The Boston bomb scare of yesterday turns out as nothing more than a non-traditional advertising stunt, something which I applaud in doing if it was more carefully orchestrated. As someone who is involved in advertising, I can attest that there are non-traditional means that are both cheaper and often more efficient in reaching a mass audience.

The scheme unhatched by Sean Stevens and Peter Berdovsky of the Cartoon Network just went too far. Both men have been charged with “placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct” in what the two defendants and their lawyer is claiming is “guerrilla” marketing. I must admit, throughout all of my years devising marketing schemes and through my years of learning how to market products/services in college, I have never once heard of “guerrilla” marketing.

Of course, if one looks at the sign, who would actually know what it’s about in the first place which means the originators of the campaign are blithering fools who don’t know how to market a product. But that, really, is inconsequential.

What turned this campaign upside down is when someone thought one of the planted 38 neon signs in Boston was a bomb. Who was the person who reported the signs as possible bombs though? I have a sneaking suspicion it was someone with the Cartoon Network who was upset because the signs did not originally have the desired goal. It would be the classic, ‘we were paid for XX amount of coverage and the campaign has not achieved it’ response.

The result of the ‘bomb’ hoax turned Boston into a virtual stand-still as the Boston police bomb squad ‘diffused’ al 38 signs, and it does have serious national security ramifications. How can two men plant 38 signs in Boston without anyone taking a second look? Stevens and Berdovsky show just how they affixed the signs in Boston in major traffic areas in a YouTube video which shows the development of the signs and the placing thereof.

Since these signs were nothing more than a marketing campaign gone horribly wrong, the two men should not receive any jail time in my opinion unless they were the ones who called in a bomb threat because the signage did not garner the publicity they sought. And that would not surprise me in the least after seeing the press conference both men gave.

Fines, yes, but jail, no. The real story should by why the Cartoon Network, owned by Turner Broadcasting, would hire such nimwits. But even then, the Cartoon Network has received the publicity they wanted.

Originally posted at Right Truth

The face of the war on terror must include Israel, which some, including the MSM, have not done in the past. Israel is in fact a crucial part of this global war on terror. Caroline B. Glick has another excellent article in Jewish World Review. Here’s a taste:

The face of the enemy has changed. If in the past it was possible to say that the war being waged against Israel was unique and distinct from the global jihad, after the events of the past week, it is no longer possible to credibly make such a claim. Four events that occurred this week — the attacks in the Sinai; the release of Osama bin Laden’s audiotape; the release of Abu Musab Zarqawi’s videotape; and the arrest of Hamas terrorists by Jordan — all proved clearly that today it is impossible to separate the wars. The new situation has critical consequences for the character of the campaign that the IDF must fight to defend Israel and for the nature of the policies that the incoming government of Israel must adopt and advance.

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I might compile more coherrent thoughts of Super Bowl XL and the commercials therein, but I wanted to get a post up regarding my initial thoughts.

If I was a Seahawks fan, I would have been very upset with the way the game was marketed and then run inside the game. One of the cool features ABC did was to have players tell what winning the Super Bowl would mean for them. I loved that feature, but there was only one feature of a Seahawks player out of around six. All others were Steelers.

The calls did not go Seattle’s way either. There were many calls that I don’t know what the refs were thinking. If they were balanced, then no problem, but I don’t think they were.

Yes, I picked Seattle to win and was rooting for them. That said, I am hardly upset with the outcome of the game so the above judgements aren’t taken from someone who was wanting to catch discrepencies in calls or promotions.

The commercials were rather weak this year. Budweiser, as always, had the most unique, humorous and memorable commercials. I like the revolving wall and the young clydesdale pulling the wagon with the help of the other clydesdales from behind. It pushes both the product and stays in tune with their previous campaigns.

Go Daddy tried to build off of last year’s commercials and I thought their commercial this year, which ran twice, wasn’t that impressive. Go Daddy doesn’t have enough of memorable advertising campaign to make second-year commercials, though they tried.

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As most regular readers of ITB know, I am a huge football fan. Ok, maybe I don’t like football as much as hockey, but I love football. For football fans, the pinnacle of the entire season is tonight in the form of the Super Bowl.

For the fans of 28 teams that did not make it to the Super Bowl, we have to pick and choose our allegiances and that process sometimes is very painful. It’s not always which team you like more, but which team you dislike less. Tonight is not that way for me. I am a fan of neither team nor do I dislike either team. There are players and coaches on both sidelines that I can identify with and cheer for.

Because I am a Dallas Cowboys fan, I have to root for the Seattle Seahawks. After all, it is the same NFC. I like the way both Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander play and I respect both men as well. Mike Holmgren is a class act, but so too is Bill Cowher. But it’s Pittsburgh and no self-respecting Cowboys fan can root for the Steelers. Mac is a Broncos fan and Debbie is a Titans fan, so I am probably the only person who contributes to this site that will be rooting for the Seahawks tonight.
Tonight though I am looking more forward to the commercials than the game. So too, I imagine, many of you are too. On that note, there are two RSS feeds promising the chance to download the commercials to your IPod or computer.

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The GOP created a new commercial that contains nothing but soundbites from Senator John Kerry saying U.S. soldiers are “terrorizing kids and children,” DNC Chairman Howard Dean claiming the United States cannot win in Iraq and Senator Barbara Boxer calling for an immediate withdrawal following the December 15 elections in Iraq.

It’s not overly effective and I think they could have done a good job with it, however the effectiveness lies in using this trio’s own words against their entire party, something which as I have addressed at length before is not necessarily fitting, and not with graphics or anything that really catches a viewers attention. Perhaps I am wrong though and the average viewer will see this commercial as more effective than I do.

Watch the commercial at the GOP site and tell me what you think.

Drudge reported upon this commercial last night and included the below bit of reaction from the commercial.

A Democratic strategist who had the web ad described to her said, “This is way over the top but we have no one to blame but Dean, Kerry and others who continue to pander to the anti-war activists within our party.”

[snip]

One Republican strategist familiar with the ad said, “The Democrats, especially Howard Dean have a way of trying to turn the tables and say ‘that’s not what I meant’ – its just those ‘evil Republicans’ This video will make them crazy – it reinforces what they really believe with what they actually said – and that is devastating for the Democratic Party.”

I tend not to believe the ‘Democratic strategist’ at his or her own words because it sounds too much like what a Republican strategist would say insisting there is a division among Democrats. I have seen that division, but someone who is supposed to help map out a strategy for a party would most likely not have said such a division exists.

As far as the commercial being devestating, I’m not so certain about that either. The coverage of several statements by multiple Democrats during the war in Iraq has been replayed for the American public time and time again for a couple of years now, but that hasn’t seemed to sway public opinion much.

Further, I do not think using Senator Kerry as anything but a punchline will do anything for either party. The man is nothing more than an opportunist who sways his own opinions on anything from what car he drives to the war in Iraq from show to show and day to day. Again, I may be proven wrong and in this case I hope I am.

Interesting.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank – A blitz of billboards and television commercials filled with grinning Palestinian children is trying to chip away at America’s negative image, telling Palestinians they have cleaner water and more classrooms thanks to U.S. generosity.

But the U.S. government’s campaign is off to a tough start: No Palestinian entertainer or athlete was willing to serve as its goodwill ambassador, reflecting widespread anti-American sentiment. No political leaders were asked to participate.

The prevailing view is that the ad money is being wasted — and that attitudes won’t budge until Washington drops what Palestinians consider its pro-Israel bias and gets serious about Palestinian statehood.

I understand completely why Palestinian athletes did not want to appear in the advertisements. Frankly, it could jeopardize their lives and the lives of their families.

Whether or not this is working is pure nonsense. Ask anyone familiar with public relations, which in this case the advertisements are a function thereof, and they will tell you changing the minds of people takes time. People who have grown up knowing nothing but hate have a difficult time believing the United States is not evil and our nation has in fact given millions to the Palestinian people; it was just Yassir Arafat who chose to take this goodwill and put it in his own coffers.

In a scenario such as this one, where Palestinians and Iranians actually believe Israelis kidnap children and steal their organs, a few billboards hanging in the West Bank will not create an overnight change in minds. Education will change minds, but that education needs to first start with Palestinian leadership. Abbas has pledged he will help change the mindset of radical Islamic Palestinians, but thus far he has not done enough. As with the new PR campaign the Associated Press is already saying is failing, both will take time.

How many people still won’t buy Wendy’s chilli even after it was learned the finger mishap was a criminal act? I rest my case.

What a great game. This was a Super Bowl to remember. It had good offense, good defense and a very close score to make it one of the best in at least the last 10 years. There were some things that struck me as odd though, but they did not involve the play.

The opening of the game was amazing; having living WW II soldiers participate and two past presidents. I thought it was just a bit ironic though having all of these veterans and President Clinton in the same show. I know I wasn’t the only one who found it ironic as most people at the party I was at did too. I will not attack President Clinton’s record as a President or his other indiscretions, but having a known draft-dodger sitting side-by-side with those that served with both of my grandparents was a bit of a slap in the face.

The commercials left some to be desired, though there were some that left a great impression. The GoDaddy.com commercial was pretty funny and I actually visited their site to check it out. The commercial served its purpose though and I would imagine their site, which sells domain names and web hosting, took quite a hit in the five minutes after the commercial aired.

I absolutely loved the Fedex commercial which showed ten ingredients for a successful commercial, though I’m not certain people that are not either in the advertising industry or fascinated by advertising will remember anything other than the Burt Reynolds groin kick. The commercial was a true genious from my point of view poking fun at several commercials and also selling their product.

Budweiser purchased exclusive rights to advertise during the Super Bowl which is a first for a brewery and I believe a first for any industry for that matter. While they had commercials with the Clydesdales which is of course their trademark during the Super Bowl, the commercial that recieved the best impression at the party was the commercial where American soldiers were in an airport presumably arriving from a theater of war. I made the comment that I wish this was the case every time a soldier arrived home, but I’m afraid it’s not. This commercial was of course a commercial to sell Budweiser products, but they did not slam the screen with their logo or their products. Kudos to Budweiser for reminding all Americans how we should treat our soldiers. It was the best commercial without question.

There were several CareerBuilder.com commercials which were all funny. I mean who can’t laugh at monkeys? Ameriquest also scored a great commercial with the sauce and the cat. Their second commercial was by far more funny than the Ameriquest commercial featuring a customer turned robbery suspect.

The Ford Mustang commercial, which I saw aired three times during the game and pre-game, was a bit odd. I don’t get it and neither did any of the 20 people that were at the party. I’m guessing that if you have a Mustang, you will keep the top down no matter what the weather is, but this isn’t exactly a great message to send out in order for people to buy a Mustang. In fact, one friend even asked if the heaters in Mustangs work after seeing the commercial the second time. This one bombed and whichever advertising agency who came up with the commercial should send Ford its money back.

I also did not like any of the Diet Pepsi commercials. While I understood the message they were sending, it didn’t put their product above any other diet sodas. They overpaid for the spot, the actors and the agency that created the commercials. Pepsi used to have great ads, but this year they fell well short.

The Napster commercials, while effective in showing how much money they could save the MP3 downloader, came off as more than just ironic. It was of course Napster that was the most popular peer-to-peer trading vessel at the start of the MP3 craze. While Napster has gone by the wayside and is now a legitimate company, there are of course other ways to still download and test music without paying either $1 per song or $15 per month through Napster. Napster probably would have been better off changing their name.

IFILM (it’s free and no registration) has all of the Super Bowl ads for viewing (via The Roth Report).

Update:
Michelle Malkin was also moved by the Anheuser-Busch ad saluting our soldiers. She however finds someone who wasn’t exactly moved. Of course it’s the New York Times.

Anheuser-Busch A gauzy valentine to American troops, which ended with the Anheuser-Busch corporate logo superimposed on screen, was touching, but some viewers may have wondered whether “Busch” had been misspelled.

Pardon me? Since when has supporting our soldiers been a partisan issue? This sh&* keeps coming up and I’m getting sick and tired of it. The soldiers who are fighting our nation’s wars are the ones who defend the right for all of us to sit comfortably in our homes and bars watching a game that wouldn’t be around if it wasn’t for the American Soldier. Why can’t some people get it through their thick head that you can be a Democrat, not support the war fully and yet still support our soldiers and believe they are heroes?

The real heroes aren’t the ones who write summaries of commercials and insert political jabs. The real heroes were symbolized in the commercial the NYT so callously makes a partisan issue out of. The American Soldier is the ONLY true American hero. Without the American Soldier, we do not exist.

Update:
While the first GoDaddy commercial was run, apparently the commercial was to run a second time but it was pulled after the NFL persuaded Fox to yank it (via The Roth Report).

We immediately contacted Fox to find out what happened. Here’s what we were told: After our first ad was aired, the NFL became upset and they, together with Fox, decided to pull the ad from running a second time. Because we purchased two spots, we were also entitled to a “Brought to you by GoDaddy.com” 5 second marquis spot. They also chose to pull the marquis spot.

Not only did GoDaddy lose a commercial spot, they also lost a five second marquis which are also valuable and I would assume GoDaddy ran two spots knowing the marquis would help justify the costs.

There may be a shining light in this mess though. If this story gains publicity, GoDaddy will gain exposure through any type of backlash they get as well as from people like myself who support this commercial. The backlash could very well mean greater coverage than running the same commercial twice. It will be interesting to see how the PR team at GoDaddy handles this. I’d gladly offer to help, but for a certain price of course.

Update:
There is yet another GoDaddy commercial that is “uncensored” and was pulled from an original airing. It contains more of the wording which would have made the commercial that aired even more funny. You can download the commercial here.

I also forgot to mention the Bud Light commercial with the skydiving team and the pilot who dives out of the plane without a parachute after a six-pack of Bud Light. While I didn’t hear the commercial because we were all talking, the commercial got the message out as well as quite a few laughs.

You may or may not have seen a television commercial showing some kind of big, hairy beast performing various tasks. At the end of the commercial, a website tagline (www.esuvee.com) appears urging viewers to visit the site.

I saw this commercial tonight during a CSI re-run on Spike TV and it immediately grabbed my attention. I could not however remember what the commercial was about or what the product they were peddling was. Thankfully, the New York Times reports on this commercial to shed some light to those of us who were just intrigued by this beast jumping around.

DETROIT SPORT utility vehicles are beastly, or at least beastlike.

That is the message of a new public service campaign from the governments of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The $27 million campaign, paid for with settlement money from a lawsuit against the Ford Motor Company, starts this week and is aimed at informing young men in particular about the rollover risks of sport utility vehicles.

This latest dent to the aura of the S.U.V. stars “Esuvee,” who looks like a cross between the Star Wars characters Chewbacca and Jabba the Hutt, with headlights for eyes and a grille for a nose. Esuvee – pronounced “S.U.V.” – also rides like a bucking bull.

In a 60-second commercial that is part of the campaign and will appear before movies in theaters, young men mount Esuvee, “buckling in” to the back of the hairy beast in a sort of mock bull riding championship. A gate opens and they hang on for the ride. As the first rider vaults out of control, the camera settles on a seasoned rider offering ringside advice.

“Anybody can ride an S.U.V., but not everybody rides it right,” he says. “S.U.V.’s are big and powerful, and on top of one, you feel almost invincible.”

While the commercial certainly grabs your attention, I doubt anyone will remember what message is being sent out. The message of course is safety in an SUV which was handed down by the courts. Public Service Announcements are supposed to be informative but also leave a lasting impression of the message, not the digital images or some wild “beast” ride of who can hold on for eight seconds.

In perhaps the greatest PSA that both warns of the side effects of a product yet hides all company logos is the Truth.com ads. The Truth.com ads of course are against smoking and warn of the many side effects thereof. The ads do not however encourage people to continue to smoke. The Esuvee ads encourage potential customers to continue buying SUVs.

“It’s powerful, it’s big, you’re up in the air,” he added. “You seem invincible but you’re not because of the center of gravity. It’s not a campaign to get people not to buy S.U.V.’s. We want people to buy them, but master the safety concerns.”

I own a SUV and this is my second one. Of course I’ve never flipped one and I don’t know anyone who has, however I am naturally aware of the risks even before I saw a commercial of a wild beast being ridden by SUV cowboys.

The Esuvee commercial I saw will probably encourage people to purchase SUVs, though again I see nothing wrong with them and I do love my Jeep Grand Cherokee. Since this commercial is targeted towards young men, I fit the target audience, yet I didn’t remember the message of the commercial which should be the point of a PSA. This set of ads is nothing more than advertising to buy SUVs, something which the courts did not rule in favor of.