. The term "black" applies here because stores hope to show profits following the spending spree.  Retailers hope to be "in the black."  The original meaning has conveniently been set aside.  

At first Black Friday denoted the financial crisis of 1869 and then the term was given by law enforcement to the shopping day after Thanksgiving because of the traffic snarls and large crowds.  

There remains nothing good about Black Friday.

Does opening at midnight make any sense at all? Some retailers will even open on Thanksgiving Day.  

  

Obviously Thanksgiving is irrelevant as a holiday.  Perhaps we should ask Congress to abolish it. The retailers move from Halloween directly to Christmas anyway.  We can't blame them.  In fact, we encourage it.  Nothing is more important than a dollar and being thankful does not contribute to the bottom line.  Thanksgiving is just another day off.  So let's keep the day off but we'll call it Black Thursday and make it a national day of uncontrolled spending. 

 

Seriously, what I thought of first when I saw that Carson's would open at 3 AM was the employees.  Black Friday means those who work in the stores cannot enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday.  The Target or Best Buy worker has no time for a big meal with family and friends.  No time for chatting or watching football or doing anything that resembles a holiday celebration.  No chance to be thankful. 

Come on, you CEOs of Wal-Mart, Bon-Ton, and all the others.  Are you up at 3 AM and in the stores?  Did you give up Thanksgiving with your families to work?  I'll bet not.

So have your early morning Black Friday deals - online - and open your stores at a reasonable hour.  Happy, well-rested associates make fewer mistakes and better sales.  Stop the mania and we might all get through the day without anyone being injured or killed.  

I dare you to bring sanity back to the holiday shopping season.