Paul Newman was a very famous movie star. This will seem obvious to readers above a certain age and fans of classic films, but it is apparently not that obvious to all grocery shoppers. While you’d think that the late star’s Newman’s Own line of organic food that turns over profits to charity would be a hit with civic-minded foodies, that guy on the label may as well be Duncan Hines or Chef Boyardee to younger shoppers. [More]
ad campaigns
Sure, Fine, Listerine Is A Lifestyle Brand Now
By 4.5.16
When you think of Listerine, or of any mouthwash, what comes to mind? Anything at all? That’s the challenge in marketing oral care products: people are bored with hearing about our gum health and being shamed for our bad breath, and how else can you market mouthwash? Listerine has found a way: by marketing their product as a lifestyle. [More]
Carlsberg Outdoes Coca-Cola With Free Beer-Dispensing Billboard
By 4.15.15
You might remember that earlier this month, Coca-Cola experimented with a billboard that dispensed free samples of Coke Zero to thirsty visitors near the site of the final games of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Why can’t the same technology work for more adult beverages? [More]
Ignore The TV Commercials: Don’t Sell Your Old Phone On eBay
By 9.29.14
eBay is currently engaging in an ad campaign, timed to coincide with the release of the iPhone 6 and 6 plus, meant to coax people who don’t currently use eBay to use the service to find new homes for their phones. Yet people who are frequent eBay users think that this is a terrible idea, and not just because they’re sellers who fear the competition. [More]
Kmart Builds Holiday Ad Campaign Around Layaway Angels Of 2011
By 12.20.12 — Updated: 12.21.12
So far this year, we’ve mostly shared tales of people complaining about the process of purchasing items at Kmart using layaway. Last year, something inspiring started to happen. People, including our very own readers, would walk up to the customer service desk at their local Kmart and offer to pay off the layaway balance of a random family. The “layaway angels,” media outlets began to call them. The idea spread nationwide, mostly in Kmart stores. This year, Kmart has built an ad campaign around them. [More]
China Introduces "Made In China" Campaign
By 1.8.10
China has caught on to the fact that it doesn’t enjoy a stellar reputation over here as a manufacturer of quality goods, especially after the tainted food and product stories of the past few years, so it’s doing what any good profit-minded business would do: running an image rehabilitation campaign. [More]
Ad Campaign Out To Stop People From Using 'Gay' As Pejorative
By 8.13.09
A new ThinkB4YouSpeak school-focused ad campaign is out to stamp out the hurtful practice of referring to things as “gay” in a negative way.
Domino's Pizza: Sacrificing Our Delivery Drivers So We Can Use Our New Slogan
By 3.4.08
Domino’s has a mildly amusing television campaign right now to promote their new slogan “You Got 30 Minutes,” but the fine print on Domino’s site points out that this should be taken only as a suggestion, not a service guarantee: “Because safety is a priority “You Got 30 Minutes™” is not a guarantee but an estimate. You may get more.” A former Domino’s delivery guy is not impressed: “Some douchebag ad exec wants to trick customers into believing that the ’30 minutes or it’s free’ guarantee is back, then leave it to the delivery drivers to explain to inevitably angry customers why their pizza isn’t free when it gets there in 31 minutes.”
