Unexpected & fun: Lanvin's campaign video

Who would have thought a high-end fashion brand could, or would I should say, break an ad campaign with such a fun video? Almost no one I'd assume. When it comes to fashion brands, we are so used to see uber-sexy goddesses in surreal poses, often with an alien-like quality, remote, distant from the world we live in.

Kudos to 'House + Holme', who created this fun video. And applause to the marketing folks at Lanvin for signing off on the concept. The result: something uniquely fresh and unexpected. I watched this a couple of times, and it put a smile on my face every time. I'm not in the market for Lanvin, and I'm sure many others aren't either, but if this gets through to me, assume how many others there will be?

MAD SCORE: +4

Message: 0, there's never really a message with fashion brands
Creative: +1, because it's a fun concept
Context: +1, it works well in the social space
Impact: +1, I'm sure this helps selling some clothes
Intangibles: +1, because of its uniqueness

Unique: Chevy Dream / Chevy Runs Deep

We are being bombarded every day with commercials for cars that no one needs or wants. Yet still, people keep buying them for some reason.

I bet you there are quite a few guys out there who will buy this baby - the Chevy Camaro. Not just because of the advertising (without a great product, the commercial does nothing), but because the essence of the product is perfectly being interpreted in this commercial, telling a simple, yet powerful story we all can relate to.

Check out the dog when it climbs up the bottom of the bed. And the engine sounds at 0:53! Absolutely love it.

MAD SCORE: +4

Because everything works here. Only issue I have is that the world doesn't need another gas guzzler, but eco-friendly solutions.

Related links:
2011 Chevy Camaro Superbowl Commercial

Finally - the video of McD's super-annoying 'Sweat-tea-pie commercial'

I ripped this one back in May (see link below), but I simply cannot let it go. It's just so goddamn awful. The more I see it on air, the more it makes me actually not just dislike the golden arches, but hate McDonalds. BIG TIME.

It took a while to find the video online. Seems that someone from McD or the ad agency actually had the brains not to upload a hi-res version, but thanks to someone with an Android phone, the above ended up on YouTube.

I googled around a little bit, and the responses this video gets are actually all pretty BAD, which makes me wonder why no one at McD has pulled this freaking mess off the air.

Here are a few unfiltered comments:

From Shaggybevo:

"As if McDonald's couldn't out-retard themselves anymore than they already have... Goddammit mcDonald's, stop making me want to murder people."

"... you do have to admit that the ad wizards behind this one have successfully communicated one thing: People who eat at McDonald's are morons."

"The level of stupidity is unconscionable."

"...glad i'm not alone in my hatred of this ad."

"The sad thing is someone got paid to create this ad and then someone else decided it was acceptable."

Enough said. Just makes me wonder what kind of marketing genius works in the marketing department at McD, and what kind of creative genius cooked up this freaking mess. They all deserve to be fired. Goddamnit.

Related links:
Original post 3/3: 'So annoying - the latest McDonalds commercial'
Another nice point of view at Prolifically Ridiculous
Shaggybevo discussion board

A Winner: AOL's 'Editions' Truck

Bryant Park. Southside.

iPad stations & lovely, friendly promotional staff.

Well designed. Flawless presentation.

As I was strolling through the streets of Manhattan on this wonderful August summer day - the first one with California weather: 72 and sunny - my always wandering eyes were captivated by a very well executed promotional event, this one done by AOL.

In an earlier blog criticizing the makers of the reality TV show 'Swam People' for trying to score with a cheap publicity stunt (link see below), I wrote about the challenge of getting people's attention in New York City, where everyone and their brother are trying to get you to listen.

AOL did manage to do just that. And they almost got me to order an iPad online, because this editions app is actually quite cool. As I sat down on one of these chairs and played around with one of the iPads, a friendly, young lady came over and guided me through the program. She was well trained and very knowledgeable, although her eyes, at every question I asked, seemed to be trying to locate an invisible teleprompter  hidden behind my left shoulder.

Editions, in a nutshell, is an app that pulls news content from various sources from the web and hence puts together your very own customized newspaper, similar to the social networking news aggregation app flipboard. It is pretty sweet. The only shortcoming is that you cannot print an article. Saving, archiving, and later printing are still quite somewhat essential for a writer.  But perhaps I'm already part of a dying species.

In any case. AOL stopped me on a busy Manhattan work day, and got ten minutes of my attention. And hey, their promotional tour bus even inspired me to write about it. That is quite an accomplishment.

MAD SCORE: +5

Message: +1, because the iPad sells like hot cakes, and this app is pretty cool
Creative: +1, that is one impressive truck, and it's very well put together
Context: +1, because they understood that content is king, the medium (paper) only, well, the medium
Impact: +1, I predict this to be a success
Intangibles: +1, add the pretty ladies, and the 360-impeccably presented promotional stations, and AOL has got itself a winner

Related links:
For more about AOL's 'Editions' click here
Blog post 3/31: 'Cheap public stunt - Swamp people's fake gator'
More about 'Mad Ad Scores'