Mad Men: Ad Men or Sad Men

MORE BREAKING! 

This just in. The new Audi Commercial:

Okay, I understand the race car speeding down the street.
I understand the people dashing to get out of the way.
I understand spinning to a stop.
I understand, the car changes into a street-legal Audi.
This, however, is really bad:

An African American Mother Lets her Teenage Daughter Out of the Car at a Sports Game!  Is this the image of an African American mother? Racing with her children in the car?

• First they ruin the potentially great Prom Queen Commercial. 

• Then they refuse to fix it.

• Now they insult African American Women by showing them to be irresponsible.

BREAKING:  The latest insight into the Audi Prom Queen Commercial:  We interrupt this article to bring you this important update.

I've written extensively about the Audi Prom Queen Commercial.  I defined the commercial with this question, "Why would Audi rather scrap a potentially great commercial than fix it?"

The latest insight, as you will see below, pertains to the Response of the Prom Queen to the Kiss from the Kid.  The Kid kisses the Prom Queen, gets punched in the face, and leaves. Alone!  At first there was some confusion over the shot of the Prom Queen.  Now, a new insight in how to ruin a great commercial.

What if the Prom Queen was smiling because her boyfriend was jealous?   

You may now resume reading the article, while I will remain firm in my belief that the Audi People will have the commercial re-shot, properly, with parts two and three to follow before Prom Season closes.  How sad the state of affairs. 

 

What is Happening to the Television Commercial?

I am watching a commercial for a $40,000 Chevy Volt and the husband is taking his wife out for clown food.  In the Audi Commercial, The Kid, drives off with the Prom Queen; but you wouldn't know it because they don't show it.  (The first time I saw it was the last.)  

I posted an article on one, a Tweet on the other. After the Volt article, the commercial never played again. However, it was never replaced.

On the Audi commercial, the commercial was re-shot.  They almost did it right.  First they show the Kid smiling; then they show the prom queen.  She is facing forward, not smiling at The Kid.

Revision: 


Oops!


 
Previously, I wrote that after I tweeted the problem with the Audi commercial, they put the Prom Queen back in the commercial: the Prom Queen is supposed to be smiling at the kid in the Audi. However, the other night my wife pointed out to me that the Prom Queen is not in the car.  She is still at the prom.

Okay: Here goes:



[THIRD REVISION]


The commercial appears to have been pulled from the air. What is the problem?  Are they re-shooting one scene?  The Scene where the Prom Queen is in the car with The Kid?  Did Audi decide to pull a good--potentially great--commercial rather than fix it?  And if they are re-shooting the commercial, wouldn't it be more cost-effective to shoot the second and the third commercial in the series?  Let's get serious.  Ultimately, a 17 year old kid isn't going to buy the Audi.  The parents are.  You need a proper segue into that message.

People don't really need me to fix their commercials.  State Farm fixed the "French Super-Model"--commercial without my help.  The Dishwasher detergent company fixed the "sisters arguing" commercial to make it more appealing.



 
SECOND REVISION:

 
How Audi took a great commercial idea, screwed it up, did a poor job of fixing it, then made it worse fixing that.

Mom puts the boutonniere in the Kids lapel.  "Lot's of people go to the prom alone."
The little sister says, "No they don't."
The Dad tosses the Kid keys to the Audi.
The Kid parks in the Principal's parking spot.
The Kid kisses the Prom Queen.
The Boyfriend goes after the Kid.

CUT TO:

The Prom Queen IN THE AUDI  smiling at the Kid.

CUT TO:

The Kid with the black eye and a smile.

The End


Blunder # 1


 
When I first saw the commercial, Audi showed the version without the Prom Queen at the end. After I blogged about it, they included the prom Queen.

OOPS!

After I saw the version with the Prom Queen,  I said to my wife, "they put the Prom Queen back in, but they have her in the wrong spot.  First we see the Prom Queen, then we see The Kid smiling.  My wife said, "She's not in the car. She is still at the Prom.

 
BLUNDER # 2

 
The Prom Queen is still at the Prom

I Pointed out that blunder.  What did the wizards do?  They added text!

 

BLUNDER # 3

 
The wizards tried to do a cheap fix.  Cheap, tacky, condescending, patronising fix.  They added text at the end.  "Bravery.  It's what defines us."  Try Stupidity.  It's what defines our agency.

Here goes: 

• You can drive to the Prom alone in Yugo, 
• Kiss the Prom Queen, 
• Get punched in the face, 
• Leave alone, 
• Drive off in a YUGO.  

You don't need an $80,000 dollar car to do that.  That screams LOSER!

I will try this again.

(PS. When Mom puts the flower on The Kid's lapel, Lose the Vegetation.)

• Mom puts the boutonniere in the Kids lapel.  "Lot's of people go to the prom alone."
• The little sister says, "No they don't."
• The Dad tosses The Kid the keys to the $80,000.00 Audi.
• The Kid parks in the Principal's parking spot.
• The Kid kisses the Prom Queen.
• The Boyfriend goes after the Kid.

CUT TO:

The Prom Queen IN THE AUDI.  She looks at The Kid. She smiles. She looks ahead and slightly down.  She has a slightly bigger smile.

**********

• Winners drive Audis.
• Winners Driver off with The Prom Queen.
• The Prom Queen is driving off with the winner.

***********

CUT TO:

The Kid with the black eye and a smile.

CUT TO:

TEXT:  To Be Continued......

I'll bet I could transcribe the conversation in the meeting room when The Boss suggested adding text to fix the commercial.  The Cheap way to advertise an $80,000 car.

If you have any  difficulty seeing where this story is going, or how to included grownups--the people who drive $80,000 cars--keep reading.

Some of my favourite commercials are the Geico Commercials.

The Gekko is outstanding. However, that Pig constantly needs to have his sound work redone.  Get another Pig. (Or another sound person.)

GM made the manifest error of removing Facebook from its strategy.  I wrote an article about that.  My satisfaction?  The marketing guy was given the sack.  I wrote about the GM  Commercial where the husband takes his wife out in a $40,000 car...for clown food.  And how they insulted their future market by showing a future customer saying, "Is this where they pour in the electricity?"

Have we forgotten how to make commercials?


New Article:  Great Product: Dumb-Ass Commercial

GM & Facebook

GM Jump Starts the Volt...Sales.

Bill Ackman goes on CNBC to Sell Penney-Stocks

Does JCP know what its logo is?

Sometimes I don't know if it is the advertising department or the marketing department.

JCP & Sheldon Cooper's Big Bang Suit.

Now, what about AAPL + FB buying AOL Time Warner CNN.

 
Is this really necessary to explain? It is not about tech gadgets. It is about business and strategic planning

And the real wizards are fretting over e-commerce putting malls out of business. However, they are doing nothing about it.  

Old Mall, New City

Come on, guys. Get with it.

Warmest regards, 

Slim

NB


If you find anything here to be helpful, please do not hesitate to send me a really tricked-out laptop and to put a few dollars into the envelope along with the thank you note. Slim

slimfairview@yahoo.com

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