My first public relations class at BU causes me to look at all advertisements and communication methods through a critical lense. I am constantly analyzing marketing schemes and advertisements, asking “What’s the message?” “How is it delivered?” “Is it communicated successfully?”
Here are my thoughts on some television ads I’ve seen recently – one good, one bad, and one just plain ugly.
The Good:
A simple and humorous juxtaposition makes this ad one of the best on television. The message: “Heineken beer is as exciting as a walk in closet.” The ad delivers the message in the one swift cut to the men. But what pushes this advertisement to a higher achievement reached by most beer commercials is the product resonance. The signature Heineken green shines in stark contrast to the white lights. This is not one of those “funny beer commercials.” It’s a funny Heineken commercial. Great branding, great message, great delivery.
The Bad:
My roommate pointed the error in this commercial out to me a few weeks ago.
He said, “I don’t know about you, but I kind of want software that requires a higher level of thinking than a 4-and-a-half-year-old can manage.”
While Microsoft’s decision to market their simplicity is attractive to a lot of people, those people are not digital natives, so they aren’t the future. Microsoft makes a mistake with this ad by placing themselves as the industry leader of the past. Eventually, the demographic of people who want to upload a photo with software that has only simplistic, primitive features will die out and leave behind the younger demographic now with the impression that Microsoft makes only basic software not suitable to their needs.
The Ugly:
Does the song get stuck in your head for weeks? Yes. Does that mean people subconsciously want to buy fish sandwiches? I’m not sure. It didn’t have that effect on me. I can’t really pick out the intended message in this commercial. And to be honest, all I can think about when I watch it is how nasty the last Filet-O-Fish I had was.
Agree? Disagree? Still singing the fish song? Other favorite or not so favorite ads?
