McDonald's Commercial

I went to McDonald's with my friends this past weekend and as we went through the drive through, my friend was telling me about this commercial that she recently saw on TV about a dad going through a McDonald's drive through, not stopping because his baby was sleeping in the backseat and didn't want to wake her up. So, I went to YouTube to search the commercial. I watched it a few times because I absolutely agreed with my friend and thought that it was a very clever commercial and unlike the various other McDonald's commercials that I have seen. I made another friend watch the commercial with me and asked what they thought about it and what they thought that the message was that McDonald's was trying to share with their customers. He responded with exactly what my other friend and I discussed, to show how important customer service is to them as well as catering to their customers wants and needs. I think that it was definitely a smart move for them to present an emotional advertisement like this because it showed their customers more about McDonald's as a whole and their beliefs and values, instead of just presenting them with the kind of food that they have. It was definitely a creative and successful approach to reach their customers.

Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer

Lately, I have seen a lot of the Milwaukee Public Buses with artwork on them for Pabst Blue Ribbon. I may have been a lot more aware of the artwork after seeing the Pabst presentation last Monday but I think that it is a very interesting campaign. The point of the campaign is for community members or regular drinkers of Pabst to design and submit their own artwork of the beer and then it could be shown throughout the city. The artwork is everywhere--on buses, walls, billboards, etc. The artwork is all super interesting too and I find myself looking at it for a while because it is very creative. I think that this campaign was very smart for the beer company because it shows people the kind of values that Pabst Blue Ribbon beer has and how there mission is to give the people what they want. Before this campaign and the presentation in class, I was not as aware of Pabst Blue Ribbon, their mission, and their values. After doing some research, listening to the presentation, and seeing the artwork around the city, I am now a lot more interested in the beer company. They are very different then big name beers such as Miller and Busch and they strive to be creative and unique.

Empty Cradle Campaign

I noticed this advertisement campaign in Milwaukee and it left me thinking about whether or not it is a good and effective advertisement. I am still left up in the air about what I think because I can see both sides. I did some research after seeing this and read an article about the intention of the advertisements and  the reactions of different people. The reactions are mixed, similar to my own. Of course, there are always the extreme people who absolutely love or hate the campaign so it was interesting to hear their views. I think that the advertisements are raw and intense but that may be the intention. I do think, however, that they could have expressed this is a different means without the very provocative ads. The whole point of the campaign is to increase awareness of the dangers that can happen when your baby sleeps in the same bed as your own. In sharing this message, I do not think that the advertisement were an effective way to show it because it was actually a bit confusing and people were more concerned about the picture than the message behind the advertisement.

Liberty Mutual

This commercial came on while I was watching TV with my friends on Saturday and we all had the same reaction after watching it, "aw. that was so cute!" and I think that because of this particular reaction, it has become an excellent commercial. It was definitely an emotional commercial and was intended to leave an impression on the audience. Additionally, it left the audience wondering who or what the commercial was for or about because it was never explicitly stated until the end. Because it just mentions the company, Liberty Mutual, once, it created a more compelling advertisement. Overall, I think that this was an excellent commercials and fulfilled the intentions that were present within the production of it.

Doritos Commercial

I think that Doritos did an excellent job with this commercial that was aired during the 2010 SuperBowl. Doritos always does a fantastic job with appealing to their audience with humor and this advertisement was nothing less than that. When the commercial begins, I found myself unaware of what it was going to advertise and then when they showed the bowl of Doriotos, I was waiting for the moment that they were going to target their audience with humor from the little boy. As the commercial ended, I was still laughing and wanted to watch it again. They did an excellent job to attract the appropriate audience and I think that people really appreciated it.

Levi's

For my group project, we decided to choose the brand Levi to research. We found ourselves searching for "normal" advertisements--ones that engage the viewer and encourage them to buy their brand but we learned very quickly that this was a more difficult task then we intended. We found commercials and advertisements that we thought were poorly put together and had nothing to do with the jeans. The most difficult task was finding commercials that aimed at women and encouraged them to buy Levi's. Most of the commercials were aimed at both men and women and were sexual, implying nothing about the jeans. Many of the commercials even featured women removing their jeans and walking around in their underwear and we could not understand what impression Levi was going for. As I continued my research, I found that their mission statement and everything that the brand stands for really impressed me but I still questioned their meaning behind their commercials. It seemed like their commercials went against everything that they stood for. They talk about being an "American" or the "original" brand made for people in the workforce. Although I found many of their commercials too revealing and odd, I did find a few that I liked. I don't know if I liked it because it was just a little bit different than the other Levi's commercial or if it was actually a well done commercial. Take a look, what do do you think?

"Walk the Line" commercial is advertising their straight blue jeans for both men and women. I thought that the advertisement encouraged me to continue watching and not to turn it off because I did not know what it was about. I was interested in learning what the commercial was advertising. At the end, when they stated they were advertising Levi straight leg jeans I was left thinking about the commercial and deciphering if I like it or not and most importantly would I buy their jeans. 

Axe Commercial

My friend knew that I was in an advertising class so showed me this commercial because she thought that it was very funny. I agree with her and think that it is a very funny and clever commercial. I think that Axe did a nice job because they are very aware of who their audience is and who they want to market to. They create commercials with humor because they people buying their product are teenagers to middle aged men. I think that it was very clever, especially because they created more than one commercial. They created a theme of "premature perspiration" and created multiple commercials along that line. It became well known that when people will joke about premature perspiration, many will know that they are talking about the Axe commercials. Overall, I think that it was a very well done.