Darrell Hammond Channels Colonel Sanders

SNL Alum Darrell Hammond Plays Colonel Sanders in New KFC Ads 

Excerpt:

In a series of KFC ads debuting on May 25, Hammond will “become” the beloved Kentucky Fried Chicken founder — who appeared in ads for the fried chicken company in the ’60s and ’70s — taking on his likeness right down to his signature white hair and black bow tie.

“Because [Col. Sanders] is no longer with us, we needed to find the greatest impersonator of our generation,” Kevin Hochman, CMO of KFC, tells PEOPLE. “Darrell has mastered the cadence, tone and mannerisms of other celebrated figures … so, who better to play one of America’s dearest icons than [him].”

The fast food chain even offered Hammond the role in a comedic spirit. “KFC asked Darrell to consider the role by sending him a fake letter from the Colonel’s fake attorney which stated that the Colonel had asked that Darrell play him if the time ever arose that the brand wanted to bring the Colonel back,” says Hochman.

Comment: He does it well! Image above is screen shot from YouTube video (below):

FedEx's hidden arrow

FedEx’s hidden arrow, and other visual advertising tricks

Excerpt:

You can see either the white arrow or the FedEx letters, but not both at once, because one is always the background to the other.

The current FedEx logo was shortened from the earlier company name Federal Express and given a new snazzy illusory design element, the background arrow between the “E” and the “x.” Did the company shorten the name to reduce the amount of paint needed for signage on its planes and trucks? That explanation makes no sense, unless the painters could use only one font size. Once the name was shorter, they could just paint the letters larger to take up the same space and use about the same amount of paint. In fact, according to Linden Leader, the graphic artist who designed the new logo, the FedEx CEO specifically requested that the logo be easily legible on every truck from five blocks away.

Instead the change resulted from a thorough analysis of the company’s name recognition in the market. Why might the new logo be more effective? One reason is that the arrow, a symbol that has special meaning to our cognitive system, helps to draw attention to the logo as a whole. Arrows indicate what scientists call “implied motion.” Visual neuroscientists Anja Schlack and Thomas Albright of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have shown that neurons that respond preferentially to specific directions of motion in the world are also activated by arrows pointing in the corresponding direction, even though the arrows are not themselves moving but just represent the concept of motion.

The FedEx arrow pointing to the right signifies motion toward the future for those who write in English and other left-to-right languages. Moreover, because our motion areas also have more neurons that prefer cardinal rather than oblique directions, here the arrow invokes a powerful competition with the FedEx name itself, so our perception vacillates between “FedEx” and forward momentum. In languages read right to left, the FedEx arrow points toward the left, such as in the Arabic version of the logo, consistent with the corresponding cognitive representation of time’s arrow.

Comment: Never noticed it!

It's fake?!

That Jeff Gordon Terrifying A Car Salesman Pepsi Ad Is Totally 100 Percent Fake
Jeff Gordon Pepsi Max test drive video shot in Concord goes viral

Halftime retort

On the value of Superbowl commericials

Eight Brands That Wasted the Most on the Super Bowl Excerpt:

E*Trade

• Total ad spending (2002 – 2011): $35.9 million
• Super Bowls advertised in over past 10 years: 6
• Average ads per Super Bowl: 2.5
• Change in share price (2002 – current): -91.1%
• Change in market share: n/a

E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) has run Super Bowl ads in the past five years, as well as in 2002, attempting to make headway against larger online trading competitors Fidelity Investments, Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade. With an average of two and a half ads per game, E*Trade has run 6.75 minutes of Super Bowl ads over the past 10 years. Although the company’s ad campaigns have varied, its most popular commercial is the E*Trade talking baby, which debuted during Super Bowl XLII in 2008. Although that ad resulted in a record-breaking number of new accounts for the company, E*Trade’s overall share price has decreased 91.1% since February 2002.

Comment: I love the E-Trade commercials. I use Wells-Trade. When was the last time you saw a Wells-Trade commercial?

Worst Ads

And the Worst Ad of 2011 Is...

Comment: Click link above for other "stinkers"

The story behind the YMCAs Butter Commercial

$5,000, 42 butter sticks, 1 win

Excerpt:

Auditions were given to a half dozen actresses using Snickers and Three Musketeers candy bars as props for the butter.

Edwards, 42, who has a theater background and does voice-overs for radio commercials, was selected because of her acting ability to eat the prop almost as an afterthought while engrossed in something else -- in this case, watching TV.

"We weren't looking for a fashion model," Preston said. "We wanted a young mom, a regular gal, someone who was comfortable in sweatpants and a sweatshirt." Edwards' pierced nose had to be covered with makeup.

The ad was shot in the Excelsior living room of executive producer Mark Setterholm, the president and owner of Drive Thru TV.

Just before the shoot, Setterholm went to the Byerly's in Chanhassen to buy the butter. "There was so much butter in my cart I felt I had to make excuses. I told the checkout crew that, no, I wasn't addicted to making Christmas cookies."

When Edwards arrived at the set early on a November morning with a cup of coffee in hand, she was greeted by a crew of 20 and two coolers packed with sticks of butter.

"That's when it hit me that I'd really be eating butter," Edwards recalled.

Until that moment she had been imagining how many different ways a person could eat a stick of butter. Her ideas swayed between eating a candy bar, an ear of corn, a banana, or all of the above.

The shoot lasted until early afternoon and involved more than 25 takes and 42 sticks of butter.

Comment: Memorable

Hahn Super Dry advert.

Video: Most epic beer commercial stars DeLorean monster truck

Malodorous political ads

Candidate’s Scented Mailing Says Albany ‘Stinks’

Excerpt:

There could be a surprise waiting in your mailbox this weekend, courtesy of Carl P. Paladino, a Republican candidate for governor. Not the front of the brochure, which states that “Something really stinks in Albany.” Nor the back, which features images of tarnished Democrats like Gov. David A. Paterson, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer and former State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi.

But open it up, and you will be greeted by an unmistakable odor: rotting vegetables.

Comment: Taking it to the fetid limit! Official site: Paladinoforthepeople

Byte into an Apple

Remembering 1977 With The First (Apple I) Apple Ad!

Comment: Re comment on previous post .... here's the first Apple ad.

15 Vintage Computer Ads

15 Vintage Computer Ads That Used To Be Cool


Comment: Which is your favorite? And why? Mine: 10MB disk for $ 3,398!

The 1984 ad and much more!

A short video history of negative tech ads

It all goes back to the very first Macintosh TV ad — the legendary "1984." True, the commercial didn't mention Microsoft by name. But it did compare people who used IBM PCs — powered by Bill Gates and Paul Allen's MS-DOS — to a zombie army under the control of an evil overlord. That can't be considered a compliment.

Comment: Some great old ads! More on the 1984 ad here.

Nothing says love like a ..... router!

Cisco Pitches $250,000 Router as Valentine’s Gift

Excerpt:

The networking company has put up a comic Internet ad, championing the ASR 9000 router that it started selling last November. This is some serious metal with an average price around $250,000 and meant for large service providers sending out vast streams of data.

Comment: Yeah that's the ticket!

Mac retrospective

Jan. 1984: How critics reviewed the Mac

Excerpt:

Byte, Gregg Williams, February 1984

The Macintosh brings us one step closer to the ideal of computer as appliance.

Creative Computing, John Anderson, July 1984

In its current form, the Macintosh is the distilled embodiment of a promise: the software can be intuitively easy to use, while remaining just as powerful as anything else around. It is now time to lay out the “bads”:

• The Macintosh does not have enough RAM.
• Single microfloppy is slow and inadequate.
• There are no internal expansion slots or external expansion buses.
• MacWrite has some severe limitations.
• The system is monochrome only.
• MS-DOS compatibility is ruled out.
• The Macintosh will not multitask.
• You can’t use a Mac away from a desk.
• MacPaint has an easel size limitation.
• Forget about external video.
• Macintosh software development is an involved process.

Bill Gates

Anybody who could write a good application on a 128K Mac deserves a medal.

Comment: With the Mac came the innovation of the mouse! Video: That 1984 Super Bowl commercial with the “Big Brother” theme. I think I've only seen this once before! Very cool. My Brother (Roger) had a Mac. Not much power by today's standards but back then I had a TRS-80 (that was even less!)

To skewer Bill Gates, "Anybody who could write a good operating system that runs in less than 512 MB deserves a medal" (Err Linux ... )

More on the 1984 themed commercial here!

"Danger Zone" Yaris

Toyota Yaris flies into the danger zone, drives off aircraft carrier

Excerpt:

Toyota is hitting the boob tube hard to advertise its sub-compact Yaris, and the Japanese automaker has found its funny bone in these newest spots. The overall theme of the new campaign is that the Yaris is clever enough to do "almost anything" by demonstrating the few things this little three-door can't. One commercial ... puts the Yaris on the deck of an aircraft carrier where it attempts to take off after getting the OK from flight control. As you might have guessed, the Yaris can't fly, so the Little hatch goes overbooard into the drink

Comment: My Mother has a 4 door Yaris. It is a cute, reliable car. I wouldn't want to drive it hundreds of miles, but around town (when we visited her in Dallas) it is functional and gets great gasoline mileage.

Wachovia ad on Star Trib site

Comment: I just visited the Star Tribune site to see how badly the Vikes lost last night (I fell asleep when they were down 27-20!) ... and I was surprised by 2 things. The Vikings won! And Wachovia had an advertisement on the Sports page. Notice the smaller TCF ad in the upper right.

Remembering the ‘Daisy Ad’

Man Who Helped Create ‘Daisy Ad’ Dies

Excerpt:

Tony Schwartz, a self-taught, sought-after and highly reclusive media consultant who helped create what is generally considered to be the most famous political ad to appear on television, died Saturday at his home in Manhattan. He was 84.


Comment: In my mind, this ad and the Willie Horton ad (honorable mention to Reagan's "Morning in America") are perhaps the most powerful polical ads ever aired.

White Gold

White Gold ad campaign

Excerpt:

If you've never heard of White Gold, that's probably because he doesn't really exist. But he does star in the new multiplatform advertising campaign from the California Milk Processor Board (the "Got Milk?" people). Think Tenacious D shilling for Big Dairy. It's an obvious bid to hit the ad-cynical teenage demographic where they're most vulnerable: the funny bone. And the campaign is genuinely hilarious. But will that be enough? U.S. consumption of milk slumped 14 percent between 1981 and 2006, according to the Department of Agriculture. In California, which is getting the brunt of the campaign, the price of whole milk has climbed 44 percent since 2003. A gallon of milk costs even more than a gallon of unleaded, with a nationwide average price of $3.87. Sen. Barack Obama reminded voters from the stump in Pennsylvania at the end of March that "you've never paid more for a dozen eggs, a gallon of milk."


Comment: Check out YouTube for White Gold videos. Below is sample:

Mrs. Butterworth hawks Geico

THICK, BUTTERY … INSURANCE?

Excerpt:

Not surprisingly, the Geico ad comes as The Blackstone Group, which purchased Mrs. Butterworth’s and other brands last year, is working to revive the syrup brand.

Comment: I only use real maple syrup! But I like the ad!

An Absolut fence

View images at http://michellemalkin.com

Absolut campaign depicted southwestern U.S. as part of Mexico

Excerpt:

The Absolut vodka company apologized Saturday for an ad campaign depicting the southwestern U.S. as part of Mexico amid angry calls for a boycott by U.S. consumers.

The campaign, which promotes ideal scenarios under the slogan "In an Absolut World," showed a 1830s-era map when Mexico included California, Texas and other southwestern states. Mexico still resents losing that territory in the 1848 Mexican-American War and the fight for Texas independence.


HT: LaTimes Blogs