Trends

How’d They Do That? No, Wait - Why’d They Do That?

posted by Greg Batiansila @ July 10th, 2008

One thing that strikes me over and over as I listen to or watch ads is the question “How’d They Do That?” How did they pull it off? I know clients enough to know that clients tend to be play-it-safe professionals trying to ensure they’ll have a job tomorrow by carefully maintaining and dusting off their brand daily.

So…how did an agency get the permission to make a commercial for a product that revolves around a suicide attempt? A commercial with only two spoken words, and one is an expletive?

I could see how perhaps a marketing manager trying to establish themselves as a whiz kid could have greenlighted this, but I’m more intrigued on how corporate approved the tact.

Then again…maybe the above is best answered when the “Why?” is answered. The use of the expletive means it was never going to make broadcast television. The subject matter – suicide – is nowhere near “safe.”

The answer to “why?” is the old dictum that if no one’s talking about you, you don’t exist. And to get some talk, some buzz, you create an objectionable video with profanity and get people to comment on it. Sure, it will never be on NBC, but will it be shared or watched online out of pure curiosity? Will you watch it? More views, which make other people comment on it. I have never looked at a Heineken ad on YouTube. So if you accept the rules of the game – and many brand stewards will not – you can see how this is a successful campaign.

Related tags: advertising • buzz • Social Media • strategy

---