Best PSA ever

Usually, I find PSA's (public service announcement) to be boring, bland or just cheesy. But this particular one not only made me value my family and my life but also enforced my habit of wearing my seat belt and spreading the word to those who rarely do so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-8PBx7isoM

The UK based PSA is entitled "Embrace Life." This is not your typical PSA. It's filled with emotion and its aesthetically, beautifully done. The one message that I got from this is; if you're not going to wear your seat belt for yourself at least do it for the ones you love. While this PSA dismisses the use of actual elements of an accident scene (no car collision, no graphic depiction of a human body being mangled beyond recognition) its powerful enough to stand on its own through interpretation with no dialog, only music that seems to make this PSA even more dramatic. The part of the PSA when the husband/father/driver kicks the table and confetti flies in the air is so intense that you can almost put this situation into a vivid real life scene in your mind. I think its what ties this whole act together. And people on YouTube and other articles that have been published on the web seem to agree that this is one compelling PSA.

It just goes to show that PSA's don't always have to be cliche or dry or chocked full of useless dialog. I enjoy advertisements. I would have loved to have sat in on this creative process. I'd have to rate this advertisement as one of my all time favorites.

Toilet Advertising (Why didn't I think of that?)

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/02/19/new-toilet-is-flush-with-advertising-decorating-ideas/?icid=main|main|dl3|link7|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walletpop.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F02%2F19%2Fnew-toilet-is-flush-with-advertising-decorating-ideas%2F

I think this is cool in so many ways. The first reason is that this prime space can be sold to business owners such as a plumbing company or a beer company. Its true that consumers get blasted with thousands of advertisements a day but this is pure genius. It is rare to find a toilet in a public place that actually has a tank. But this could spark a new rage in getting old fashioned toilets back. How many people would actually pay attention to the advertisements? I would be one of them...pending on that it is not a bathroom emergency. And why limit this to just toilet tanks? I would even go as far as creating a skin for urinals which would be more prime advertising space.

Another reason this would be cool, think of the possibilities at home. I happen to love Sponge Bob Square Pants and would love to have a SBsqP toilet. This allows someone to design every aspect of their bathroom. You can match the shower curtain to the wall paper and the toilet. This would be so much fun for a kids bathroom or a novelty bathroom. From the graphic design aspect, can you imagine what kind of designs you could do? This isn't to far from designing cell phone skins or iPod cases.

The price point isn't outrageous like some would think. Its affordable and it uses green technology. And by advertising, business who install this component would already be getting their investment back.

While the author of this article would rather stick to reading magazines in the bathroom, I think its more about being creative and finding creative ways to be creative.

Seriously McDonalds?

Okay McDonald's. I am one of billions who enjoy your food. Double cheeseburger, hot fudge sundae, Shamrock shakes, all delicious. But what I don't enjoy is a commercial featuring an African-American couple singing about Chicken McNuggets. Seriously? Who is the person who thought this was a good way to reach the African-American demographic and who was the person who signed off on it? Not every African-American person responds to a message relayed in hip-hop or slang. And do I dare deem it offensive since its African-Americans singing about CHICKEN? When I saw a similar concept in 2008, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtaS60uIQUc (actually, it was the same people singing about Chicken McNuggets) I thought, it was just a simple commercial. But when I saw the concept again, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBq7Ver15IA I thought "could this be actually persuading the African-American community to buy more McNuggets?" I propose a question McDonald's; do you have anyone of a minority background working in the boardroom or in the marketing department? Because they should have told you this was a bad idea. And is the word "stingy" a prominent word used in the vernacular of African-Americans? This word was used in the 2008 and 2010 commercials.

And I know McDonald's is a proud sponsor of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics but there is probably 5 to 10% of African-Americans who actually watch the Winter Olympics. So why use this concept and to what appears, this demographic? I'm interested in seeing the numbers of demographics responding to this. I would like to see the focus groups who viewed and approved of the airing.

My point is that...African-Americans is being represented in an unfavorable manner. There aren't many voices of minorities in advertising saying this direction isn't going to effectively reach the target market. McDonald's, please stop the R&B McNugget vibe, in two years, I don't want to see a four minute, full length video about McNuggets on BET's countdown.

The beginning of the...beginning!

This will be a short entry. I've decided to create a blog to share my passion about advertising. So in the next few days, look for new a post.