Ad 2: Skinny Maccas?!

Every now and then, an ad comes into your life that makes you really laugh. The subject of tonight's post is definately no exception. 

The ad has a bit of slapstick comedy, but if you look closely, and pull the ad apart, you'll see the elements that point the subject of today's post towards brand positioning. Have a look at what we find. You may want to add some thoughts of you own.

Exhibit 1: "New Frappes from $2.95 - Elevator" - 30 second TVC: McDonald's Australia.

I couldn't find the online video for this anywhere, but if you turn on your TV, you'll probably see it within 5 minutes.
Description: Ad opens with neatly-dressed, skinny, half-Asian, corparate Female in a very professional-looking foyer. She presses the elevator button, and waits - holding a perfect looking Frappe, with the distinguishable Macca's arches appearing at the front of the cup. She waits, looks down, waits, looks down, waits, looks down. Finally, she takes a sip of the frappe. Just as she does, we see the elevator doors open, and a "whoosh" of brown liquid floods the foyer, including our skinny friend.

Notice anything unusual?
Who associates fast-food, let alone Maccas, with skinny?



Hang on...I'm counting.


No one? That's right! No one does. In fact, the first thing my wife says at the start of the ad is "there is no way that girl eats at Maccas". If you saw how skinny her arms were, you'd agree. If she was put in the middle of a garbage tip, you would think you were watching a world vision ad. During the moment of suspense, just before she takes a sip, I thought it would be funny if the effect of drinking it would be that her arms would triple in diameter. Too bad, she just potentially drowns in a mixture of icy-cold water, fake coffee stuff, and preservative 202.

(By the way, I hope I am not offending any of my skinny readers. The only way I can say this stuff is because I too am a sufferer of Skinyeesity.)


Some thoughts:

What we have seen Maccas do here is attempt, once again, to reposition their brand. Within the past five years, we have seen them reposition from, "Cheap, fatty, awesomeness", to "heart ticks. Get your heart ticks here", to "Angus, that's who", to "Fancy, not Shmancy", back to "cheap, fatty, awesomeness", to "free-as-a-bird range", to "skinny people eat here, no matter what you say".

And the sad thing is, repositioning usually starts with how a product or brand is promoted (our parents saw the same thing happen with cigarrettes). So what Maccas has done, though a skinny person eating Maccas looks ridiculous at the moment, is actually really clever marketing. If they persist, chances are more and more people will see Maccas as the place to go to get a skinny snack. Doesn't matter what the product actually does to you. For instance, have a look at the ingredients for the Coffee Kick Frappe, the same drink advertised with our skinny friend (sourced from McDonalds.com.au):

COFFEE FLAVOURED FRAPPE BASE: Milk, Sugar (THE SECOND INGREDIENT), Cream, Milk Solids, Water, Coffee Powder, Emulsifier (471), Stabilisers (412, 466, 410, 407a, 407), Flavours (FAKE).

ICE: Water (ALMOST SURPRISING)WHIPPED CREAM: Cream, Propellant (Nitrous Oxide), Emulsifier (471), Flavour, Vegetable Gums (407, 401).COFFEE SAUCE: Sucrose Syrup, Thickener (1422), Flavours, Cocoa Powder, Vegetable Gum (415), Colour (150d), Coffee, Salt, Food Acid (330), Preservative (202).

The words in bold are all the fake stuff - additives. These things make you fat. But, because of brand positioning, the population will, during "a limited time", see this as a skinny snack. Mmmmmm....thickener.

But, as I said, good for them, it works. My father and I were at Maccas the other day. I felt like having something healthy, so I got a Bananaberry Bash Smoothie, and a piece of banana bread. Sounds like a health food....check out the ingredients.

Anyway, just so you know...ads by marketing geniuses like Maccas aren't designed to mearly make us laugh. It's about getting the majority of the target audience to position their brand in a certain way. In sociology, this is actually called McDonaldisation (True!). In Adland it is called Brand Positioning.

Mmm...I'm getting a bit snackie, Macca's anyone?

Tell me your thoughts

•  Have you seen the ad in question?
• Any other ads that are obvious as to their cause?
  
  

Glossary:

TVC - Short for Television Commercial

Brand Positioning - The place in a consumer's mind where a brand sits compared to the competition.

If you want to see all the ingredients in Maccas' food: Click Here

Ad 1: "The Limping Lass"

So I began my night with the intent to do up my CV for future job prospects.

Yeah, I got far.

While I was on the International #1 Biggest Distraction of the World*, I came accross the ad to be the subject of my very first blog entry.

I saw it. Thought, "Well, that is a bit of a silly ad", then I remembered how much I love spotting out imperfections in advertisements, along with other forms of media. 

So....this here blog is all about ads (with some non-ad guest appearances along the way). The bonus is...it's completely AD FREE!^ 

Let's begin with today's ad, shall we? It comes from our lovely kiwi friends across the Tasman. Now, don't get me wrong, I reckon New Zealanders are choice as, bro. They live in a beautiful part of the world, arguably in parts the most beautiful places in the world (South Auckland is not included). I will never forget the sight of tall, volcanic mountains and their reflections on pristine lakes; or the amazing culture of the Maori people; or the great ski fields.

Their Facebook ad, though, doesn't quite capture the beauty of the place.
Exhibit A: (I have rubbed out the copy of the ad).

What this picture says to me: 

Male: "Don't worry darling, we are almost there" 

Female: "Who's idea was it to come to NZ? I could've stayed home. Instead I come here and sprain my ankle, and now you have to walk me all the way up to the top of Mt Whatanumbi" 

Well, at least I think she looks like she's sprained her ankle.

Some Thoughts:

I reckon if you are going to use a potentially highly effective form of advertising, and one where the initial ad space is very limited, you should put your best into it. In Facebook ads, the only thing you have to get people's attention with is your graphic, and maybe a catchy heading. 

Exhibit B: 

Even though the website that it links to is not a business I would ever support, neither would any sane person, it still is a good example of an effective social media ad. The picture is easy to see, and it ties in to the rest of the ad. The heading also grabs attention. "$97/hr! That's pretty good", is the response it would get from an inexperience twat. But hey, maybe their target market is twats.

Well, that's it for me tonight, I best be off to doing something that will make me some mooooola. Till next time on the AdBlog, just remember "If you build a better mousetrap, people most likely won't line up at your door, because in the time it took you to do it, Raid killed off Loui and got everyone's attention" - S.M.

Tell me your thoughts

• Do you see anything else wrong with the NZ ad? 

• What is your least favourite ad at the moment? 

The Fine Print

I always think the fine print in ads is too small, so I'm putting mine in the biggest possible font:
 * - 56% of the stats I mention, such as this one, are purely made up on the spot.

^ - Until I become famous, then I will just sign up to Google Adsense and let them run a muck.
 

Glossary for today's blog: 

Copy: This is just a fancy way of saying words in adland. I like using it, it makes me sound like I know what I am talking about. 

Target Market: This is not about archery. Target Market is those within a section of the market (people/companies who buy stuff) that you will target your product and it's promotion and price towards. This is a key principle of business that a lot of unsuccessful businesses (small and large) don't grasp.