Hoo-Ah!

Al Pacino's words from the movie Scent of a Woman carry a lot of tradition and intensity behind them. The Marine Corps advertises better than any other organization I know of. Every single time I'm at the movie theater and one of those five minute Marine Corps commercials comes on I can't help but get goose-bumps all over.

The idea of being part of something bigger, to be an individual but to function as a singular unit, is a very profound concept and by no means easy to portray in five minutes. But the Marines make it possible by using images of Marines working together through training courses, combat, and doing their famous rifle motions in unison. It seems like they're almost using parade tactics to appeal to Americans, lots of color and discipline to put on a show to flaunt all their hard work and skills.

The Element of Surprise

This weeks assignment reminded me of all of my favorite advertisements that I've seen while driving thousands and thousands of miles for my high school rowing team. Over the past few years billboards have been getting more and more creative by using all available real estate going beyond the board itself and sometimes even inventing space that wasn't even really there to start with. A billboard advertisement for the Museum of Flight in Seattle has a 3D plane crashed into the billboard and the only other words on the billboard are the name of the Museum. Simplicity strikes again, this image is hilarious and fresh. The message "see the history of flight from the first kite to the latest jets" (not actually the Museum of Flight's words) will not attract nearly as wide of a demographic as a real plane crashed into a sign.

Chick-Fil-A not only has the best chicken in the country but they, and the San Francisco Zoo, provide great examples of using all available real estate on a billboard. They provide comic relief from the thousands of other monotone advertisements on the road. There are only so many colors in the palate and so many fonts to choose from. It's difficult to attract attention on the road because unless it's something out of the ordinary most people have taught themselves to selectively view things. Chick-Fil-A and the San Francisco zoo provide that much needed relief by going beyond simple colors and fonts. San Francisco Streetlight Giraffe Advertisement

The Power of Hydrogenated Fats

I don't know about any body else, but for me Thanksgiving stirs up memories of a golden brown bird just begging to be carved and devoured (mostly by me). One thing that has always gotten me was the name of the brand my mother has always gotten for Thanksgiving. Butterball. I'm a little weird when it comes to the concept of foodballs: meatballs and cheeseballs have never been appealing to me. I do keep in mind that Butterball's aren't actually the product being sold, but the fact that they named their company Butterball just makes me wonder what they were thinking. The name was trademarked in 1940, and nobody involved was name Joe Butterball or Mary Butterball. The best I can think is that back in 1940 the consumers weren't too concerned about heart health... that and who doesn't love the idea of butter on anything?

The power of previously acquired knowledge

I stumbled upon (not using stumbleupon.com believe it or not) a website that has a variety of advertisements. The majority of the ones I saw weren't even translatable for me, but a couple did catch my eye. One series of ads about a website (that I can't seem to log onto so I'm not even sure if it's real) called we-treat-aids.org uses genocidal figures like Stalin and Mao to compare death tolls between them and the disease AIDS.

This was fascinating to me because when I first glanced at it I was taken aback. Those names have such an evil connotation to them that is so deeply imbedded in my brain that I couldn't help but do a double take. This series of advertisements is brilliant because the advertisers are using knowledge that we had previously acquired through years and years of school to get their simple point across in a rather disturbing way.

The power of the Devil

I think it goes without saying, but just to be safe I'll clarify that my blog is named after this particular commercial for a Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner. I'm all for E*Trade babies, gangsta gerbils, et cetera, but its almost always because the commercial is hilarious and off topic, much like a Pixar short flick that plays before the actual movie.

This commercial, on the other hand, retains relevance while being hilarious. It's emphasizing the suction power of their product in an unprecedented way. That's a lot more than can be said for a baby checking his portfolio on an iPhone...

It's a brilliant advertisement that utilizes out of character horror to keep the viewer on seats-edge until they realize it's all just a joke. But the way that the horror drags you into the moment really helps emblazon Dirt Devil's brand name into your head. Comedy is becoming stale among advertising, so it's refreshing to see that there are creative enough minds out there to utilize unique genres to lead commercials in a new direction.