Aviation Gin The Oldest 21 Year Old

Aviation Gin, owned by actor Ryan Reynolds, recently ran a commercial campaign featuring Arlene Manko. Arlene is 21 year old who was born on a leap year on February 29th, 1936. So technically, even though she is well into her later years now, she just turned 21 in February 2020. Aviation Gin then approached her as she had waited to have her first legal drink until she turned 21 this past month. This offered a unique selling point for aviation, as they can be the drink that they give to "the world's oldest 21 year old".

Even though Arlene most likely isn't the actual oldest 21 year old in history, they can use this claim to advertise their gin as being of high enough quality to be Arlene's first drink. Also, you clearly have the star power that is Ryan Reynolds being the spokesperson for Aviation. The commercial is a brilliant mix of perfect timing, a unique selling point, and a very famous actor being the main driving force of a company. Being a brand of alcohol, they also are promoting responsible drinking by marketing their alcohol to 21 year olds specifically.

This is a relatable ad, as everyone experiences their 21st birthday. However, not many people are born on a leap year so this is a cute and kind of funny way to advertise their liquor to a wide audience of people. Not only does it apply to a young audience, it also speaks to an older audience who may ponder what it would be like to wait until you are extremely old to have your first alcoholic drink.

Big Lebowski Super Bowl Commercial

Before the 2019 Super Bowl, Jeff Bridges tweeted out a very cryptic message related to the cult classic movie The Big Lebowski. A hint of The Dude returning drove fans crazy and garnered a lot of buzz for the Super Bowl, just to see if there was a trailer for a new Big Lebowski sequel or spinoff movie. However, when the time came for the big commercial to air, many fans were disappointed to find out it was merely an advertisement for Stella Artois, a high end beer.

This was a huge letdown to the many fans of the titular character of the Coen Brothers film. However it gained a lot of attention for the Stella Artois brand. Having a large audience of people believing that The Big Lebowski was getting a sequel brought a lot of viewers in not only for Stella Artois, but potentially for the Super Bowl as well. Stella Artois used a very smart tactic by using a fairly recognizable property to piggyback their brand and advertise to a specific audience.

The Death of Mr. Peanut

One of the greatest, and most absurd advertising campaigns ever was the Mr. Peanut campaign in early 2020 during the Super Bowl. The commercial started out with two men and Mr. Peanut driving down a desert road in a peanut shaped car. In an attempt to swerve and not hit a turtle, the Mr. Peanut turns right off the road and the three men jump from the door and end up hanging from a half broken branch. Before the branch breaks, Mr. Peanut sacrifices himself for his two friends and lets go of the branch, plummeting to his death.

This was an extremely dramatic and darkly comedic commercial that was eventually used to segue into another commercial. The second commercial is Mr. Peanuts funeral which then leads to a "Baby Nut" growing from Mr. Peanuts grave. In an attempt to compete with Star Wars' Baby Yoda from their show The Mandalorian.

 These series of commercials were extremely effective, and memorable. Drama and comedy are heavily utilized in the campaign. Also, the entire premise is just ridiculous but very funny at the same time. Watching Mr. Peanut fall to his death and then explode, only to be resurrected in baby form is nothing short of incredible and was one of my personal highlights of the 2020 Super Bowl. Who do you think is cuter, Baby Yoda or Baby Nut?

Manscape's Lawnmower "Right Tool for the Job"

         On many streaming sites that feature advertisements, the new men's grooming company Manscape has been advertising their new line of products. Of the many products offered, the one that stood out was the Lawnmower 2.0 electric razor. This razor is advertised as the most effective men's grooming tool for "delicate areas,". The ad features a man aggressively trimming a hedge with a hedge-trimmer.

           Then after the man struggles to trim the hedge, the Lawnmower 2.0 Razor is used to quickly and easily trim the hedge without hurting the plant. This is of course a metaphor for how effective the razor is when manscaping. Hulu has heavily featured this ad on accounts that have the Hulu with ads membership deal. This deal is extremely popular among college students, since Spotify users are able to get Spotify premium, Hulu, and Showtime with the membership. 

            The Manscaped ad is very humorous and appeals to a young audience. Which is why the Hulu with ads partnership is a great way to appeal to college audience, who would likely be a large portion of their market. Young men are most likely the ones who would see this ad and be interested in regular upkeep of their more private areas. 

"FCK we're sorry" -KFC

        One of the most surprising things that I discovered today is that no one has written a blog post about KFC's FCK advertising strategy. Probably one of the funniest ad campaigns in the 21st century.
        In 2018 The UK experienced a chicken shortage. Jenny Packwood, head of KFC's brand engagement in Ireland and England, told PRweek "there were over 1,000 pieces of coverage globally across print, online and broadcast and 80 per cent of all UK adults were exposed to this story." 750 KFC restaurants were closed and 19,000 staff members were affected by the closings.
        With the panic and anger that this chicken shortage caused, KFC created a divisive apology by displaying FCK on their chicken buckets. While most companies may have released a formal and professional apology to calm the masses, KFC chose to stay true to its brand character. They knew the world was waiting for their response, and be not pushing blame onto the production company, they used humor in an honest, authentic, and comical way. What could have turned into a PR disaster, was turned around with the creativity of the KFC advertising team.

The Corona Virus' Impact on the Advertising Industry

Ad Week Article

Since the beginning of 2020, the advertising industry has been affected by the travel 
restrictions and public fear created by the Corona Virus. While the industry often faces
challenges, this outbreak has had a great impact on businesses. The outbreak would affect
four parts of the advertising industry. 

In the first category, ad spending, advertisers are hopeful that due to the virus, television
ads will beincrease due to the amount of people staying at home. Publicis Groupe’s Zenith
says that since the
beginning of the outbreak, television ad spending has increased 4.3%. Though it is too 
early to tell,it is predicted that ad spending will increase even more with the 2020 election
and Corona Virus coverage.

Experiential marketing has also been on the rise. Both the Facebook’s F8 developer conference 
and Mobile World Congress have been cancelled. Companies are nervous about losing the 
investments that they have made into large conferences. This happened in my hometown, 
Columbus, OH where the Arnold was cancelled. The general public was denied entry to 
the events and many small fitness businesses pulled out as the public would not be there. 

Agencies have also changed because of the Corona Virus. Travel time has been cut and in
-person conference have been replaced with online video chats. Countries with travel bans
have made it difficult to do business, but agencies use representaters from the country to 
conduct meetings. This is not the first outbreak agencies have been faced with, and they 
are taking precautions to protect their employees. 

Lastly, production companies have been affected by the outbreak. They have chosen to
follow the wait-and-see method. Insurance does not cover situations such as a natural disaster 
or a virus. They make sure they communicate effectively with their agencies if there are to be
changes in production.

IKEA Offers Travel Discount to Customers

The Swedish furniture company utilized Google Maps to be the first retailer to turn time into money with their brand new ‘Buy With Your Time” campaign. This incentive gives discounts to customers based on how long it takes to drive to an IKEA store, which are often located far from main cities. All items in the store have a price and time tag in which customers could chose to purchase using either option. The price of an hour of travel was based on the average wage in Dubai.

“We think it’s only right to reward our customers efforts by repaying them for the time spent reaching us. It’s our way of helping the Dubai community make the most of every minute”

IKEA Spokesperson 

This promotion is only operating in Dubai because of their unique economy but demonstrates future potential for brands to utilize the importance of time to boost brand engagement. Who will be the next to capitalize? 

AT&T Teams Up with LeBron James

One of the most well-known athletes across the globe, and arguably the greatest basketball player to ever step foot on the court, LeBron James, teams up with the world’s largest telecom company, AT&T. Add it to the long list of endorsements Lebron has piled up over his 17 years of domination in the NBA.

What makes this celebratory endorsement so interesting? LeBron and AT&T agreed to a multi-year marketing and brand collaboration, which will benefit both parties greatly. As partners, Lebron appears in the national advertising campaign “Famous Mouths” for AT&T TV, banking on his 150 million social media fans to attract subscribers. 

In return, AT&T will be developing a learning institute at the LeBron James Family Foundation I Promise Village, which serves transitional housing for students and families. This is a part of the AT&T Aspire initiative, which will provide training focused on technical and life skills for children and families provided by AT&T employees themselves.

“His commitment to his foundation, empowering others, and storytelling combined with AT&T’s mission to inspire human progress through the power of communication and entertainment will create endless creative opportunities” 

Fiona Carter, Chief Brand Officer at AT&T

Loser Winner Chhhhiiiiiccckkkkeeennnnnnn Dinner

When you hear the word “Popeyes,” what comes to mind? The cartoon character Popeye and his love for spinach, or the famous fast food chain?

 

In Family Feud Canada, a recent viral clip made many generations think about this particular question.

The host Gerry Dee asked the constants this $10,000 question during the sudden death round. The question was, “Name Popeye’s favorite food.”

One of the contestants, Eve Dubois immediately hits her buzzer, and answers with confidence,

“Chhhhiiiiiccckkkkeeennnnnnn” because she thought that the question was talking about the fast food chain. Sadly, the question was referring to the cartoon sailor from the 1960s and 70s.

Since this clip has been uploaded, many viewers have reacted to this viral video on social media.

While most people shook their heads at Dubois’ answers (and laughed at the same time), others felt that this question was unfair. According to the sample tweets from Today, many people thought that the question should’ve been “What is Popeye the Sailor’s (or the cartoon character’s) favorite food?”

Just when you thought that the Dubois family didn’t win any cash, Popeyes came to the rescue. The fast food chain reached out to the family on Twitter and offered them $10,000 worth of Popeye’s Chicken. Gotta love that chicken from Popeyes!

So, if you were in that situation, what would your answer be? Spinach or Chicken?

Wendy's goes for McDonald's in new breakfast campaign

Wendy's recently introduced a breakfast line and chose to go after competitors in its first set of advertisements. Wendy's went after McDonald's "mediocre" breakfast in a tweet with a picture of a tombstone with "RIP Egg Mcmuffin 1972-2020" linked here. Wendy's also featured a former McDonald's breakfast chef tasting their breakfast menu and giving it praise in an advertisement featured on it's Twitter account linked here. 

Interestingly, this is Wendy's second attempt at a breakfast menu. Their first attempt back in 2012 ended after less than a year. Considering this is their second attempt, this aggressive, competitive ad campaign is a great way to grab the attention of not only consumers, but competitors alike. Wendy's directly positioning itself as the better alternative to McDonald's will grab the attention of people that already like McDonald's breakfast and potentially set them up for success. Burger King tried a similar advertising strategy when it launched its own breakfast menu recently and it had some success, so time will tell for Wendy's.

https://twitter.com/Wendys/status/1225073107297280000?s=20

https://twitter.com/Wendys/status/1233494419925585924?s=20

https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/wendys-just-declared-war-on-mcdonalds-breakfast-mcdonalds-response-was-brilliant.html