blue girl

This Post Brought To You By Blue Girl In A Red State...

...Good to the last drop.

I'm busy today working on advertising materials that will serve the very high purpose of trying to convince people to buy things they don't want and don't need.  While I may not be extremely proud of the work I churn out today, for different reasons, I can honestly say that what I'm working on is going to turn out better than this.

That being said, I have to admit I find that commercial strangely appealing.  Kind of like a I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up version of applying whatever it is they are selling directly to your forehead.

A sort of Cha-Cha-Cha-Chia, Cha-Cha-Cha-Chia Pet form of Where's the Beef?

I think the Where's the Beef spot was the best one of all that I linked to above.  But, I'm not really sure why I think that.  After all, I remembered all of them, (did you?) which is the whole point behind what we do. 

Most people think that what the whole point to what we do should be increasing sales.  But, advertising is only like an invitation inviting you to a party.  And we're just making the invitation as pretty and appealing as possible.  That's all we can do.  If we can interest you in coming to the party, with the goal of actually getting you to the party, then the host or hostess has to step up and become the salesperson.  They have to sell you on it.  Putting everything together as perfectly as they can so that when you leave, you feel confident that you made the right decision to go to the party to begin with.

If the host or hostess forgets to clean the bathroom, there's nothing I can do about that.

I know a lot of you blame people like me when you wake up the next morning after that party with a blazing hangover.  But, my only advice to you when that happens is...

Head On
Apply directly to the forehead
Head On
Apply directly to the forehead
Head On
Apply directly to the forehead

As seen on TV!

This post brought to you by Blue Girl In a Red State.  The Real Thing. 

Because I Never Wimp Out and Just Want To Suckle Something

I'm looking for a creative director.  But not the kind who think women in advertising "are crap."  And that they never rise to the top because women are "a group that will inevitably wimp out and go 'suckle something."'

To him I say, *suckle this* -- to you, I say *comment away!*

We're having a dispute here at Blue Girl Advertising.  Mr. Blue came up with the basic concept of the posters below.  He had his take on the visual and I had mine.

We'd like to know which visual you think is stronger  -- which works better.  There's a lot riding on the outcome of this focus group, cuz we have a bet going. 

If I win, I get what I want.  If he wins, well, he gets what he wants.  And for some odd reason it's not too far off from what that other creative director thinks women want to do all time time.

Vote and comment away.  *A lot* is riding on your choice.

POSTER #1
OR!

POSTER #2

They Are Posers

Lance has yet another take on the whole messy pie fight fight going on in the blogosphere.  I'm not going to weigh in on his main point in his post.  Except to say that I visit Shakespeare's Sister way more than I visit Kos, which is to say I never visit Kos.  But, hey I'm just a girl in the world who never was a student of women's studies (except in the game of life) but still thought (briefly, very briefly) that he was, as Shakespeare's Sister wrote, "dismissive and egotistical" in his rant about the reaction to his reaction to those who reacted angrily over his reaction to that stupid ad that I don't care two hoots about.

No, I want to focus and pontificate on this sentence at the beginning of Lance's post: 

Some ad guys came up with a stupid ad to promote the stupid TV show based on the original stupid TV show.

Now, I don't work for TBS, but in my experience, having been in the advertising industry for more than 20 years, I would bet ten lemon meringue pies plus a jelly donut that it's not "Ad Guys" at all who came up with the very original idea that "sex will sell our stupid TV show based on the original stupid TV show."

I don't have to be a fly on the wall of a very dreary conference room watching a very boring meeting to know that "TV Guys" who are "Ad Guy Wannabees" came up with the idea for this spot.

Yes, as my son would say, these guys are posers.

I don't think TV networks hire outside agencies to do their advertising.

If they did, you would not have to suffer through such horrible promotional spots as the ones running now for Tucker Carlson's new show.  Who picked those shots of him standing there looking so doofus-like?  I know he's doofus-like to begin with, but it's their job to de-doofusize him as much as
possible.  And they failed.  What a shock.

No, I'm sure TV stations think that since they've got all this high tech equipment, and they've got employees who know how to produce graphics on this equipment, that that in and of itself, in their minds, translates to, "Well, why would we hire someone to do it?  We'll save a bundle and do it
ourselves!  How hard can it be?"

And in their very uncreative minds, (after all, look at the show that they are trying to promote), they put together a spot where, "...the actresses playing Mary Ann and Ginger are all wrong."  Of course they are!  Do you think TBS is going to invest in a casting agent?  I think not.  Actually I
know not.

The Ad-Guy wannabees think they know it all!  Don't think so?  Well, just set up a meeting and ask them.

See, even when companies do hire outside agencies to handle their advertising the client's resume suddenly expands.  Hey, who doesn't love to get creative?

He or she may be very successful in the printing business, or the car parts business or the field of manufacturing Vitameatavegamin, but once the creative team comes back with ideas on how Company A can talk to their customers effectively -- ideas that are on-target and on-budget by the way -- the client suddenly loves to art director -- and write and produce and direct. 

Then when the idea fails to grab new customers, the art director and the writer get yelled at to come up with better ideas!  While they are already cringing that the public thinks it was them who came up with the silly idea in the first place.

No, being the Ad Guy holds all the appeal.  After all, advertising is glamourous.  It is creative.  It's not really a "job!"  Hell, anyone can do it.  And so many do.

What these TV Guys don't get -- is that if they would focus their energies where they are supposed to be focused -- on creating good TV shows people would actually want to watch -- instead of playing "Ad Guy" -- maybe it would do their ratings some good.

Same goes with any business.  They need to focus on building a better mousetrap, so that we can help convince people to buy them.

All of this ranting is not to say there aren't some really great clients out there.  I've got great, great clients that focus on their business so that I can focus on mine.  And it's not to say that ad agencies always come through with brilliance either.  They don't.

Think about the campaign that ran recently, and ran a lot for Buick over the last couple of months.  I'm sure a very big, expensive agency produced that campaign.  And they had a lot of fun with the casting and the all the negotiations to use cool music.

They had the hot, beautiful chick in one gorgeous outfit after another doing all sorts of sexy poses while "Dream On" by Aerosmith blared throughout.

Again, what's the point?  Sex.  And my husband, who's an art director by the way -- loved her.

But, did we run out and buy a Buick?  Did sales go up?  Let's think a minute about the state of General Motors.  I guess the spots didn't do them much good.

So maybe the moral to this story, besides the fact that TV Guys should stop being sorry, pathetic posers, may be that sex doesn't work so well anymore.  In most cases, or some cases anyway.

That should make Shakespeare's Sister kinda happy.