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Opinion
Outlook is cloudy for McDonald’s mood app
If you’ve been on YouTube this morning, you’ve probably been boinked squarely between the eyes by the McDonald’s home page takeover.
If you follow the link, it’s an apparently ambitious digital campaign that looks like its merely fails in the execution. Read more »
Why every agency boss needs to hear how Goodby got its groove back
In the last three years I’ve probably sat through dozens, if not a couple of hundred, industry-related presentations. Just a handful stick with me. Read more »
With a little PR magic from Max Markson, Naomi Robson’s lizard didn’t happen and neither did the cannibals
I had an intriguing press release from publicist Max Markson today.
Naomi Robson is back in front of the camera. Even if it’s only online. And Markson Sparks PR is helping her with the launch of The Naomi Show. Read more »
Coke’s phoney happiness machine is a fail for me
In this guest posting, Tony Richardson argues that the Coke Happiness Machine viral sucks.
The folks at Coke have created a viral video and as hoped it’s being circulated worldwide … but for all the wrong reasons. The main one being that it is possibly the lamest viral ever created. Read more »
Saying no to copy approval
“We’d dash back to the office to knock up a dry, arse-licking account of our “intimate chat” with Peter Andre to email to CAN, who would duly remove every trace of insight or humour, before making us feel sooooo special by perhaps deigning to allow us to publish it. No thanks.”
Will Renai LeMay’s new media business model work?
I’ve been curious for a few days now on what Renai LeMay’s plans are.
Since announcing he was leaving ZDNet, he’s been coy about what he’d be doing next.
Which of course made it all the more interesting. Read more »
Where are our marketing heroes?
“The great Australian tradition of attacking success and anyone that sticks their head above the parapet is stronger than ever. In my recent experiences around the world I can honestly say I have never experienced such collective distaste for one’s own kind.”
The Australian tries to win back Kevin
“One might wonder whether News Ltd feels the need to get on the right side of the Prime Minister, having managed to get itself thoroughly offside with him since the 2007 election.”
Bernard Keane on why Rudd was The Oz’s Australian of the Year
AFR falls four days behind The Oz
On Saturday, we woke up to discover that Wall Street had suffered a big fall. Read more »
Tips for better ideas
While it’s rather cool that Vancouver agency Rethink funds a scholarship for future art directors and designers, the ad they’ve created around it offers even better advice on the creative process. Read more »
Sack the copywriter
Here’s a nice innovation from consumer watchdog Choice, rounding up the best of the month’s Aussie ad blunders. Read more »
If agencies were bands…
The other day I was chatting to the boss of a new agency that’s about to launch.
I asked her what she wanted her agency to stand for. If it was a band, which would the agency be, was my question.
Which then got me to thinking about which bands Australia’s existing agencies would represent. As I began to make notes, I began to realise that it doesn’t look good… Read more »
When a global marketing blunder is a local problem
Sometimes I wonder if being a brand with an international affiliation is more trouble than it’s worth.
Jenny Craig – a weight control brand that’s doing very well in Australia, thanks very much – is the latest to face blowback from an international gaffe. Read more »
Vegetarian and chicken ads prove Sam’s lamb is still the one to beat on Australia Day
When Sam Kekovich’s latest pro-lamb Australia Day address was unveiled last week, a fair bit of the debate centred on whether it was time to change the strategy. Read more »
In defence of disaster journalism
The somewhat grubby tussle between Seven and Nine over who gets credit for rescuing baby Winnie from the Haiti rubble makes an easy target for those who see disaster journalists as vultures.
After all, what can the media do, but get in the way? Read more »
Cadbury’s ad celebrates dogs in cars
Dairy Milk in Australia is having another go at tapping into the viral success in other parts of the world of Cadbury’s epic Glass And A Half Full productions.
Featuring a Blue Danube soundtrack, the ad – reportedly shot on the Oran Park raceway in NSW - consists of dogs leaning out of the window of Lamborghini repainted in Cadbury’s colours.
The ad has been created by Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney. The last attempt to localise something in Cadbury’s Glass And A Half Full Productions series was a remix of the drumming gorilla, using John Farnham’s You’re the Voice. The move was poorly received.
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You can now watch clips of the Mumbrella Readers Choice Awards ceremony category by category.
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Comments
2 Nov 09
9:23 am
The ad is shot at Oran Park if the grandstand in the background is any indication.
I’m not in marketing, just a simple consumer . . . and I am totally baffled by this advert and how it is meant to increase the sales of chocolate . . . . ????
I would prefer they save the money and drop the price of the product. That will stimulate sales more than a drumming gorilla or dogs in a car. Appears they could save lots of money on marketing salaries, too.
2 Nov 09
9:38 am
nope, not a fan. bland.
2 Nov 09
9:39 am
Gorrilla spot- fantastic.
The eyebrow kids- great spot.
Dogs in cars- utter crap.
2 Nov 09
9:39 am
It’s weird the trade rags are only picking this up now, it was first broadcast almost 2 weeks ago on TV and the site’s been live for a while.
I really like it … plus the dog at 0.38 is the same as mine. Not sure how it directly relates to chocolate but I think it brings a bit of fun and creativity to a 1 min ad
2 Nov 09
9:40 am
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
2 Nov 09
9:41 am
I love this ad!! Agree that there is no direct correlation between the product and the ad. I thought it must be for pedigree or something at first with their “we’re for dogs” tagline.
2 Nov 09
9:41 am
What Art said.
2 Nov 09
9:52 am
From a simple marketer.
Salience and association Matt, are the goals of these kinds of ads.
You get the association, as a consumer, through the entertainment value in it.
Then you’re meant to say “oh hey, seen that ad for Cadbury? Cool huh?” or, when next passing the supermarket shelf, stop and go “oh, Cadbury. I remember that ad. It’s cool, I’ll get some”.
This one, in my opinion, isn’t half as bad as the gorilla with whipsering jack over-dubbed. Doesn’t have that same affect as a localised American ad, with Australian accents over-dubbed (makes me cringe every time I see one of those). It’s actually pretty engaging, in my opinion and it resonates in the mind (mine at least).
The first two, with the Phil Collins gorilla and the eye-dancing kids, were gold. Fantastic executions. Artistically engaging and memorable.
Downside though, they were almost too good so continuance was always going to be hard.
This one would’ve been better as the first, than the third. It’s a good ad, but following the gorilla or those kids? It definitely runs a distant third.
2 Nov 09
9:55 am
It does nothing for me. If there were less dogs, it was in serious slo-mo and we saw real pleasure on a couple of dogs’ faces … maybe with a proper big grin and a drool trail disappearing into the wind as they just looked amazingly happy … MAYBE then the ad would work to evoke pleasure. As it is, I bet there’s another 4 dogs playing poker in the back seat, which is where the real action is!
2 Nov 09
9:56 am
Sarah
I am certain a dog food brand somewhere already used the dogs out the window idea for their product.
2 Nov 09
9:57 am
Agree with Tama.
Poor and dull execution, and I’m a dog lover.
2 Nov 09
10:05 am
Meh! iAd2.0 in my opinion.
Also what happened to good ole research – most chocolate has a toxic effect on domestic pooches. Any correlation in my head is not a good one – unless of course the subtext is dogs living by the “live fast, die young” ethos but I can’t see it.
2 Nov 09
10:07 am
Meh – carries on a bit too long I think. Initially thought the idea had some entertainment value but the fact that there is absolutely no correlation to the product and the ad doesn’t evolve at all, just seems like a slight disappointment.
2 Nov 09
10:16 am
great brand alignment, poor execution, poor creative…
If the car was going faster to get more “flap” from the dogs cheeks and then the dogs were in super slow mo… it could have worked
Plus it was just avg. seeing the dog harnesses holding the dogs in… amateur.
2 Nov 09
10:39 am
Agree with 1.Tama Leaver on this, could’ve been done better.
Loved the phil collins gorilla. The JF one, bad bad move. The kids – annoying. This is boring and doesn’t invoke a sense of joy at all.
2 Nov 09
12:40 pm
It’s not the most joyful ad, is it?
2 Nov 09
2:44 pm
Chocolate isn’t good for dogs.
2 Nov 09
2:46 pm
Its quite simple really. Chocolate is supposed to be fun and not taken too seriously. If you didn’t smile when you first saw the ad, you are only kidding yourself.
2 Nov 09
2:47 pm
i agree with tama – should have been one dog – super slow motion – happiness and joy with tongues and slobber jiggling ever so slowly in the wind
2 Nov 09
3:03 pm
Am I the only one who thinks of “Animals Close-Up with a Wide-Angle Lens Wearing Hats” when looking at this but somehow missing the irony?
I can just imagine the brainstorming meeting on this one… “we need DOGS in CARS! …ummm….purple sports cars! yeah! BRILLIANT!”
2 Nov 09
3:15 pm
I really like this ad. I makes me laugh, and probably the execution could have been a little better, as mentioned in the previous comments, but I think it is fun. I think of it as the dogs having fun sticking their heads out of the window…it is their ‘joy’ just as ours is/can be enjoying a bit of chocolate.
2 Nov 09
4:03 pm
OK, I’m joining the thread late and the point that there was no correlation between a drumming gorilla and chocolate has already been made … drat.
Then I thought, being a dog-lover, chocolate is poisonous to dogs. Double-drat.
But I can confirm that it is at ’soon-to-be-closed’ Oran Park. Then it hit me! Did anyone else pick up that the Lambo is driving around Oran Park in thewrong direction. Maybe that is symbolic of the ad!
2 Nov 09
4:22 pm
Why are there no boxers ?
Chocolate is bad for woofers.
Why weren’t they driving a ute [localism anyone ?] not a poncy Lambo
Tama is right. It should have been one dogy [Moi] in super slow mo.
2 Nov 09
4:25 pm
Is this ad made for consumers or award judges. The only correlation between this ad and the product is the colour of the car. Think of your audience would they relate it to chocolate if they didn’t watch it all the way through? This ad is not strong enough to stop the remote flicker. And if you did make it to the end there is often a what the F has that got to do with chocolate?
2 Nov 09
4:55 pm
The whole point of Cadbury’s ads right now is “random.” What did a drumming gorilla have to do with chocolate? What did two kids whose eyebrows danced have to do with Cadbury? In both of those, at no point did you have any idea they were for Cadbury until the end. Yet both ads have been internet sensations and highly remembered, without the chocolate association.
When the eyebrows ad came out, I found it annoying, but my partner and the teenagers (who are miles away from this industry) in my household all thought it was funny and the teenagers facebook and msn messenging went beserk about the ad. Isn’t that what advertisers dream about? Creating an ad that people not only remember and talk about, but also remember who the ad is for? You hear people describing an ad so many times, but when asked who the ad is for, they can’t remember but people always remember that those ads belong to Cadbury.
The latest ad with the dogs made me laugh. Did I associate it with Cadbury – no. But it is similar to the Bondi Flip flash mob. If the general public like it and remember it as a Cadbury ad, then it obviously doesn’t suck.
2 Nov 09
4:59 pm
I like the idea behind this. But the execution just seems so lame. The cliched music doesn’t help either.
2 Nov 09
6:15 pm
This ad is bloody dangerous … some dick head will see the ad and think it’s ok to feed dogs chocolate! Dogs can become poisoned by a substance called Methylxanthine alkaloids which is found in natural products such as chocolate.
3 Nov 09
8:30 am
Like the ad, anything that has my fav furry creatures in it makes me smile. Like chocolate too. Gee never knew that people took ads this seriously.
3 Nov 09
6:21 pm
Fail
3 Nov 09
9:09 pm
Inspiration possibly coming from the “Birds” clip – http://is.gd/4LRty – just putting it out there.
4 Nov 09
4:20 pm
To do it once was cool (Gorilla ad)
To do it twice was interesting (Eyebrows ad)
But to do it three times in an attempt to stay ‘cool’ is just try-hard.
It’s like Sly Stallone trying to do another instalment of Rocky….FAIL.
8 Nov 09
7:24 pm
in case you didn’t know rocky actually made a huge revenue on the last installment so i don’t know how much of a fail that is.
but dogs & chocolate…….wtf?
seriously, it’s not that memorable