I recently purchased a LASKO fan for a family camping trip. On the flap of the box are these selling points:

Why Buy a Fan?

• Create a Wind Chill
• Circulate Air Conditioning
• Bring Fresh Air In
• Dispel Stale Air & Odors
• Use for Only Pennies a Day
• Get Comfortable!

WHAT? If you’re buying a fan and you’re thinking to yourself Hmmm, I’m not convinced yet and you ask yourself why you should buy a fan – chances are you probably don’t need a fan.

The Honda Element Commercials are well done, funny, and simple. Honda reaches out to their key demographic with a BIG “What up?” On the other hand, the Honda Odyssey commercials also reach out to their target demo but without the pizazz.

Check out the mini site:elementandfriends.com Here you’ll be able to play the companion game driving either the EX or SC model. The game is fun to play and addictive. The basic premise is you drive around an island, in an Element of course, looking for the animals from the commercials. When you see one, a talk bubble pops up. You can either speak with them [initiate dialog between the Element and the animal] or play a game. The animals are an interesting bunch.

So, which commercial do you like the best?

Also see:
Forget the Honda Odyssey Viking spot

I think it’s great that Starbucks is committed to the environment. Shouldn’t every organization be concerned about it? Of course they should. Okay, sounds great so far. What about this:

Starbucks is committed to reducing our environmental impact through increased use of post-consumer recycled materials. Help us help the planet.

WHAT? Talk about buzzword central. Here’s what they’re really saying “We love the planet. That’s why this sleeve is made of recycled material. We wanted you to know. We want you to know that we’re thinking about the environment, okay?”

Wouldn’t it be easier if they just said “Recycled sleeve” or “We’re smart enough to recycle, you should too.”

Here’s where it gets confusing for me:

First-ever 10% post-consumer fiber cup
60% post-consumer fiber sleeve

HUH? What is that supposed to mean? It’s the first ever post-consumer cup and it’s only 10%? Shouldn’t it at least be 50%. I’m not sure what post-consumer fiber is but I’m not that impressed that it’s only 10%.

This is an interesting line:

Intended for single use only.

Hmmm. I hope they don’t mean use it once then toss it? That wouldn’t be very cool.

Also see:
Jackhole goes to Starbucks
Do Starbucks corporate employees get free coffee?
Akeelah and the Bee and the Starbucks employee

The Honda Odyssey Viking spot isn’t all that cool. Oh yeah, sure I think I’ll buy an Odyssey because it reminds me of the old van culture of the 70s + 80s. But van culture is so much cooler now, right? Nothing says cool better than a Honda mini van.

I know men who are cringing right now at the thought of even owning a mini van. Because they’re probably thinking “Hey, that commercial was pretty cool.” “If I purchase that mini van, I probably won’t feel like a soccer mom driving it.”

Commercials over the years have certainly become more entertaining. Agencies will use bands you never thought would end up in commercials. They use humor as the main hook. They dig deep and deliver a result that has you saying “what the heck was that?” I still haven’t seen anything as cool as the Honda “Cog” spot. It’s nothing short of brilliant. The funny thing is that the commercial is two minutes long and I remembered that it was Honda. How many times do you see a spot and cannot for the life of you remember who it was for. Only in Europe does an agency get to produce something so cool that it becomes an instant classic.

Isn’t it nice when things just work…

The other day a random conversation broke out about what it would be like to be a worker who cleans septic tanks. As you can imagine, the jokes ensued. A crappy job with crappy wages. What do you do? I work with crap all day, and you? So after about 5 minutes or so, all jokes were exhausted.

Speaking of crap, here is an ad that makes a point… I guess. I especially like the title “There are better ways to make career”. Click here to see different angles.

You would never be able to get away with anything like this in the states. Everyone is far too PC and uptight.

The (RED) campaign, which celebrities like Bono, Christy Turlington, Oprah Winfrey, Chris Rock, Steven Spielberg endorsed, has apparantly failed miserably. The campaign’s intent was to raise millions for Aids in Africa. Even myspace.com got in on the act as a media sponsor.

The campaign has only brought in 18 million to date. Seems like a pretty good figure, right? Well compared to the advertising budget of up to 100 million – it turns out it’s not such a good take.

According to Advertising Age:

The disproportionate ratio between the marketing outlay and the money raised is drawing concern among nonprofit watchdogs, cause-marketing experts and even executives in the ad business. It threatens to spur a backlash, not just against the Red campaign — which ambitiously set out to change the cause-marketing model by allowing partners to profit from charity — but also for the brands involved.

Maybe bono has an extra $18 million lying around to match the dismal figure. Buy less crap has put up an outstanding site which mocks our boy Bono and the whole red campaign with a simple message – Buy (Less). Give more.

Right on.