A Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin, Mannequin American Marketer
Milk's Favorite Cookie
What is it with these foreign ads that flagrantly use breasts to try and get our attention? (Okay, in my case it worked.) Here's some spec ad work from a Korean ad agency for Oreo Cookies. I don't know which I want more ... the cookie or the milk?
Meanwhile, above is almost the identical ad for on-line data back-up. But this one at least includes clever copy. Translated it says, "Because nature also provides a backup." Ha! Much better.
Of course milk has nothing on Smart Water, which used a completely naked Jennifer Aniston to sell its product.
A Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin, Mannequin American Marketer
Cheez-It Ventriloquist
Gotta love any commercial that uses ventriloquism for a laugh. The immature cheese in this ad expresses itself through ventriloquism.
This Mannequin American Scares Me
Here's an example of how ventriloquists get a bad reputation. This time it's an ad for Miller Lite. And it doesn't do my lineage any favors. In fact, it's downright bad for business.
Big Mac Ad with Willie Tyler
Now here's a vintage McDonald's ad that enhanced the image of ventriloquists ... which isn't an easy thing to do. Click here to see Willie Tyler and Lester promote Big Macs.
Captain Big Shot and the Reverse Ventriloquist
Click here to see a 30 second Captain Morgan ad that uses a "reverse ventriloquist." Personally, I like the idea.
The Reason for it All
And here's the most famous vent of all time, Edgar Bergen in a Parkay margarine commercial with Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd back in 1978.
A "Magic" Way to Put a Dent in Vent Work
Here's the movie trailer for the "terrifying love story," Magic. This movie did for ventriloquists what Snakes on a Plane did for flying and what Jaws did for swimming in the ocean. Thanks a lot Anthony Hopkins. (By the way ... the puppet was sculptured using Anthony Hopkins as the model.)
Mother's Day Special
I'm sure your mom will be upset that I didn't alert you to this Mother's Day special last week. Tell her I'm sorry.
A Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin, Mannequin American Marketer
Chip Shot: There's supposed to be more humor in the next James Bond movie. For example, instead of "shaken, not stirred," James Bond will now request martinis from a seltzer bottle sprayed into his clown pants.
How to Budget for Social Media
With social media, a large portion of the cost is time. To build a community, several activities must be done on a regular basis. Consider the following things when establishing a budget for time and money.
- Community building. Connecting with customers, prospects, peers and potential referrers. This is a daily activity.
- Brand monitoring. Scouring the social networks for mentions of your company and products. Also a daily activity.
- Engagement. Listening to your communities, responding, reaching out with interactive messaging. Another daily activity, best done in real time.
- Content sharing. Writing, publishing, and sometimes scheduling content with links to strategic blog posts and web pages. This can be done on a monthly basis.
- Social network maintenance. Keeping your communities free of spammers, updating content, adding applications, etc. Best done on a weekly or monthly basis.
MAD Continues to be Relevant
Somehow MAD Magazine has managed to stay relevant and popular with its target audience throughout its history. In junior high school, no day was more anticipated by male students than the day the new issue of MAD hit the newsstands. Apparently that's still true today.
I haven't yet seen the entire list of the "50 Worst Things About America," but if #4 "our national obsession with cosmetic surgery" is any indication, it's probably worth the time to purchase an issue.
He Took the Ad Money and Took Off ... Around the World
Casey Neistat was given a budget to shoot a Nike commercial ... but instead he took the money and traveled around the world with his buddy Max.
The resulting video is sort of entertaining and it kept my attention. More importantly the video is making its own way around the virtual world. And it probably embodies Nike's tagline, "Make it count," more than a typical fabricated ad would have.
I think the video does as much for the Neistat brand as it does for Nike. One thing's for sure: Not every client would be happy to hear that you spent their ad budget on a vacation for yourself.
Your Daily Dose of Drama
Somewhere in a little town in Belgium, on a square where nothing really happens ... the citizens got a dose of drama, thanks to TNT. It certainly got my attention. Click here.
The End of Twinkies? Say it isn't so.
The union representing 7,500 Hostess employees hasn't been able to come to any contract agreements with the bankrupt seller of Twinkies, Ho Ho's, Ding Dongs and Snowballs.
Hostess has repeatedly stated that current labor and pension costs are unachievable considering the present state of the snack cake market. Should Hostess lose this battle, it means being forced back into talks with the Teamsters. Should Hostess prevail, it gives them the ability to pull the chute on any further talks, so they can continue to focus on salvaging the business.
If they're not able to come to an agreement it will mean the end of the company as we know it and Hostess would have to shutter all processing, distribution & sales.
Crawling Helmets ... Seriously?
Seems some parents are so concerned about the rate at which their babies are ambling about the living room that they are purchasing crawling helmets for their high velocity tots. (No, these aren't helmets for head-shaping or other medical needs; they're just to protect babies from hitting their heads while doing normal baby activities.)
If your baby can't face the rigors of crawling, how will your toddler learn to walk? Will your kindergartener ever ride a bike? I guess you can forget about contact sports, driving, and frat parties.
A Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin, Mannequin American Marketer
Do You Hate Your Job This Much?
Zonajobs is an Argentinean jobs site. The commercial replicates the feeling of being at a job you absolutely hate.
But it's so entertaining one might forget what it's for. Click here or on the link above.
What is This Guy is Advertising?
This has been floating around for awhile and I'm surprised at myself for not exposing you to it before. Maybe I wanted to spare you from gouging your eyes out after you watched it. But readers keep sending it to me, so I'm sort of obligated to pass it along. If you figure out what it's selling before the last 5 seconds, you're smarter than I am. Click here or on the link above.