The circle is complete.  First, it was the Internet watching TV and talking about it.  It was people biting TV clips, digitizing them and posting them on YouTube.  Now, the TV empire strikes back!

In this SNL clip from last Saturday, they have bit material from YouTube and worked it into their sketch.  (Credit to Scarlett for some great Grape Lady sound effects)

So basically I have here a clip from YouTube, that is from SNL, covering YouTube, covering TV news, which covered a real event.  We are 5 degrees of separation from our own reality!  Our culture is basically in the restroom of the local MoviePlex, looking at our reflections recede into infinity in the two opposite-facing mirrors.

Wait!  You are reading this on Adchops, which is simply writing about and linking over to the YouTube covering the SNL covering the YouTube covering the TV news covering reality.  Six!  Six degrees of separation!

I know… I just blew your mind.

” ‘ello, Loves!” I give you the most powerful sales team known to man (not “man” in the “all of humankind” sense, since I’m sure many women will disagree)…

What with viral, buzz marketing, word-of-mouth, etc, it’s good to remember the stuff that will always work. This Fab Four could sell dust on the Moon. They could sell mustard gas to Jainists. They could sell heroin to a priest… well, actually, I could probably do that.

Yes, we men are simple, simple creatures. I would honestly give one joint off one of my toes (big toes excluded..I might need those if I lose a thumb) to have frequent sex with just one of these women. I’m not kidding. What other marketing tool can claim that?

It’s always good to remember the basics in marketing, I guess. Oh, and it’s good to remember names. Isn’t it so adorable that they all have their names on their shirts so they don’t forget what to call each other.. well, other than “fucking bitch whore!” (the name they call each other when out of earshot).

I just realized I have no link in this post. Ummm… this’ll have to do.

Here’s the latest ad for the Saturn Aura.  Recognize that song?  You probably do if you’re 30-something, being that it’s from the Muppets.. and who of that age group didn’t watch the Muppets?  Hell, I’d still watch them if they were on.

I have to wonder, though - why turn it into elevator music?  What were you thinking?

Quality (fake) ad for Post-It Notes…

Post-It Notes are one of those products that is so ripe for some very funny ad campaigns.

While we’re on it, here’s SNL’s take on the subject.. new McIntosh Post-Its.

Pretty funny new ad by T-Mobile - Beware the Cougar.

I first heard this term from my younger cousin a couple years back.  We were walking through a nightclub when he turned to me and cautioned, “Cougars on the hunt, 3:00.”  I had not a clue what he was talking about, looked to my right and saw a couple over-tanned women in their early 40s sidling on up to us.  I immediately started laughing uncontrollably - the metaphor was just so perfect.  I’m so glad to see that “cougar” has finally made the big-time.

So am I just rambling on pointlessly about the word “cougar”?  No… well, rambling, yes.  Pointlessly, no.  The national lexicon is constantly changing, and it pays for advertisers to stay up on it.  Or go a step further like T-Mobile and mine it for comedy.  It is a perfectly cromulent thing to do.

Loving today’s term btw: Disco Nap.  Guilty!

Global warming is the issue of our time.  I realize that our grandfathers fought in the Great War.  I realize they ran onto Nazi machine gun nests, liberated Europe, stormed Siribachi.  They are called the Greatest Generation.  But I’m telling you right now, if we beat global warming, we will be the Greatest Generation (or if we do nothing, the Most Vilified Generation).  I have friends who laugh at this notion, but we’ll see who’s laughing in 100 years.  After all, which is more important, stopping a tyrant?  Or reversing 150 years of industrial pollution, saving hundreds of millions of people from famine/flooding, and saving hundreds of thousands of species from going extinct?

With that being said, Green Marketing is just at its infancy, and where every company needs to be.  Some big companies already “get it”.  The absolutely breath-taking Planet Earth series by Discovery Channel has been fully sponsored by Bank of America, who are going even further by incorporating green solutions into their practices.  Mega-oil company BP has also been making large strides toward environmental responsibility, consistently scoring high on green rankings.  And then there’s GE’s Ecomagination campaign - they have committed billions of dollars and an entire branch of their company to mastering sustainable energy.

The planet’s atmosphere is going to be saved by individuals - individuals deciding they give enough of a damn to take personal action, cut down their carbon footprint and lobby their governments.  But a few companies are taking up the fight.  This is only the beginning - increasingly, consumers are going to be checking the Green Creds of the companies they’re doing business with.  I now buy gas exclusively at BP, and am switching my Commerce bank account (that I’ve had since I was 8 years old) to Bank of America.  I guarantee you I’m not the only one!  Getting out front with green ad campaigns is a sure-fire way to get business and be seen as one of “the good guys”.

Some links of interest:

Ceres.org - great site reporting on how business is tackling climate change.

Power of Green - good NY Times article by Thomas Friedman regarding the present and future of the Green movement.

FightGlobalWarming.com - what you can do personally.

Get off your ass.  Write your Congressional representatives!  {stepping off soapbox}

A few posts ago I mentioned how much I hate hearing my favorite music used in commercials. However, I think I’ve found a compromise – remakes! The commercial gets their song, and the listener keeps the original untarnished in his mind.

One of my favorite new (well, newish) bands is The Knife (links to original song, remade for ad) – very original sound, haunting vocals, great use of electronic elements to create some beautiful, chilling stuff. So you’re an ad guy – you really love this song, but it’s just not palatable for prime time. What to do? Give it to an acoustic guitarist so he can turn it into a James Blunt B-side! Have a look at this ad for a Sony Hi-Def television – you can barely recognize the song, so profoundly has the soul and innovation been sucked out of it. But, people that can afford hi-def TVs like to “scrapbook” and listen to pretty guitars, not tweaked out Swedish electronica. The boring, talentless version is waaay more appropriate for the ad than the original.

Win, win! And the “avant garde” artists themselves will be more willing to do a deal if they know their work will be butchered into something unrecognizable to their fans. Don’t take my word for it:

The Knife wrote Heartbeats, the song covered to achey-breaky affect by fellow Swede José Gonzales in the Sony Bravia ‘bouncing balls’ commercial. Yes, say The Knife, they had to think hard about allowing their music to be used to sell stuff. ‘It’s the first time we’ve said to yes to a thing like that,’ says Karin. ‘The only reason we thought it was OK was it wasn’t us performing.

A couple months ago, Pizza Hut joined the new wave of advertising - user submissions - with their Vice President of Pizza campaign.

Well, the submission period’s over, the selections are down to the final 3, and it’s up to the public to decide. This is a great trend, people. Instead of focus groups and other bullshit deciding how products are marketed to us, companies are letting us choose. Granted, this campaign’s not about making a commercial like Doritos (et al) did, but it’s all in the same vein. Take advantage of it! Vote!

 Posted by Stuart

You need to get through the Blake Lewis bit but near the end, you can see the “offer” from KFC trying to get Sanjaya to shave his head.

A life time supply of KFC was just not enough for Sanjaya to get the “KFC Bowl Cut”. This is bad marketing at its best.

It’s sad but I think Sanjaya should shave and feed the family. Even if the 15min of fame goes for 30min, fried chicken can last forever.

Back to the point, this is just plain stupid. Sanjaya is a “moment star”, that has some star potential (like it or not) and the best offer is free chicken.

If his hair is such a big deal, Herbal Essences sign him up.

I guess luxury vehicle makers have figured that those who were teens in the early 80s can now afford their cars. Here’s Cadillac’s new ad featuring “Start” by the Jam.

It’s hard to believe that the 80s have almost joined the ranks of the “retro decades”. Stings a bit too, since that’s the first decade I can remember. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more in advertising from this decade. “Start” is exactly that – right at the beginning of the decade, appealing to late 30s/early 40s.

Next up, I’m sure, is your Thompson Twins, Wham, and of course we mustn’t forget New Order, who certainly evolved their sound quite well (sorry, couldn’t find a better vid to showcase the song)