I hate 99% of television advertising. I don’t care how slick the special effects are (in fact in some cases I hate the ads FOR their special effects). I hate ads so much I make a special effort to turn the volume off on the TV when the commercials come on. As far as I’m concerned they are noise pollution and I want to keep my world as free of clutter (including audio clutter) as I can.
That being said, I must give special mention to one ad in particular which I will actually TURN UP the volume to hear: The Geico gekko ads. Currently that company’s cockney reptile is seen in a series of ads trying to enlist the help of other lizards to spread the word about Geico.
What makes this ad work for me? First it’s the gekko’s accent. He is at the same time worldly (in a jolly, cockney sort of way) and approachable. This is due, I think, to the way he’s rendered and to the way the actor portrays his voice. It’s amusing and yet informative. Amusing without being cloying. As I wrote, I will turn up the volume just to hear this lizard speak. I love it. Will I buy insurance from Geico? I don’t know. But it certainly works as far as name recognition goes. My hat is off to Geico and it’s advertising team 1) for taking the risk to use the gekko (and the other “surprise” commercials like those using today’s pop culture personalities who tell us they’ve just saved a bunch of money by switching to Geico) and 2) making the gekko a Cockney. It’s an American commercial, but they’ve taken the risk of using a character from the lower strata of British society to be their spokesreptile. It just works because it comes at you from out of left field. Also, it doesn’t intrude or harangue you with the telephone number 17 times. It doesn’t insult your intelligence.
What ads don’t I like? Just about all of them. I find tag lines for car ads demeaning. They are the candy coated bait the automakers use to lure us in. Yes, they want us to see ourselves at the wheel of whatever care they’re selling and buying into that tag line. As if buying a Cadillac will somehow make us “Break Through.” Break Through what? A brick wall? I don’t think so. I can tell you (from personal experience) that even the “Ultimate Driving Machine” breaks down as often as any other car. We don’t drive cars in slow motion, sliding sideways on wet tracks, either. Advertising as deception (and that’s what most car ads boil down to) makes me mad.
Earthlink has a new series of ads with computer generated fantasy characters in the background. I guess these are supposed to enforce Earthlink’s tag line that “anything’s possible.” First of all, I find the Earthlink people boring. Stop pretending that Earthlink is some fairyland and just tell me what you provide with your service. Second, the fact that goblins and fairies are buzzing around the Earthlink offices doesn’t fill me with confidence in it as a company. Third, the CG characters look kind of demonic, definitely not friendly. Finally, I had to look REALLY close at the closing shot in one of those commercials because what I’m sure they think is some kind of ogre in the background looks to me like Adolf Hitler, brown shirt and all. “Earthlink uber alles?”
The worst (at least as I’m thinking about it at this moment) are the myriad ads with a man and woman in them (married couple, girl/boyfriend, etc.). There must me some law somewhere that demands the man is always the one who looks stupid. It’s always the woman who always correct the man. She either shows him how much better the product she chose is than the one he did. Or, she knows better about whatever the situation at hand is. Men are most often portrayed as doofuses. They certainly are in most beer commercials. In these, they’re beer-swigging automatons who exist only for sports and beer and who will act like complete assholes during halftime to go to the local 7-11 to get the last pack of Miller Lite.
There’s a Vonage commercial which also proves my point. In the foreground a woman tells the viewer how great Vonage service is while here idiot husband dances in the background. After detailing Vonage’s superlatives, the woman “realizes” her husband has been dancing in full view of the camera and acts bemused/embarrassed. Again. The man is a fool. The woman is the “adult.” Watch some commercials. Tell me if this is not so. It is. And it sucks.
Enough ranting.
Another special mention has to go to Sam Adams Beer. By God, they’re actually focusing on the quality of…THE BEER! Imagine a company telling you about its product in a commercial. For that reason alone and because they aren’t pandering to the lowest common denomenator I will go out of my way to have a Sam Adams over some other beer if presented with the choice. Hats off to you guys, too!
