The Good: “Wheel Chair Basketball” –Guinness

**DISCLAIMER**

** Make sure a Kleenex box is nearby **

This commercial made me tear up.   It’s an inspiring and heartwarming commercial that makes you stop and realize how lucky you are and that there is hope for humanity.   The ad starts off with a group of guys playing basketball in wheelchairs.  They are playing hard and look like they are enjoying themselves.  The game finishes and all the guys get up but one he has no legs from the knee down.  He thanks his friends for coming out and they agree to meet next week.  It then shows them at the bar drinking Guinness.  My summary for the ad doesn’t do it justice.  It is really inspiring and emotional and you must watch it.  Lets evaluate the effectiveness:

Is it effective? Why or Why not?

YES!  I believe the goal of the ad was to warm people’s hearts a little and touch them (not like that).   I cried (yes I am an ugly crier) and it looks like every person who commented in the YouTube page did as well.   They loved the video.

Does it stimulate a positive response?

Yes!  “There’s hope for humanity” one YouTube commenter said.    This commercial left viewers happy and wanting a glass of Guinness.

Does the target market view the offer favorably? Why?

YES! Have a good time and drink beer with your buddies.  I think the target market is viewing this offer quite favourably (to be honest I think any commercial with beer in it would have the target market viewing the offer favourably).

Agree, disagree or have something to add? Leave a comment I would love to hear from you!

P.S. Check out my Mom and Brother's reaction to the commercial:

The Ugly: "The Real Estate Guy" Steve Varga

I’m ashamed to say this but this ugly ad you see above can be seen in my town’s local newspaper, The Expositor.  One might say “Oh its not that bad”(my grandmother said that.  She’s much too nice) but when you take a long hard look at it, it kind of gives you headache.   Busy and tacky.   There is a lot to look at on this ad.  Let’s break it down and take a look at its effectiveness:

Is it effective? Why or Why not?

NO!  The ad is very busy, there is a lot of information on it and it’s hard to read.   According to my Advertising and Marketing professors you only have a few seconds to grab someone’s attention.  This ad did not do it for me and is unlikely to do it for others. 

Does it stimulate a positive response?

KIND OF!  Assuming that this ad does grab someone’s attention and they only focus on the content of it, someone could have a positive response to it.   The written content of the ad is positive and offers some enticing facts.

Does the target market view the offer favorably? Why?

KIND OF!  The target market would view what they’re offering favorably but the look of the ad is too busy and tacky as I stated before.

The following are some real estate ads that I find to be more appealing:

Agree, disagree or have something to add? Leave a comment I would love to hear from you!

The Bad: “Shoot your Girlfriend”- Panasonic

This ad does not look so bad when you first look at it.  Yes its kind of rude but some people like that type of humor.  To each his own.  But when you find out a little more about the girl that appears in it you understand why many others and I have deemed it BAD.   The “girl friend” that appears in the ad is Reeva Steenkamp the deceased girlfriend of Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius.   Oscar shot Reeva multiple times and killed her.   There is still an investigation going on to determine if it was an accident or not.  The situation is not something to joke about (or is it?  What do you think?).

Luckily for Panasonic this ad was never used.  The ad was presented to Panasonic but was quickly shot down (thank goodness).   Unfortunately for Panasonic the ad was leaked to the media recently and it did not go over well (obviously).  Let’s take a look at the effectiveness of this advertisement if it was used:

Is it effective?

NO!  Yes it gets people talking about their brand but not in a positive way, which leads me to the next question.

Does it stimulate a positive response?

NO!  People have very strong feelings about domestic violence (GIRL POWER) and by making light of killing someone it infuriates them and leads to controversy.  Negative opinions about the brand and boycotting are what I predict would happen if this ad was used.

Does the target market view the offer favorably? Why?

NO!  This ad does not do much when it comes to having a favorable offer to it’s target market, even when you don’t know about Reeva.  Yes, it’s a nice picture but the tagline is off-putting.  The ad as a whole does not show the camera to be unique and interesting and definitely not favourable.

In closing, Panasonic was right in rejecting this ad but I would suggest that next time they have a horribly insensitive ad pitched to them they destroy all evidence! Maybe even shoot the pitcher (that was bad, I know).

Agree, disagree or have something to add? Leave a comment I would love to hear from you!

P.S. Just remember….