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Responsible or not? Doritos marketing to kids

By on December 1, 2008 in corporate responsibility, marketing to kids, responsible or not?

Doritos provided the following word search bookmark in school cafeterias: At the top, it says “Find the seven words hidden below that can lead you to a healthy day.” There are actually eight words, the first word on the list is “Doritos.” Three questions: Is Doritos telling kids that their product is part of a [...]

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Is Whistler-Blackcomb email marketing responsible?

By on November 26, 2008 in branding, execution responsible, message responsible, responsible or not?

On Monday, I received a message from Whistler Blackcomb to inform me of the open dates for each of the mountains. I don’t recall signing up to receive these notifications, but I was there last season and might have provided my email address somewhere to someone. No matter. I didn’t mind receiving the message, and [...]

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Responsible or not? Shockvertising

By on October 30, 2008 in creativity, morality, responsible or not?, sex sells, videos, viral marketing, word of mouth

Trendhunter did my homework for me today and compiled a four minute collection of shocking ads that will leave you asking the question, “How far is too far?” You won’t want to view this in front of small children or your boss. It features fake lesbians, phony murder scenes, employees getting punched in the face [...]

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Responsible or not? Club Libby Lu

By on October 21, 2008 in marketing to kids, responsible or not?, socially responsible, strategically responsible

My daughter turned four in August, but she’s already becoming aware of fashion and brands. She’s visited Club Libby Lu once or twice for lip gloss (more like lip balm). While there, she’s seen the five and six year old girls at princess parties, getting makeovers and their hair done. For the uninitiated, Club Libby [...]

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Personnel Concepts’ marketing:
Out of compliance?

By on October 8, 2008 in deceptive marketing, ethics, responsible or not?, strategically responsible

I don’t like receiving upsetting letters. Nobody does. But here’s an envelope I received in the mail yesterday: +enlarge Why would I receive a letter from The Compliance Service Department at PCI marked “Important – Open Immediately?” I didn’t know who PCI was, but I was afraid it may have something to do with our [...]

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Responsible or not? FreeCreditReport.com

By on October 6, 2008 in creativity, ethics, false advertising, responsible or not?, truth, videos, viral marketing, word of mouth

FreeCreditReport.com has done a great job with their marketing—it’s hard to come up with a company that’s created more memorable ads recently. People are paying attention to their ads, sharing them on social sites and singing along. View this video on YouTube The problem is, the credit reports aren’t free at all. When you get [...]

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Responsible or not? Advertising adultery

By on September 19, 2008 in ethics, message responsible, morality, responsible or not?, social networking, videos

Ashley Madison is a social networking/dating service—for married people. Although the company isn’t breaking any laws by helping facilitate adultery (soon they’ll have a money back guarantee if you don’t successfully have an affair), they aren’t breaking any laws. Still, their billboard only lasted three days in Times Square, an ad they produced for ESPN [...]

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Responsible or not? Ringling Brothers Circus

By on September 8, 2008 in environmentally responsible, message responsible, responsible or not?, socially responsible, strategically responsible, videos

I was surprised how excited I was to take my kids to “The Greatest Show on Earth,” on Saturday. The last time I’d been to The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was at least 30 years ago, and I knew my four and five year old kids would be captivated by the show. [...]

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Responsible or not? Biker Babe Marketing

By on September 4, 2008 in responsible or not?, sex sells, word of mouth

As marketers, we’re always looking for creative ways to break through. Biker Babe Marketing is doing just that by putting babes on Harleys, then having them drive around with their client’s ads on signs attached to their bikes. Hey, sex sells and this surely has people talking. But since the medium is the message, it’s [...]

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Responsible or not? Visa’s Olympic sponsorship

By on August 19, 2008 in responsible or not?, strategically responsible, videos

If you watched the Olympics, you’ve seen Visa’s pervasive Go World ads. Morgan Freeman‘s distinctive voice always grabs me, but the relevance and timeliness of the ads have kept my attention. Here’s the ad Visa ran immediately after Michael Phelps won his unprecedented 8th Gold Medal. View this video on YouTube. Impressive. Each Visa ad [...]

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Responsible or not: Emotional manipulation

By on August 1, 2008 in ethics, research, responsible or not?, socially responsible

A vast sector of modern advertising… does not appeal to reason but to emotion; like any other kind of hypnoid suggestion, it tries to impress its objects emotionally and then make them submit intellectually. ~ Erich Fromm Would you rather make women feel better about themselves or about your brand? In a recent study inspired [...]

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Responsible or not? “Get Some Nuts” with Snickers

By on July 21, 2008 in responsible or not?, videos

As the best selling candy bar of all time with annual sales of over $2 billion, Snickers has nothing to prove. The Mars family introduced the brand in 1929 or 1930, depending upon which source you believe. Either way, Snickers is pushing 80—but you’d never know it by its advertising. To reach their target audience [...]

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Responsible or not? Stripping for charity

By on July 15, 2008 in responsible or not?, videos

Using social media to create social good is a good thing. But it’s never quite that easy, is it? Strip2Clothe is a new Virgin Mobile promotion where anyone can submit “fun by not salacious” videos of themselves stripping in order to help clothe homeless youth. From the Virgin Mobile YouTube channel: Strip2Clothe is Virgin Mobile’s [...]

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OMFG: Responsible or not?

By on June 24, 2008 in authenticity, corporate responsibility, responsible or not?, sex sells, socially responsible, videos, word of mouth

For the uninitiated: OMG = “Oh my God.” OMFG = The same, plus a strategically placed F-bomb. First time I saw these ads, I wanted to write about it here, but I couldn’t seem to find the CW’s justification for taking “OMG,”—a phrase that already puts some people on edge—and plusing it with the “F” [...]

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Archie Bunker as pitchman? Almost.

By on June 18, 2008 in branding, message responsible, responsible or not?, socially responsible, videos

Would you like someone that makes “tasteless jokes about sex, AIDS, religion and bodily functions, purposely offending just about every group of people you could name” to represent your product? How about a character that have “been criticized for everything from anti-Semitism and sexism to homophobia and overall disgustingness?” Sounds like Archie Bunker, the bombastic [...]

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History’s worst viral campaign, or best?

By on June 13, 2008 in authenticity, deceptive marketing, message responsible, responsible or not?, socially responsible, videos, viral marketing, word of mouth

Above are two of four videos that were uploaded to YouTube two weeks ago proving that the radiation from cell phones is strong enough to actually pop corn. Or not. As it turns out, it’s a hoax—a viral marketing ploy by Cardo Systems, a maker of cell phone earpieces and headsets. They’ve gained worldwide attention [...]

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Drug company advertising: Responsible or not?

By on June 2, 2008 in responsible or not?, socially responsible, strategically responsible, videos

Every time I hear an ad for a medication on television, I think of the adage, If the disease doesn’t kill you, the cure will. After all, “the side effects might include. . .” list is usually so long and filled with so many undesirable things it would make anyone cringe. I don’t like hearing [...]

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Responsible or not? Unilever

By on May 7, 2008 in corporate responsibility, environmentally responsible, message responsible, responsible or not?, sex sells, socially responsible, videos

I’ve mentioned Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty that encourages self esteem for young girls. It’s smart, it zags when everyone else is zigging, and as the father of young daughter it makes me want to stand up and cheer. But of course, Responsible Marketing is never black and white. Dove’s parent company, Unilever, has been [...]

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Responsible or not? Marketing to tweens and teens

By on April 21, 2008 in marketing to kids, responsible or not?, socially responsible, word of mouth
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Responsible or not? Absolut re-maps North America

By on April 9, 2008 in responsible or not?, socially responsible, strategically responsible

Absolut Vodka of Sweden created a bit of uproar recently by re-mapping North America to include most of the American southwest as part of Mexico. Although the ad was only run in Mexico and was meant to be taken tongue-in-cheek, U.S. consumers threatened boycott and Absulut apologized and yanked the ad. Our immigration problems are [...]

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