http://dearadvertiser.wordpress.com Just a Little Friendly Advice Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:14:16 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Dear Progressive, The Insurance Store created in your commercials is a great concept. However, the star of your commercial is the most irritating presence in ads since Alltel Chad stepped on the scene. Second, I think the priorities you are promoting are a little out of whack. In one commercial, a ... http://dearadvertiser.wordpress.com/2008/06/02/no-manolos-for-you/ Dear Days Inn, I like your new logo and the spot I saw today was generic and fine, except for... The cute (but not Q/C) kid who says she had FIVE doughnuts for breakfast. FIVE FREAKING DOUGHNUTS!?!? That's how you want to convince parents to bring their kids there? Make them hyped ... http://dearadvertiser.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/keeping-the-kiddos-plump/ Dear AIG, I am a sucker for the quirky/cute kid. This kid is cute, but probably wouldn't be nearly as cute if he weren't so adorably quirky. You have found the ultimate Q/C kid. I caught the commercial about him not being able to sleep for the first time today and ... http://dearadvertiser.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/more-like-freaking-out/ Dear Old Mutual, Replacing random words with "Old Mutual" will never catch on and I'll tell you why...The replacements make ZERO SENSE. If the use of "Old Mutual" was put in place words and phrases that reflect your alleged principles such as "common sense" and "responsibility" and "intuition," THAT would make ... http://dearadvertiser.wordpress.com/2008/05/17/not-gonna-happen/ Dear TheLadders.com If this is not the most stuck up ad I've ever seen, I'll be damned: http://youtube.com/watch?v=WhqqAUh1VPU I am actually pretty sure you're connecting with your audience here, but at whose expense. We've got the clean cut guy playing tennis whose "game" is ruined by a bunch of unkempt slobs. I think ... http://dearadvertiser.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/snobs/ Dear Al Gore, Your rock. I just read about the ad campaign for your not-for-profit The Alliance for Climate Protection that is slated to begin next week. Now we all know that PSAs tend to be A) boring or B) trying a bit too hard to be edgy. However, what I ... http://dearadvertiser.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/getting-together-for-a-good-cause/ Dear Axe and BodMan, You have a lot in common, primarily that you are nearly the exact same product  - both manly-scented deoderizing body sprays. There are 2 major differences: 1. BodMan has been around a heck of a lot longer (in the US, it seems - see Post Script) 2. Axe (known ... http://dearadvertiser.wordpress.com/2008/03/23/superior-marketing-tactics/ Dear Dominos, I have written about fine print in pharmaceutical and financial advertising - both industries where one would expect fine print - and now I write about fine print advertising regarding...wait for it...pizza delivery. Even though the commercials tell me that I've got thirty minutes and it's stupid entertaining characters ... http://dearadvertiser.wordpress.com/2008/03/11/it-comes-to-this-sigh/ Dear Wachovia / AG Edwards, I have known for a bit that AG Edwards had been folded into Wachovia, but I had forgotten, and the commercial I saw to night delivered me what I have to admit was a very nice reminder. Unfortunately, I cannot find the video. (Shame on you, ... http://dearadvertiser.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/eaten-alive/ Dear Sales Genie, I saw one of your commercials tonight that I have seen before, but this time something struck me. Sales Genie? Wasn't that the company who ran the distasteful, racially stereotypical ads during the Super Bowl? No way, I thought. This sweet little bead-stringing girl in the somewhat cheesy, ... http://dearadvertiser.wordpress.com/2008/03/02/wtf/