“you are boring me back to death” - starburst

Ok.

I have disliked Starburst advertising for quite some time <but I have always liked the product>.  In my own semi-ignorant eyes … the advertising has never seemed to capture how good the product is.

Anyway.

I am still not sure this television advertisement is good (for the product or sales) but it made me laugh. Very clever. Extremely well written. Look. I understand the strategy. It is relatively sophomoric <ok … maybe better said obvious> in that someone did some research and it uncovered that the taste (or satisfaction) of eating a starburst reflects some contradiction in user responses. Excellent <I say>. Contradictions are the most fertile ground for positioning something in people’s minds. Owning a contradiction, if you can really do it, is the holy grail of positioning.

But ( a HUGE but). You don’t frickin’ tell everyone you are a contradiction. At some point you have to figure out how to tell the without … well … telling them. This is a case where the research <and, by the way, this is fairly rare> appears to be better than the articulation of the learnings. I imagine somewhere in that research there is a real idea but they haven’t figured it out yet <p.s. … “keep trying”>.

Anyway. The TV ad. Any commercial that is dialogue driven and you actually want people to pay attention to the entire dialogue and not tune out … cannot lollygaggle <a technical advertising term> in its entertainment effectiveness.

Almost every line .. heck … almost every word has to deliver the goods.

This tv ad is well written.

Once again … let me say .. I am not really sure it says anything that could actually help starburst long term <positioning it as the darn good product that it is> but it is funny. And entertaining. And likeable.

Starburst Zombie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z9_FJFj_uw

All I know for sure is that is it is well written … and funny (but I still do not understand the bagpipe guy … although I am sure in some strategic document he is ‘contradictory’).

There is no theme to this other than I have seen some commercials I wanted to comment on.

First. One I dislike.

And, I admit, I dislike the product also (although that has nothing to do with my dislike for the advertising … it is just an irrelevant coincidence).

Orangina.

Ok. I imagine I mentioned my dislike for the product because it is relevant. Orangina is a wildly popular drink outside of the US. But then so are flavored sparkling water products. I don’t get any of them. They taste horrible to me. On a side note <which is possibly relevant to this> on the other hand … oddly I like the taste of European diet coke/coke better.

Oh well. Who cares? No one <but me>.

But the point I am kind of randomly making is about culture and the fact different places like different things. And that may be the case for this particular advertising. I don’t particularly care for any Orangina advertising but this promotional campaign is particularly bad to me.  Apparently it is part of a rugby themed promotion centered around Orangina’s French Facebook page.

Street bear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHA8ffREyIA&feature=relmfu

Park bear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHA8ffREyIA&feature=relmfu

So. Excitingly <I say that with false enthusiasm> part of the “audience participation” is that you get to choose the next victim.

I’m wondering how people react to seeing a bear <albeit a person in a bear suit> jump a woman/man/whomever on the street. Anyway. It is actually a Punkd concept <and, to be honest, I don’t like the show either>.

And I am fairly sure there is a strategic vision <I assume they want to reach a younger audience, animal lovers and muggers seeking inspiration> but I am also fairy sure there would have been a better way of doing this idea.

Before I move on … this is more an Orangina ‘brand’ tv execution … just for viewing kicks:

Bear & giraffe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l02YOA7g7UU

Next.

Geico.

It is difficult to dislike Geico advertising. Out of sheer numbers of ideas … for every horrendous attempt at an ad they come up with an absolutely brilliant execution. Geico is an advertising agency dream come true. The client doesn’t appear afraid to try new ideas as well as they appear to have an ability to let the brand idea wander aimlessly <over a fairly solid messaging center> with a variety of different executions of the same strategic thought.

But their newest idea of the “insurance taste test” is so silly it is great. The execution blatantly says “geico is better” in such a noncompetitive competitive way you know it is absurd … but an absurdly good point.

Geico taste test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MURRvN0BCWE

Lastly.

Congressman Manny Pacquio <Hennessy>.

Whew. If you are any type of sports person, this one is priceless. There are so many things right about the idea, and how it is executed, the list is too long to write. Suffice it to say they have presented an unexpected success story. A really unexpected one. I have always believed that most liquor advertising was so blatantly bad the people who made the ads should give the money back to the manufacturer … but … what the heck … they approved it and they probably got some satisfaction out of it.

This one is an exception for the category.  Almost a perfect use of an endorser … an endorser indicative of their drinker/buyer (demographically & psycho graphically) … and it isn’t some fantasy-like obscure fashion-envy type execution.

Well done Hennessy.

I am showing the :30 version because I actually like it better than the :60.

Hennessy Manny :30: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43fZ00xLUSE

Some advertising.

Just because.