Friday, September 12, 2008

Ads that Piss Me Off: I am not peeved all the time, seriously

I hope The Gruen Transfer comes back on tv quick smart. Advertising and consumerism is endelssly fascinating, to me anyway - what makes people think the way they do, purchase the way they do, what makes them tick? But there are some ads I just don't get. And they're all targeted at me. Well, not me, I mean the suited square glasses type ad people didn't sit around a massive polished table and go "hey let's make an ad for Kat", but my gender, age group, income level and all that boring statistical malarky.

1). The Phillly ad with those annoying chicks with wings. I haven't bought Philly since those ads came out, and I won't because every time I look at it it makes me think "watch your weight" and "I'm giving in to that ad I detest!". I mean, if they're in heaven, why are they working? And dieting? I'm sorry but heaven is not some sort of slick office with trashy mags. I like to think of it more like Monty Python's Meaning of Life, where it's a hotel with a cabaret show, and Christmas every day! When I cark it I don't want to go low fat ,or be the awkward new girl in the office, or indeed, work. So, basically, instead of thinking, ooh Philly on toast yum yum, all I think is: confusion. And if angels have to watch their weight, well I sure as hell aren't going near that Philly. Just in case.

2). The Tic Tac ads. You know with that annoying smirky woman with not quite an American accent, who looks like theres always something in her m0uth, presumably a tic tac? Yeah it's an OTT Yankee ad but seriously, it doesn't make me want a tic tac or think tic tacs are cool, or indeed bother to give them a grammatically correct capital letter when I type the name. And yet, the tagline is ingrained into my brain; it's not just a mint it's a tic tac. Argh!

3). There's an ad on occassionally for Skechers and I seriously hope it's a type of in joke because it is awful. Skechers are pretty ugly in general anyway, and maybe this ad is just out of my age target group, but anyway it's just a giggly bunch of American teens and all they do is go "Oh I love my Skechers" "I Know" Like yeah" "totally" "like, right?" AND THATS IT. I refuse to buy Skechers because they are not the street shoe wth street cred. The ad tells me nothing about the shoes except that annoying american teenagers with limited vocabulary wear them. And I don't want to be an annoying American teenager. So I won't wear them. I know, like, right?

There needs to be good ads and bad ads. It helps the world of advertising go round. Those 3 ads might shit me no end but at least I remember them. I might not go and buy the product but I've got the brand emblazoned in my memory. And branding is where it's at, amn. Like, totally.

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