An Adoption Can Turn A Life Around

If you're anything like me, you really respect all the people out there that open their homes and their hearts to adoptive children. Such is the mission of Adoption Resources of Wisconsin, a nonprofit organization that "operates from the belief that all children, regardless of their needs, have the right to a permanent family."

In order to help spread the word that adoption can help "turn a life around," Serve Marketing is turning billboards on their heads throughout the state of Wisconsin.

This outdoor campaign is being revealed over time ... with phase one showing upside-down images of an adult and child. On May 2, those images will be flipped right side up and will be joined by copy which appropriately reads, "Turn a life around." Drivers will be directed to fosterparentsrock.org to learn more about how they can become an adoptive parent or a foster parent.

According to Gary Mueller, from Serve Marketing:

"Nothing is right when you live in that world, 

so we've taken the upside-down world of kids

and applied it to every part of the campaign 

to create an emotional connection and 

inspire more adults to become foster parents." 

As an adjunct to this campaign, Serve and Adoption Resources of Wisconsin encourages you to filip your own profile picture upside down on Facebook.

So, go ahead, flip out! And change a child's life forever.

Flash Mobs Offer Unexpected Delight

UW-Madison Yes + Yoga Empowerment Flash Mob

As of late, flash mobs have become ... well ... flashy.  They seem to be materializing all over the place.  Well known brands like American Airlines, UPS, Wells Fargo and Sears have all taken their brands to the streets through flash mobs.

Maybe you're not all that familiar with flash mobs. Well that's not terribly surprising ... especially if you don't live in a somewhat larger city.

Well, let me help educate you. According to the most trusted of all sources, Wikipedia, a flash mob is defined as:

  "A group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place,

perform an unusual and sometimes seemingly pointless act for a brief time, 

then disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment and/or satire."

Of course, those of us that make a living by working in the field of marketing or advertising, know the truth behind most flash mobs. They actually are not "seemingly pointless acts." Rather, they have a point and that point is to heighten awareness of a brand or to get consumers to look at our brand in a whole new light.

Flash mobs fall under the category of nontraditional advertising, along with a whole cadre of different vehicles.  But, of all the different methods of advertising that exist - both traditional and nontraditional - I must admit that flash mobs are quickly becoming one of my favorites.

I love the unexpected delight they offer to unsuspecting bystanders.

I love the energy and passion that unfolds on the otherwise sedate streets.

I love the smiles that seem to creep on to the faces of those watching.

I love how much fun they can bring to a quiet, dull day.

When all is said and done, what's not to like?

Fanta Surprises College Students

Do you remember those all too familiar words:

Smile, You're on Candid Camera!!

Back in the 1960s and 70s, Allen Funt entertained millions of fans by placing cameras in hidden spots, catching spectators in compromising and embarrassing situations, shooting film and then making the unsuspecting actors national TV stars for a brief moment in time.

Recently Fanta soda took a page from the Candid Camera annals of time when they hid cameras in elevators on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. What better place to stage their playful antics then at one of Playboy's Top 10 party schools?

After teasing elevator riders with techno-created voices and colorful laser lights, the ride ended with free Orange Fanta and a cascade of orange balls falling down all around the college students.

What a wonderful way to remind students that Orange Fanta makes a great mixer for that upcoming block party on Miflin Street!

Is Old Spice Ditching Mustafa?

Old Spice is up to their antics again with their latest manly man TV commercial, where the macho guy walks through quicksand, ignores a large snake wrapping itself around his body, gets knocked off by a truck, is bitten by a crocodile, immerses over his head in water and still miraculously ends up at a beautiful woman's side ... where he is told that he smells and looks amazing.

But there is something about this ad that is dramatically different than recently aired ads, where Isaiah Mustafa convinced women the world over that he was "the man your man could smell like."

That difference? Mustafa is no longer the star of the show.

Within the past year, Mustafa has helped to completely reinvent and re-energize the Old Spice brand, which has been in existence for over 70 years. Previous images of the manly sailor whistling the Old Spice melody as he walks the dock with a beautiful lady on his arm have firmly been supplanted with a younger, more contemporary man who smells and looks terrific, no matter what he faces in life.

But, just what who is this new guy and what has become of Isaiah?

No one seems to know.  Ad agency Wieden & Kennedy is willing to talk at length about how the commercial was shot, but the name of the new Old Spice man seems to be heavily guarded.

One may ask why Old Spice looked a gift horse in the mouth, but as my undergraduate students who presented an Old Spice case study told the class just this week, it's smart to not put all your eggs in one basket. Celebrities like Tiger Woods, Brittney Spears and Brett Favre, to name only a few, have shown that it can be dangerous to stake all of a brand's advertising around one key celebrity.

Maybe it's this sense of caution driving P&G to create another Old Spice persona ... or maybe they just knew we would all talk about this ad because Mustafa was not in it, serving to reinvigorate the brand buzz.

Lead actor aside, I like this ad even more than the previous ones. The stint at the end with the skeletal legs actually got me to laugh out loud.

No matter how you look at it, Old Spice is one of the few great brands that has managed to completely reinvent themselves. It's a case study for the records.

Clam Shell Packages Are History With Pyranna

While I'm not typically prone to heralding new products on this blog, there are times that I have to give KUDOS for an invention that addresses a real consumer problem.

If you're anything like me, a tough clam shell package can make you shriek in horror ... possibly even purchase a different brand that is easier to open. You wonder, how can I get this darn thing open without hurting my hands or damaging the product nestled safely inside?

In steps the Pyranna, a cool new gadget to slice right through those impenetrable packages. History professors take note: With the Pyranna, struggling to open hard shell packages is now a thing of the past.

Heineken Gets Glowing Recommendation

In early 2011, Heineken launched a familiar - yet unfamiliar - package into the Milan market. The new aluminum package looks like a bottle but feels like a can.

But, that's just the start of its coolness. The new Heineken package actually glows in the dark.

According to Cool Hunting, the graphics are "printed with invisible ink that, when exposed to UV light, reveal an amusing shooting stars pattern."

What a great concept and a fun way to get club goers to light up the night with Heineken.  I see the underpinnings of some great Heineken storytelling here.

Truth.com "Splodes" With Deadly Message

This must be a Red Bull ad.

No wait ... it's a Mountain Dew ad.

Or maybe it's a Monster energy drink ad.

No, no and no.

It's an ad for Splode ... a dynamically charged new soft drink that satisfies even the most daring of daredevils.

I must admit I was drawn into this ad last night, thinking that Red Bull or Mountain Dew was being challenged by a new energy soft drink.  Just what we need, right? Another highly caffeinated drink to provide that necessary boost of energy at those times when we feel most lethargic.

The ad opens with a group of young people bungee-cording from a bridge, attempting to plan their jump perfectly so they can grab a can of soda perched on a rock below.  As they reach the rock, they grab the can and take a massive hit of soda. Person after person reveals their expertise at taking the perfect swan dive towards the can.

The final person grabs the soda. The camera zooms in on the product. Ahhh ... the name is revealed. New Splode soda!

The person is pulled back up towards the bridge in a wide-reaching arc and then .... explodes?

I stopped what I was doing and looked at the TV screen to try to comprehend what this ad was trying to tell me. In its final frames, the following message leaped on to the screen:

It turns out this ad had nothing to do with soft drinks, getting an energy boost or attempting bungee cording. It was an ad by the Truth campaign. A message that pointedly tells viewers that tobacco kills one-third of the people that smoke it.

For me, this ad was a surprise from beginning to end. In some ways, it reminds me of their earlier Shards 'O Glass Freeze Pops ad, but in other ways it felt more realistic and more effective at grabbing my attention and delivering the punchline.

Maybe it's the fascination of watching someone do something that you would probably never do yourself - throw your body off a high bridge, with only 8 inches of cord separating you from sure death. I mean, after all, isn't that why so many people go to the races - to see if there will be a crash? Or the reason why they go to a boxing match - to see if there will be a knockout? Or even go to a hockey game - to see if a fist fight will break out on the ice?

So, now they have our attention. But, it always comes back to that age-old question, doesn't it?  Is this ad effective enough to encourage someone to toss their cigarette pack in the trash?

My guess is that they already know all the deadly statistics associated with putting that cigarette in their mouth. But, for a whole bevy of reasons, they haven't wanted to - or haven't been able to - quit.

But, truthfully, that doesn't mean that Truth.com should stop trying.