TV advertising can be annoying, disruptive, and just plain old boring.<\/p>\n
Of course, it’s not an easy task to be both informative and catch people’s attention in 30 seconds or less.<\/p>\n
For me, the most successful ads are the ones that forego trying to impart too much information (I can look stuff up if I need to) and are just entertaining.<\/p>\n
My favourite recent one is the new campaign from Subway Canada.<\/p>\n
The perfect, deep advertising baritone voiceover of the 16-second spot intones:<\/p>\n
“At Subway Canada, we’re ditching the inch with five 6-inch subs now available in centimetres.”<\/p>\n
Okay, it’s a feature that really isn’t a feature, but they acknowledge that in the next line.<\/p>\n
“The difference? Absolutely nothing, yet measurably more Canadian. Five classic 15.24-centimetre subs for just $5.99.”<\/p>\n
Even the disclaimer at the end cleverly plays on the theme with a subtle shift of the standard “while quantities last” disclaimer, saying, “Available while centimetres last.”<\/p>\n
It’s all-around brilliant. Funny. Plays to our Canadian identity. And it’s short. It sticks in the mind.<\/p>\n
It put me in mind of one of my other all-time favourites.<\/p>\n
Remember when Shreddies introduced *New* Diamond Shreddies. Genius.<\/p>\n
Seriously, Google that one (Diamond Shreddies Factory Floor Ad) if you don’t remember it. It starts with a bored inspector on the assembly line watching all the square Shreddies go by until the unthinkable happens, and he has to stop the conveyor belt.<\/p>\n
I still laugh whenever I see it.<\/p>\n
One in a similar vein, that absolutely doesn’t work for me is the Coors Light “Cold” campaign. Selling cold as a feature of a product that tastes like — well, you know what — either warm or cold doesn’t do it for me despite a very similar, baritone voiceover.<\/p>\n
I’m not convinced advertising works on me at all. I’m far too critical (some might even say cynical).<\/p>\n
But who knows, maybe the next time I have a hankering for a quick, cheap lunch, I might just think, “hmmm, I’d really like one of those six-dollar, 15.24-centimetre subs.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thom revisits some of his favourite TV advertising campaigns <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":159719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n