Celebrating 100 years with Chevy

Celebrate a rousing Happy Birthday to GM's Chevrolet brand, marking 100 years on November 3rd. What's a better way to celebrate 100 years but with a little nostalgia? GM has created an ad to go along with their 100 year celebration. It first premiered during Game 1 of the World Series, after some careful planning and coordination. With Chevy's long-standing association with the sport and the celebration of American culture to go along, it was a no-brainer to place the commercial during the World Series.



The Ad opens very simply, with a basic rendition of "America the Beautiful". The music continues to play as cleverly placed, old photograph's are held over a scene from modern day at the same location. The ad runs through many different locations all over America with a handful of photos to go along with it. Then comes a male voiceover: "For the first 100 years and for the generations to come, thanks for making us apart of your life." Finally, it concludes with the tagline and brand name, "Chevy runs deep. Since 1911."

Let me link you to this site that looks vaguely familiar to this Chevy ad: Dearphotograph. Numerous critics of the advertisement say it's a clear copy of the website's idea. Not saying that Dearphotograph holds all the cards to this idea, but its too similar to keep from saying otherwise. While the commercial does evoke some strong feelings and nostalgia, the only thing that rings through my mind is "copycat".

Source: Adweek

Students Combat Insensitive Costumes

In preparation for this year's Halloween festivities, students at Ohio State University are speaking out about certain types of costumes that we see each and every year. The ten students who make up the Students Teaching About Racism in Society (STARS) group have created a series of posters that display a young person of a specific race or ethnicity holding a photograph of another individual wearing a racially or culturally insensitive Halloween costume. The tagline on each reads "This is not who I am, and this is not okay."

By starting this campaign, the students hope to bring this issue to the minds of those of us who may not have considered the potential damage created by insensitive costumes such as the ones photographed in the posters. Hopefully, people will begin discussing the issue and deciding for themselves whether the costumes are insensitive or not. The STARS group plans to license the posters out to other colleges and universities to use in exchange for a donation.

I think that this is a very worthy cause that these individuals are pursuing. Unfortunately, I see a lot of cultural insensitivity in our society, particularly in places like organized sports (think mascots and logos) and Halloween costumes. We often just accept these images without thinking twice, but I can't help but think that they can end up having a negative influence, albeit subconsciously, on how we view minority groups.

How do you feel about this issue? Take a look at some of the posters/costumes here.

$200 Fine for 'Licking and Fondling Cardboard Woman'

Apparently advertising can bee a little too interactive for some people...A Pittsfield, Ma. man was recently detained by police after he walked into a Rite Aid store on a Saturday evening and attacked a cardboard sunglass-display model. According to the Pittsfield Police report, the intoxicated Charlie J. Price "grabbed hold of the sunglass display, hugged it tightly and then began to lick and kiss the face of the female party on the display."

Price, a Level 3 sex offender, continued his 'lack of self-control and inhibition' for about a minute until he soon found himself in front of a judge where he was fined $200 for the lewd act. I think that this is an example of how interactive advertising can be. For someone such as Price, obviously an ignorant, mentally unstable person (in respect to his previous acts) advertisements can get too realistic and land somebody in jail for uncontrollable actions.

While I do realize that this case is a bit drastic in evaluating the concept of interactive advertising, it does put some perspective on how ads influence certain groups of people who may not be able to decipher whats real and what is fantasy, such as kids. Children often act out on impulse to recreate an act or idea they have seen on television.

This article was found on GAWKER.com.

McDonald's has WiFi?

When I saw this advertisement I laughed. Not because the ad itself is funny, actually I think the overall visual design of the ad is rather appealing. However, in my opinion, the idea behind the ad is silly.

Free WiFi at McDonald's, or any other fast food restaurant seems pointless to me. For a while McDonald's has been trying to position their brand as a cool and hip cafe with the start of the McCafe and new additions to the menu such as the McFrappe. They have also been remodeling most of their restaurants in order to make them look more chic and to give off a fancier dining vibe than previous McDonald's restaurants. While these are all great efforts to draw in a broader, more affluent crowd, it will be very difficult for them to change the brand position forever.

Most people who have grown up eating McDonald's and watching their commercials prior to 2005 will always see McDonald's as a fast food restaurant for late night munchies, and greasy, salty food on the go.

The main point is, McDonald's is generally a place to grab food quickly and on the go. It is not a cafe, no matter if they spruce up their beverage options or give their buildings a face-lift, or even if they add free WiFi to all their restaurants. I probably still won't go to a McDonald's, pull out my lap top and sit there drinking a McFrappe.