08 August 2018

TV Spots I Remember

My previous post:

28 or 52 or 103 Things Only Baby Boomers Remember 

While banging it out I began thinking about commercials that have stuck with me through the years. They’re not necessarily the best or most famous – simply ones I loved, knocked me out.

Although the advertising revolution was well under way by 1965, I remember first seeing this commercial (I’m fourteen) and just going batty. I had no idea what I was watching. No commercial before had ever started and continued non-stop as a montage. Every image was memorable. Montages of any sort weren’t really used much on television – in commercials or programs:



Volkswagen Ads. There were so many. A great mini-doc:

The VW spot I went nutty over was for the Bus/Station Wagon. I swear I remember it being a minute long. An old couple is walking down a residential city street, looking for an address. They find it, walk up a few flights of stairs, then ...


Stone-faced absurdity. I’d never seen anything like it in a commercial. The actress playing the mother makes it all work.

Special effects. They’re all over the screen today. In the 1960s this was about as good as it got:

How about a spot whose sole purpose was not to use special effects? Talk about thrills and chills…

There is no ‘greatest commercial ever’ – except, of course, the Volkswagen Snow-Plow commercial:

My favorite greatest commercial ever:

Simple message: FedEx=Fast.

23 July 2018

28 or 52 or 103 Things Only Baby Boomers Remember

There are hundreds of lists of things only Baby Boomers will remember. I stumble upon a new one every month or so.

The latest one from Good Housekeeping:

image
28 Things Only Baby Boomers Will Remember


imageUsually, some Baby Boomer puts these lists together. This time, no. So there are anachronisms and cognitive dissonances every which way - telephones, gas stations, cars from the 1930s and 1940s, and so on. For example, the picture above is captioned:

 Whether it was The Beatles or the Beach Boys, people born in the '50s definitely remember buying their first vinyl record and listening to it over and over again.

Hmmm. That’s not quite the way I remember it. What pops up in my mind is one of these:

Related image

Here’s a better list:

image37 Things Every Baby Boomer Will Remember

22. Your doctor would lecture you about junk food while smoking a cigarette in your face.

23. You didn’t know who was calling you until you actually picked up the phone.

24. You know the anticipation of waiting for a polaroid picture to develop.

There are loads of better lists.

Now, think about a 25-year-old creative putting together an ad campaign targeting Baby Boomers.

The Human Resources/Brain Power Posts

From the vaults:

15 March 2010
Hire Baby Boomer Creatives
imageTruth is, you can analyze marketing fodder all day and night, read countless books about marketing to Baby Boomers, attend advertising and marketing conventions around the world, and soak up everything all the experts have to say. Much of what is out there is valuable and useful … But if you plan on implementing a creative strategy and turn it over to a different generation of advertising professionals — you'll forfeit the natural sensibilities required to generate vital campaigns.

Generations Make Better Decisions Together

02 July 2018

The Year Of Big Gets Bigger

imageNostraChuckus, famed soothsayer of the obvious, continues to amaze with his humdrum prognostications:

21 July 2017
The Interminable Death of Television
Nothing I can think of is as lively and chipper as television in its final throes. If we all began dying as happily, healthily, slowly, and painlessly as TV, we wouldn’t fear the process - but welcome it.

09 January 2018
2018: The Year of Big
That’s my prediction. Advertisers will finally follow simple common sense, something a certain seer has been urging for years…

26 March 2018
NostraChuckus’ Crystal Ball of Common Sense has spot-on prognosticated what would come true in 2018

And now …

imageDirect-to-consumer brands see gains from traditional TV
For many direct-to-consumer companies trying to diversify their marketing away from Facebook and into traditional media, TV stands as a new opportunity…

Iconic brand advertising on TV isn't going anywhere

Traditional TV rolls with the times, remains a viable entertainment channel to both viewers and advertisers

Go90 promised to reinvent the TV ad model. Instead it's shutting down

Social media ads increasingly less popular among viewers

NostraChuckus often gets bored seeing the same thing over and over in his Crystal Ball of Common Sense. Instead, he’ll be staring at this for awhile:

Image result for television test pattern

22 June 2018

Reefer Madness

Image result for canadian marijuana flag

In some places it’s legal. In other places it’s sort of legal.

It’s now legal in Canada.

You can smoke it, eat it, spray it on body parts or someone else’s body parts.

https://thehipp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Reefer-Madness.jpegThere’s a suppository. 

Lots of suppositories.

You can get really ripped or simply become moderately pain-free. Or both.

If I listed all of marijuana’s claims – valid, maybe valid, yet-to-be-determined, complete poppycock – you’d go mad.

The reefer madness today is its marketing and advertising. What a mess.

I’m in a category: The Baby Boomers Who Smoked Lots Of Grass Way Back When, Stopped For The Most Part, Now Might Want to Get Back Into It Again For Medical Reasons And/Or Just For Fun.

But I have no idea where to start, what goes on in these places. I do know that I don’t want to walk into a cannabis shop like a hayseed right off the bus.

But I am a hayseed right off the bus. All I know I learned from watching one episode of a bad sitcom.

Leafly is fascinating, but I’m lost:
     image

I just want a nickel bag. Although I know today it’ll cost me $50.00.

If there is some sort of National Marijuana Association and it wants to promote their products to the 50+ market, the best advertising would be simple, direct information. The less creative the better.

After I’m stoned you can get goofy, silly, and confusing. I won’t care.

31 May 2018

Smart Bathrooms

imageNow everything is smart. Even bathrooms. Even everything in bathrooms.

There are smart showers, smart tubs, smart toilets, smart sinks, smart medicine cabinets, smart soap dispensers, smart floors, ceilings and walls, smart lights, towel racks, tooth brushes.

They’re all smarter than I am. They all make me feel dumb.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, I don’t believe that hanging out with smart things will make you smarter. All my life I’ve been hanging out with dumb things, had to figure them out myself, which probably made me smarter. I think.

Or I could be wrong. With all these smart things, you have to first figure out how to figure out how use them. Maybe smart things do make you smarter.

Aging In Place. Universal Design. Technology. 
Smart-whatevers have taken over.

My litmus test for smart-whatevers: Does it make something simpler (good) or more complicated (bad)?

Rising Wall Bathtub

image

While understanding the possible need for an easier method of stepping into a bathtub, for most people this design/technology complicates a simple activity – taking a bath. We are used to running a bath and getting in after it is full. During the video, I kept wondering if, with all the features and buttons and whatnot, you might accidentally lower the side and flood the bathroom. Probably an irrational fear, but I bet other people might have the same thoughts. This is a negative reaction and will turn people away. The regular ol’ step-in bath/shower/spa seems easier to use and safer.

Image result for step-in bathtub

Toilet Lift

SMSS-2T

This is a horror show. An accident ready to happen. And not to get too graphic – but what if you really have to go? A serious concern as you get older.

Touch-less Toilets

image

Watch Video

A perfect example of making something simpler, not more complicated. I don't even care about the hygienic attributes - it simply makes things simpler.

Smart Shower

image

Watch Video (if you’re that bored)

A perfect example of making something simple absurdly complicated. You want to take a shower – not have a showerhead with a mind of its own or play video/computer games. A dumb shower.

Self-Cleaning Toilet

image

Watch Video

Makes things easier and less complicated. The original ‘self-cleaning’ toilet is a flush toilet. This improves on the original concept with no added complexity for the user.

Horizontal Shower

image

Watch Video

I have no idea what the point of this is. If someone can’t stand up, there are plenty of chair/seat options available – along with hand-held showerheads. Sexy video, however. A humorous take on the product:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/house-and-homes-blog/2012/feb/02/horizontal-shower-worst-invention-ever

So do smart-whatevers make you smarter or dumber? 

I don’t know, but pretty soon you’ll need a technology degree to pee.
____

Thanks to Tony Berrio Gallego for collecting these links.