G

I've know for a little while that Gatorade had been planning to unveil new packaging, since I had "read" this blog post about it on TheDieline, the self-proclaimed (and can't say I disagree) "leading package design website."

Gatorade redesign. Photo courtesy TheDieline.

I wasn't a fan of the design at first... It seemed a little Adobe-ish for some reason, even though Adobe uses a sans-serif font and this G has a quasi-serif, but I thought the lightning bolt logo would save the design from being a total dud due to easy recognition. I say Adobe-ish because the label blends in exactly with the color of the contents and is straightforward, simple, brightly colored and easy to read, just like these Adobe product logos:

Adobe logos from The System.

While in Ukrop's (the best grocery store in the world) last week I saw several "new package Gatorades" but they were missing the signature lightning bolt. Yeah, it was in the sports drink section, and yeah I knew the brand planned to redesign its package, but I wonder if anyone else had walked by looking for product, got confused and left. Probably not, but you never know.

Anyway, I'm not a fan of those Gatorades lacking the lightning bolt, and I'm also not wild about the related "G" commercials that have flooded the airwaves these past few days. First of all, I was actually aware of the packaging change, but still didn't recognize right away that the commercials were for Gatorade. Truth be told, after the first watch I sorta thought, is this a commercial for Georgetown? Why are all these athletes on here? What's G? The G reminded me of the Georgetown G (see below) for some reason. It also crossed my mind that it could be for some new line for Nike.

The Georgetown G. From georgetown.edu.

Anyway, here are some of the new "G" ads. What do you think?





The ads are the work of TBWA\Chiat\Day. I think the music is catchy (it's been in my head off and on all day long, with the exception of Texas' "give 'em hell, give 'em hell, make 'em eat shit" chant from the Fiesta Bowl) and the use of celebrity endorsers certainly makes it memorable (Lil Wayne's voice, Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning, Serena Williams, etc.). But what difference does it make if people don't know what the product is?

In my non-scientific convenience sample of my family (five), I was the only one to know what the product was within three views. That's pathetic for the brand considering at least three of us drink the product semi-regularly and all five of us are passionate about sports and recognized the majority of the athletes.

In a more reliable, though still unscientific poll on CNBC's Sports Biz with Darren Rovell blog, the survey found that 37 percent of the 287 respondents "don't like the spot, don't like the 'G' idea." Though 57 percent of the respondents did enjoy the ads, but were almost evenly split between "OK with the 'G' idea" and "just say it's Gatorade."

According to the blog post, one reader said, "I don't know why this is so awesome, it just is."

Bleh. Can't say I agree. I stop paying attention to the voiceover about five seconds in, though I keep wondering what celebrity will next cross my screen. And the song never quits!

Additional reading: AdAge on G

More Microsoft WTF?

Here's the second installment of WTF? Microsoft. This time the ad is far too long, and instead of a lousy minute and a half, it reaches four full minutes and some change. Unbelievable. It's funnier, but still irksomely long and nonsensical. There are however, fleeting moments where I thought I was seeing a brand message or learning about Microsoft products, which is an improvement over the previous ad.



I did enjoy the double reference of Cabo San Lucas. Done so in a mocking manner of course, but I appreciated it nonetheless.

Jeers for ending the commercial in the lame, annoying way as last time. Seinfeld asks about the future of Microsoft to its founder, will there be a "Frog with an e-mail? Goldfish with a website? Amoeba with a blog?" Once again he begs Gates to "Give me a sign," this time with the billionaire performing the robot.

Oh, the commercial, it's something. But nothing I care for. It probably hits its campaign goals if Microsoft aims to succeed virally and by word-of-mouth in an effort to drum up brand awareness. If it's to take back some of Apple's market share though, I'd venture to guess it isn't going to be overly successful.

Here is AdAge's discussion, which found a lot more glimpses of excitement in the commercial than me.

Dr J, Dr P

Y'all catch the Dr. J Dr Pepper commercial yet? I get the vibe it's been around for a little while, but I've been seeing it a lot lately.

Well I must say I'm a fan. Why exactly? Because it is so perfectly corny in every way. Check it out:



It has all the "nos" of creative advertising wrapped into one beautiful, hilarious, so-bad-it's-good package.

How, you ask?

Does it have a ridiculous celebrity spokesman for the product?
Check, Dr. J, obviously a candidate who'd know lots about... soda. And Dr. J, Dr Pepper, very funny, we get it easily.

Oh, so an athlete is the spokesperson. Is there a cheesy slo-mo sports play in the commercial?
Check, oh you know it.

Ah yes, and for Dr. Pepper. Clever. How many times is that pun approached?
At least 3 times (Dr. J name is a pun in every mention, so there's at least a pun in introduction, when he mentions being a doctor, and tagline at end).

Is a cheesy over-the-top sports feat accomplished (an impossible goal or shot, slam dunking on the moon, etc.) to a play-by-play soundtrack or equally silly song?
Oh yeah, Dr. J hits the glass with his ice cube from 10 feet away. In slow motion. Gotta love the music during the shot though. It was my favorite part of the commercial.

How about a cringe-when-you-hear it line from the script?
"Trust me. I'm a doctor."

And a pun-tastic tagline to seal the commercial?
Check. Dr's orders. Doesn't get any better than that!

Apparently we can expect more where that came from from Deutsch/LA, where similar ads will feature another doctor with expertise, Dr. Frasier Crane. The boundless corniness of this installation will certainly be tough to top.

WTF Microsoft?

Have you seen the new Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates commercial? Summed up in one uttering, it was WTF?!

The commercial drags on for 90 seconds and consists of Jerry and Bill shopping for shoes at a cheesy location of a "Shoe Circus." I'm guessing it's supposed to be like Shoe Carnival. Anyway, Jerry pretends to know a lot about breaking in shoes and makes awkward unfunny jokes for a good 70 seconds of the commercial. At the very end it is briefly mentioned that the ad was for Microsoft Windows. I have no idea what this message was supposed to mean. Was the spot supposed to be the next link we all forward on YouTube? Was it supposed to be funny? Am I the only moron that didn't get it?

I guess my overall reaction is that it was a humongous disappointment. My feeling is, if you're going to have a commercial run for that long I better be amused or learn something. I, of course, came away with neither. Choosing to have Jerry Seinfeld on the commercial certainly was a brilliant decision in order to cut through the clutter, but I was at a loss the whole time for why he was there and what was the message of the commercial. Either way it was 90 seconds of my life I won't be getting back. If you'd also to lose 90 seconds of your own life (you've been forewarned), feel free to click below:



After reading AdAge I realized I wasn't the only one confused. Apparently it was supposed to be some sort of teaser ad to hold us over until something else is launched. In the meantime, I don't get how Windows is supposed to be delicious. Or what's with the conquistador thing? I'm kind of surprised to see that this was a CP+B ad, as I'm usually a fan of their zany work. Everyone loved Mini of course, but I enjoyed the creepy Burger King and hilarious candid camera-esque Coke Zero ads with lawyers and "taste infringement." Maybe Crispin's follow-up for Microsoft will answer many questions, or we can hope, bring at least something funnier to the table.

Remember the Slowskys?

The other day I was talking to a friend about using animals to make funny ads, and I mentioned how much I loved "The Slowskys" campaign for Comcast from a few years ago. I was shocked to find out that she hadn't seen the commercials, and I figured that this was preposterous and necessitated an immediate remedy.

For those also unfamiliar, the commercials featured Bill and Karolyn, a married turtle couple, more fondly known as The Slowskys. The turtles liked things just so, at their own, slow pace. They found the high-speed of Comcast internet overwhelming and instead opted for a more comfortable alternative for them, in the form of slower DSL service.

My favorite thing about the commercials were the subtleties. One of my favorite lines was when Karolyn piped up that they "felt rushed" by Comcast's high speed. Another commercial has a strategically placed coffee mug that says "Decaf for life." These fine details really add up to the atmosphere and overall humor of the spots.

Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy:

A good introduction to the Slowsky family...


"I didn't know you could read!"
"There's a lot of things you don't know about me."
(Great banter between Bill and Karolyn)...


Love Karolyn's sass when she quips about Bill's middle name:


All these and more are the great work of Goodby Silverstein & Partners out west in SF.

Q: What do Dodgeball and Planters have in common?

A: One terrifying, icky, unibrowed female.

Left: "Fran" of the Purple Cobras in Dodgeball
Right: The new "starlet" in Planters Peanuts commercials

Four years late on the craze, last night I finally watched that movie Dodgeball. Though the movie was about as entertaining as I anticipated, the plot wasn't much like I expected. I just figured Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller were professional dodgeballers in some sort of dodgeball league. I had no idea that the premise was Vaughn's character playing dodgeball in order to use the prize money in order to save his bankrupting gym. (Which now that I think about it, isn't this the same as Happy Gilmore, where Adam Sandler's character takes up golf in order to win enough money to save his grandma's house from foreclosure?)

Regardless, Vaughn plays dodgeball for a team called Average Joe's (also the name of his gym) and Ben Stiller heads the rival gym's team, the Purple Cobras. The Purple Cobras are saturated with testosterone-injected males and one exceedingly frightening and masculine-looking female named Fran.

I couldn't help but notice that this scary woman looked surprisingly familiar. Finally I figured out the resemblance. She looks just like the gross creature that is presented on the new Planters Peanuts commercials. Originally aired during the Super Bowl, this commercial also utilizes a gross, irksome unibrowed woman.

If you want to throw up in your mouth a little, check the Planters girl out here:



Decent commercial, but EWWW.

So question of the hour... was the Planters commercial inspired by Dodgeball or is it merely a revolting coincidence?

UPS Whiteboard - What happened to you?

I was a huge fan of the UPS Whiteboard commercials when they came on the scene. They showed an "actor" (actually a Creative Director at The Martin Agency in Richmond) drawing fascinating little doodles on a dry-erase board that could somehow be partially erased or slightly manipulated in order to explain a B2B shipping task, like routing or freight.

These ads were so simple and yet so attention-grabbing. Maybe it was the quirky, long-haired artist, or the irony of using a song by The Postal Service to sell UPS shipping, but I found these ads catchy and couldn't watch them enough. Here's an example:



Unfortunately, at some point during March Madness, I saw that these Whiteboard commercials had adopted a new look. Before, all of the UPS capabilities were demonstrated in 2-D on a dry-erase board. Now, these ads use some sort of animated component in order to demonstrate the same messages as the older commercials, but in a slightly more complicated way. I'm curious to find what others think of about the renovated strategy. Here's one of the newer ads:



I wasn't even sick of the old ads yet, but I feel like The Martin Agency should have opted to execute more of the traditional-style ads but with different graphics and "lessons." If it were my decision, I would have opted for a new soundtrack... perhaps a different tune by The Postal Service, or even a new band all together that shares a similarly interesting yet soothing electronic quality.

Maybe UPS advocated for the new approach as opposed to vice versa. Either way, whenever I see one of the new commercials I am saddened that it isn't one of old.

Sonic: Mystery Solved

Finally, after a year or two of checking every so often online, I found out what agency makes Sonic's hilarious commercials! Not only that, but someone else who touts the campaign's genius. As it turns out, Barkley, an employee-owned agency out of Kansas City, churns out these dazzling ads.

According to an article in Ad Age (proof that someone else enjoys these commercials as much as I do), these ads are acted out by improv actors. Turns out the amazingly entertaining actors have been improvising gems to the prescribed scripts this entire time!

The commercials either show the same two male friends interacting or a husband and wife team. I think the commercials with the pair of guys are a complete riot. Here's an example of the duo in action:



The husband and wife are less absurd, but are certainly still funny. They run in the 60th percentile of funniness, let's say, while the all-guy team is consistently in the 80th-95th percentile. Nonetheless, I love that the wife is always giving the husband lip, instead of the other way around. The pitiful husband is a great foil to the stronger, and mildly sardonic wife. Check them out:



Just like I've been saying for several years now, I can't wait to see what ol' Sonic comes up with next. Apparently the guy team has made 115 "video blackouts" together since 2003. What great comedic chemistry!

There are no Cinderellas

I'm really digging this new Nike commercial I keep seeing during the tournament. I stop and pay it respect every time it comes on:



John Thompson III watching Pops on the tube. Appalachian State football. Jimmy Valvano running around the court in disbelief. A reprise of John Thompson III, this time at Georgetown practice overseeing his team running the Princeton drill. Boise State practicing the Statue of Liberty play. MJ hitting the shot. Long, mesmerizing video cuts. The tolling bell bringing it all together.

Another great Wieden + Kennedy Nike spot. Wow.