Tag Archives: advertising

Lists

Great ads

I liked the Volkswagen “Unpimp your ride” commercials instantly when they came out. I’ve always liked clean lines and elegant cars. I think “pimped” cars are in truly bad taste. The mods are almost always done for the wrong reasons, and usually only to show off in garish fashion. The poor cars end up looking worse than before and make me cringe when I see them. Imagine my delight when Volkswagen decided to poke fun at the people who pimp their rides!

Meet Hal, the IT system admin depressed because Steve, one of his faithful servers, died… I don’t particularly like Hal or the ad itself, but it is effective and sticks in your mind. This was done in the style of the Apple ads, and was for Symantec’s Backup Exec software. Back when I used Backup Exec, it only did file-level restores, and was kind of difficult to use. Let’s hope the new version advertised here works better.

I don’t drink Coke and I don’t play GTA, but I thought this ad was pretty cool. It’s always nice to see the bad guys turn good. Two words also come to mind: synchronized serendipity. This ad is very watchable.

Here’s another Volkswagen ad, this time for the Phaeton. The Phaeton is probably a pretty amazing car, and the Phaeton plant is a pretty amazing place full of innovative engineering, but unfortunately, the price is too high for the VW brand. It would have been much better to build Audis like this. After all, they’re the same company. But the ad is amazing. I’ve never seen shadow play this good.

Another Bud Light ad, this one about the best men who hired an auctioneer for their friend’s wedding. The beer ads are always pretty good, and not surprisingly so. Given the amount of money that Budweiser throws at their advertising, the ad agencies have to make sure they come up with the good stuff.

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Lists

Great ads

I like to save great ads. I guess I’ve always been interested in cool advertising — the kind that gets the message across in a catchy, entertaining sort of way. Here are a few of my favorites. I’ll probably post more like these in the future.

This one’s for Ameriquest Mortgage. The title on YouTube is “I’m Her Daddy”.

This is a Women’s Health ad filmed in Australia and shown in Germany. A phone rings in a woman’s purse, and she… answers it.

This next ad is for the classic VW Beetle, and it’s from South Africa. Although very touching, the concept isn’t new, and is likely inspired by an old Disney cartoon. I have it at home, and I’ll try to look for the title.

A funny ad for L’Equipe, a French sports newspaper, actually asks parents to spend more time with their kids.

This next ad’s been making the rounds since last summer. It features a dancing midget. I can’t figure out what it’s advertising, but that dancing midget makes the ad really sticky. Just try and turn away while it’s playing… Overall, high on the weird factor.

This is an unfinished ad featuring 3D animated rabbits. It’s not in any language I know or understand, but I think it’s one of the Nordic languages. Great atmosphere, good warmth and the animation works very well.

Yes, I know, alcohol ads push alcohol, and that’s not cool, but this Bud Light ad is pretty funny. You’ll think the ending is predictable, but there’s a nice twist.

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Lists

Condensed knowledge for 2007-05-14

Today’s calorie-free serving:

  • Clive Thompson from the NYT has a detailed write-up of what’s involved if small bands want to get their name out there these days. The almost-requisite MySpace page is a given… But while the web makes it easy for them to get their names out there, keeping up with the fans becomes a full-time computer job — just what they were trying to avoid when they became musicians. And at some point, the relationship reaches a plateau. A single human being can only keep up with a limited number of fans before they are overwhelmed. But the fans don’t care, they each want personal interaction. Sounds like a very non-fun experience for the musician.
  • Mandy Sellars in England suffers from a very rare condition called Proteus Syndrome. She will likely lose her legs. The article talks about her desire to experience life, and daily struggles.
  • This is good reading for us IT geeks: Top 7 things system administrators forget to do.
  • The NYT has a great profile of Walt Mossberg. The article not only talks about his career, but also about where things are going in terms of journalism when you factor in this “new media” we keep hearing about…
  • Mental_floss talks about the world’s most wanted (and expensive) poo. It’s ambergris. Yuck.
  • Look At This has posted a full-length movie called “When the Wind Blows“. It’s about an elderly couple who build a bomb shelter. When nuclear war breaks out, they survive, but unfortunately succumb to the fallout radiation while waiting for the government to help them. Here’s a direct link to the video.
  • According to this article, Bill O’Reilly uses old propaganda techniques to bias his listeners toward those he doesn’t agree with. Interesting stuff.
  • A pair of falcons has made their nest in the building of the San Jose City Hall, and they’ve installed a falcon cam for us web visitors. Neat!
  • Some charlatan who claims he’s Jesus Christ incarnate is fooling plenty of people down in Orlando. Don’t these people bother to read the Bible?
  • A brave little terrier saved 5 New Zealand kids from being torn up by violent pit bulls. Unfortunately it ended up so injured they needed to put him to sleep, but the children weren’t hurt.
  • Apparently ceiling height can affect how people think and act. A taller ceiling can make you more creative and artistic. Very interesting stuff!
  • Weirdomatic has a post with examples of old, creepy ads. I don’t know, Max Factor’s beauty micrometer seems reasonable enough, given the need to look fairly perfect on screen. Have a look and decide for yourselves.
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How To

50 ways to promote your website

Just stumbled onto this. Merle from WebsiteTrafficPlan wrote a nice guide that lists 50 Ways to Promote Your Website. It’s in PDF format and you’re welcome to download it by clicking on its link. Among the methods she recommends:

  • URL plates/stickers for your cars
  • Business cards
  • How to guides that list your URL
  • Classified ads
  • Press Releases
  • Ezines
  • PPC Advertising
  • and more

Although I know from personal experience that some of these methods don’t really deliver the results you’d expect, as a whole, it’s a good idea to diversity your advertising methods, in order to ensure the widest coverage. Besides, if you manage to get your name everywhere, it can’t hurt your business either. Just be aware of the cost of the methods, and track the conversions if at all possible, so you know if the money’s well spent.

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Thoughts

Started writing for BlogCritics

I’ve started writing for BlogCritics as well, and my first entry, the MacBook review, was just published on their site. I’m pretty happy, and I hope it will get me some extra exposure.

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