Posts Tagged ‘AMC’

Mad Men and AdAge: Where the truth lies

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

In Can subliminal marketing be responsible? I shared a faux subliminal ad that AMC was using to promote Mad Men, their series about a fictional Madison Avenue ad agency set in 1960.

For a number of reasons, I argued that for this show, subliminal advertising would actually be the responsible thing to do, even though subliminal advertising doesn’t work.

The Golden Globe®-winning series for Best TV drama and actor will be back on Sunday, July 27th (I can’t wait) and it’s DVD box set is being released on July 1st and AMC is going to make sure that the sleeper hit of last year gets a lot more attention this season.

Today, I received this in the mail:

Mad Men / Advertising Age - Special Advertising Section

At first, I thought Ad Age was simply doing a retro cover. Upon closer inspection, I realized MadMen had done it again when I saw the headline “Sterling Cooper Wins Kodak Projector Account” with a picture of the agency’s Creative Director, Don Draper.

I showed it to two members of my team (possibly the only two that don’t watch the show) and asked “What’s wrong with this picture?” Both thought it was just a retro cover.

Like the show, it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s fake. Sixteen pages intermingles real articles pulled from the Ad Age archives, along with an interview of Draper, “then and now” comparisons and lots more.

There’s a lot to like here:

  • It’s driving word of mouth
  • By putting a premium on creativity, it’s breaking through the clutter
  • It couldn’t be more targeted: Ad Age readers are people that will buy the DVD and watch the show
  • Some of the folks in this target are media buyers
  • Mad Men is a period piece, and this is loyal to and even builds upon that
  • Incredible pass-along value
  • This is an Ad Age issue that will be around for awhile (I’m sure by the time this makes it to our ‘idea box’ it will be dogeared)

    • Two quotes from a sidebar called “What They’re Saying…” you might find of interest:

    Advertising is based on one thing: Happiness.

    [Advertising] is most effective when it does its job, for whatever client, in an honest way.

    The first quote is by Draper. The second is by John F. Kennedy.

    So, which quote to do you agree with more, and why?

    Comment below to weigh in.

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    Posted in advertainment, creativity, word of mouth | 5 Comments »

    Can subliminal advertising be responsible?

    Friday, January 18th, 2008

    We’ve all seen examples of subliminal advertising in print ads over the years. I use the word “seen” loosely, because usually you have to look pretty hard to find that suggestive image that’s supposed to burrow itself into your subconscious and get you to buy! buy! buy!

    Anyway, subliminal advertising on television is a whole different story. Freeze the action on the correct frame and boom! subliminal is now perceptible.

    Here’s a subliminal ad discovered on The Food Network last year:

    I’m lovin’ it.

    Well, not so much. Like most people, I don’t want to be manipulated. But also because for years now, just about every academic study done on the topic has concluded that subliminal advertising doesn’t work.

    Maybe I shouldn’t care.

    After all, what good is subliminal advertising if it doesn’t work and it runs the risk of making people feel violated? Let’s answer that after you view this:

    No, this isn’t subliminal advertising, though the person that posted it on YouTube thought it might be.

    Mad Men, the critically-acclaimed AMC series from the writer and Executive Producer of The Sopranos is all about deception, lies, and the dark side of advertising. The tagline is “Where the truth lies.”

    Call me mad, but AMC didn’t go far enough with this. They consider a significant prime time subliminal advertising campaign.

    Here’s my rationale:

  • The story is set during an era when subliminal advertising was a hot topic and top-of-mind with the American public
  • Don Draper, the “Tony Soprano” of the series would have used these tactics
  • The PR and word-of-mouth they would receive would be tremendous
  • And they have the perfect defense: subliminal advertising doesn’t work anyway, does it?

    Is subliminal advertising ever responsible? In most cases, absolutely not. It’s not message or ROI responsible.

    But I’d consider it one of the most responsible ways to promote MadMen.

    What do you think?

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    Posted in creativity, responsible or not?, subliminal advertising, videos, word of mouth | 3 Comments »