Wilkinson Sword Helps Men Take Revenge on Babies

This commercial by English razor company, Wilkinson Sword (known as Schick in the US), titled, "Fight for Kisses" from 2008, depicts, in a Sims-esque animation style, the deep-rooted animosity between men and their newborn off spring as they battle for the affection of the maternal figure. The advert is for a new razor with "Quattro" technology and with the product being a men's razor, the primary target market is obviously, adult men who need to shave but, it's the commercial's bizarre sense of humor that opens it up to almost any market excluding, maybe, Baby's Rights groups that would find the depiction of an infant actually engaging in a physical conflict with an adult male to be offensive or inappropriate.

When most other razor commercials try to confuse you into buying by stringing together a multitude of suggestive and/or arbitrary technical terms this commercial wins over buyers with hilarity and interactivity via online gaming. With the inclusion of some interesting, French rapping and the online man v.s. baby fighting game available, Wilkinson Sword has done a good job of enticing the next wave of their soon-to-be-shaving target market of adolescent boys.

by: Allan Khorsheed

Hey Ladies, It's NOT for You!

Dr. Pepper is introducing a new diet version of their drink, and their coming out guns blazing. Their newest commercial uses the slogan "it's not for women," but this risk is confusing when you take a look at the product. It's not a product that can only be used by one gender, or is made for one gender. Their target market has been identified as a wide variety of consumers. In this examination, they describe their audience as 13-30 year old busy people, often students and newly employed workers. The marketing mix that this implies is vast and could be very profitable for any company. A quick pick-me-up on the way to class with a bit of caffeine is what most people use every day. Making your brand the choice of students could put your company on top.

Dr. Pepper's newest ad, however completely alienates a large portion of their possible market. Men only make up 44.3% of the diet soda market, and only 9.7% of those men are within Dr. Pepper's target market (according to this article). So with such a small amount of the market being men within their preferred age range, was this move risky, or just stupid? Articles vary in their opinions of this commercial and, of course, women have been in an uproar about this commercial since it first started to air .A page on Facebook for the product features games and other content that only men can access. Since October, stock in Dr. Pepper has increased. Some also believe that it may simply be a stunt to get people talking about the brand again. I mean really, when's the last time (before this commercial) that someone even mentioned Dr. Pepper to you? It even aired on the Ellen DeGeneres show as Ellen posed the question, "What exactly is a 'lady drink?'" (See second video below, and start at 50 seconds in.) So what do you think, offensive, or clever? You be the judge.

A Show-Stopping Commercial

Lets face it, we all love those commercials that stray away from being a typical advertisement & actually captures our attention. The 1984 pepsi commercial is an excellent example. The commercial feautres that late pop star Michael Jackson. Who mention 'a new generation' repeatedly throughout the commercial as we'll later discuss.

Since this ad has a celebrity endorsing it, wouldn't it be successful? YES! This commercial was a huge hit the result was that 'pepsi had its best sales performance in six years' according to this article. But an article titled "Do celebrity endorsements really work?" has a different opinion about endorsing. This article felt that most celeb ads are not very effective. But the article above just proved this statement to be wrong. It not only spoke of the success of Michael Jackson's Pepsi commercial, which again led to increased sales, but also other commercials that features celebrities like Madonna, etc. So endorsements do work and they can make a difference.
Throughout this commercial the phrase ' a new generation' is mentioned. This implies that Pepsi's target market is young people.

This commercial was a hit. We need to see more commercial like this that grabs our attention. Way to go pepsi for making it so successful!



BY: SUMMER BURRELL

Touching stories leave a lasting impression

Different companies use different tactics to advertise their business. Some may add hilariousness to their ads to gain attention from audience; others use unusual events or shocking statements to hold viewers’ interest. However, I found one company that did a good job of getting attention and making its commercial memorable, Thai Life Insurance.

Thai Life Insurance is widely known for using sympathy angle to advertise its products. It highlights the brand identity of "the value in caring for life.” I think it is wise to apply such tactic to commercial because emotional appeal is one of the main motivating factors for people. There are many series of Thai Life Insurance's ads. All of them are touching commercial, which create good conscious mind to society and show the strength of the brand identity of Caring for Life. These ads include Everlasting Love (Grandpa), Marry Me, Peace of Mind, My Son, My Girl, Silence of Love, and Que Sera Sera.

I’ve already watched all Thai Life Insurance ads and my favorite one is Everlasting Love (Grandpa). It is the story about Grandpa Chew who is 86 years old. He wakes up early in the morning preparing the soup pot and carry Chinese Violin on his back. He walks from his home to play the violin on the hill in front of his wife’s tomb. He does this every day for 30 years since he had promised with his wife he’ll do like this for her forever. I think this advertisement leaves a lasting impression. Its target audience can be all Thai people regardless of age, gender, status or occupation. After audience watches this ad, they will start to ask themselves if they take enough care of their beloved ones. Some may consider buying insurance from the company for their families.

I think Thai Life Insurance hopes that the good feeling about the advertisements will stick to their audience's mind. It is successful in presenting the brand identity and generating interest rather than making hard sales. Here is a quote from Youtube comment section: "God dam advertising im not even in thailand and i want thai life insurance!" Check out this website and choose English version at the right corner to know more about the company.

Everyone Loves Funny Commercials

Over the past year All State Insurance has introduced a new character in their commercials. We all have seen him and, some of us probably feel like we know him. His name is Mayhem. The Mayhem character represents the actual mayhem that can happen to anyone. Mayhem has been a toddler in your back seat, a fallen tree branch, a teen girl driver, and even a raccoon in your attic.

According to this article I read, All state’s target market with these commercials are called “bohemian mixers.” They are college graduates, they keep up with trends, and usually are under the age of 55. I feel All State reaches out to many more people, mainly generation Xers and Yers, because they are so humorous.

I love these All State advertisements. I think they are clever, funny, and they easily grab your attention. The use of Mayhem in multiple commercials and advertisements I think creates a relationship with consumers. They are able to relate to the situations happening in the commercials.

All state made a created a great campaign for themselves with Mayhem. They reach out to many different types of target markets, and the ads are known for their humor. I hope the continue to make many more of these ads. Check out this link to read an interesting article about the behind the scenes of the Mayhem character.