Daisy

Today in my advertising class, we talked about how ads greatly influence political campaigns. This ad, Daisy, was very controversial in 1964 for the Johnson presidential campaign. It helped him win by using innocence combined with fear.

Advertising Explosion

"...the average American consumer is already exposed to twice as much advertising per year as the average Canadian. Four times as much as the average English person. And five times as much as the average French person."

-POSITIONING, by Ries and Trout

DVR & Advertising

I came across this Q&A in Parade magazine...

Q: I record TV shows on my DVR to watch when I have the time. Does not watching shows "live" affect their ratings?

A: "Anytime a viewer watches a television program, whether it's live or played back on a DVR, it is included in the TV ratings," Gary Holmes, a spokesman for The Nielsen Company, tell us--speaking of the select group of viewers Nielsen tracks. However, when a show is viewed matters to advertisers. "It's more valuable to them if you watch a commercial close to when it was originally aired," Holmes says.

It makes me wonder whether television advertising is going to slowly dissipate due to DVR and fast-forwarding features. It'd be a shame because (as if you couldn't tell with my recent posts..) I love watching commercials and they are definitely an effective way to get people's attention, if they watched...

Vitamin Water Campaign

Vitamin Water

This is a pretty funny campaign for Vitamin Water that is particularly relevant to most college students ;)

Untouched Britney

In this recent article on PopEater.com, Britney Spears bravely shows her untouched Candie's photo next to the air-brushed one. I think that girls' self-esteem can be diminished if they constantly are shown perfect-looking people in advertising, magazines, etc. I love that Britney is open to showing her imperfections.

Britney

New Nike

Tiger Woods' new commercial just came out for Nike..so far, it has been quite controversial and people have mixed feelings on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XXGZFqDAUo

It has a black and white video of just Tiger's face with a voiceover that is supposed to represent his father.

Leighton Meester

One of my favorite actresses, Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester, has recently been named the global ambassador for Herbal Essence. I betcha product placement will be place the shampoo brand into the show...

Dentyne Ice

Another funny commercial!!!

Dentyne Ice

I think this is a perfect commercial for appealing to teenagers and young people in general.

Funny Kotex Commercials

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRf35wCmzWw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOM4AMV050A

I think the new kotex campaign commercial are hilarious! They really break the mold of traditional ads for feminine products, while still getting their product point across.

Funny Ikea Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsdBlBq37Qk&feature=related

I was watching TV today and saw a really funny IKEA commercial, so I YouTubed more of them and this was my favorite. Very clever.. :)

Happy Easter Weekend!

Not much to do with advertising...but a great video!

The Celebrity Apprentice

One of my best friends, Janny's sister, Maria Kanellis, is on The Celebrity Apprentice and we were watching it last night. I started to notice all the product placement. Last week was all about Kodak and this week was about the anti-virus Life Lock. Tons of shows have started to use product placement, such as Extreme Home Makeover. I think it's a really good way for companies to get their products name out there, as long as it's not over done.

Keeping Up with the Joneses

The other day, I was watching Real Housewives of New Jersey and they mentioned "Keeping up with the Joneses". This made me think about my advertising class because this term was first used in the 1950s. Basically, it was the idea that American families had a social standard to live up to. They could do this through purchasing power (with the new credit cards!), meaning that people were now buying things that they didn't necessarily need, but would buy it anyway because "everyone" else had it. This reinforced conformity and the social pressures to be the same: marriage, religion, family, etc. It was interesting to me that on a reality show aired 60 years later, there was still this idea of "buying" a lifestyle. Advertising, I believe, reinforces this for some people.

Digital Morphing

Today in my Media Studies class we had a guest lecturer from the Department of Advertising. She talked about digital morphing and how people in the ad industry are using this to develop brand personality and to target demographics. The idea is that an ad would "morph" a model's face with the customer's to produce a visual in which the consumer's can identify with. This is similar to celebrity endorsements because, naturally, a consumer would connect the idea they had of a celeb to that brand. If people unconsciously see themselves, they, theoretically, would identify the brand with characteristics of themselves. This practice has been used for a long time; for example, Betty Crocker is a morph of 75 consumers. Today, we can see this target advertising in places such as Facebook and Google.

Lauren Conrad Spring Collection 2010

Lauren Conrad's look book for her Spring Collection 2010 is out! I love that she is modeling her own line and the set for the shoot is gorgeous!

French Connection

One of my favorite stores is French Connection and I found this commercial from Feb 2010 for their line of clothing for men. I liked how they used humor in it even though French Connection is a pretty sophisticated line. I also like the black and white approach and the voice over.

"The Man"

Sexual Ads

When I see advertisement such as these, I can't help but think about how inappropriate they are. Times have really changed; a couple decades ago, this would have NEVER been socially acceptable. Women seen as objects and purely sex symbols in ads truly are a turn-off for me.

Beyonce

Here are some stunning pictures of Beyonce's new ads for her and her mother's spring 2010 fashion line, House of Dereon.

"And Then There Was Salsa"

This Tostitos Salsa ad is very visually appealing...Check it out at Vimeo.com/9194146

"Ads Gone Bad"

I came across a blog called "Ads Gone Bad" and it is pretty funny.

www.adsgonebad.com

Here are a few of my favorite entries...

..clearly bad ad placement!

And then there is this one by PETA with an ad for Omaha Steaks at the top.

www.seakittens.com/seakittens.html

Olympic Symbols

With the Olympics in full swing, I thought it'd be cool to look into the past logos of the Olympics to see how they've changed and evolved.

My personal favorite of the past 12 years is actually Nagano 1998. This year's is too abstract for my own taste, however the Olympic symbol is one that will always be respected and well-known.

TIME article

I found this article at TIME.com and thought it was really interesting. It is about the way commercials capture our attention using different sounds that naturally appeal to us. Check it out! http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1966467,00.html

Mac

For my Media Studies class we got a chance to look into old Mac commercials. This was the commercial that aired during the 1984 Superbowl which introduced the Macintosh to the world. It opens with a bunch of gray figures marching in a line. These drones represent the IMB/Microsoft users. They all crowd into an auditorium and watch a giant Big Brother figure speaking to them. Meanwhile, a female runner tosses a hammer and destroys the TV screen in a heroic manner. A voice-over then states, "On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce the Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8

This ad was considered to be a masterpiece by the advertising industry and received the Commercial of the Decade in the 1980s. It also is still considered to be one of the most influential commercials of all time. What also adds to the charm of the commercial is that it never aired again. One hundred days after the ad was shown, the Mac brought in $15 million. Mac had officially become an icon.

Even today, the Mac commercials are still one of the most popular. Here is one of my favorite from the Mac vs. PC campaign.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DWLyrljLDk&feature=related

Although the 1984 commercial and the commercials we see today are very different, I believe that they have the same idea; they portray the competition as boring and typical, and the Mac as revolutionary and breaking out of the norm by being "cool".

Britney Spears- Candie's

If anyone knows me at all, they'll know I'm a gold medal Britney fan. So, of course, I'd like to share her just-released Candie's campaign.

I think she looks amazing and this campaign really shows off Britney's personality, and at the same time, still does a good job of making the products stand out. More can be found at Candies.com!

A Quick Thought...

“Advertisements maintain a vexed relationship to reality. Their world is one of myth and make-believe. In that world, everyone is beautiful, has ample leisure time, and has the time and money to buy and enjoy a bewildering array of goods.”

– Jason Chambers, Madison Avenue and the Color Line

Cosmo- March 2010

I just picked up my new Cosmopolitan yesterday. Carrie Underwood is one of my favorite artists out there right now, and she looks stunning! While I was flipping through the magazine, I couldn't help but notice all the sexual ads that reappeared every few pages. Of course, this is not a new thing, but it reminds me of how women are portrayed in our society: objectified.

This is the Calvin Klein Jeans, Body white wash ad. I think it does a good job showing the contrast between the couple's tan body and dark hair with the actual white wash of the jeans they are wearing. With the woman placed on the bottom and the man's arm covering her breasts, it exemplifies the idea of women being subjected into a man's control. Calvin Klein is globally recognized for the sex appeal ads, with this one being nothing short of that.

I also noticed that a large portion of the ads with one female, the woman had her eyes closed or not even shown at all. This could be a sign that woman should only be looked AT, instead of looking straight into the camera.

On the other hand, I also LOVED the collection of Bebe ads.

She looks beautiful and fierce..the way females should be portrayed ;)

Welcome!

Hi, my name is Sarah Janousek. I am an Advertising major at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. On this blog, I want to post new ads I encounter, my favorite ads, old ads, etc. I have a passion for creativity, and the media-centered world we live in now is always growing and expanding. There are many opinions I have of the advertisements that we see today, some of which I'd like to share on this new blog for my Media Studies class. Enjoy! :)