Regional commercials by national corporations

[Dignan]

A relative of mine that lives on the east coast really liked the Budweiser commercials where the guys would all address each other with, "how ya' doin?" (I think that was the line.) Then there was a similar commercial where the rube from the country takes the guys' greeting seriously and goes on and on about how everything is going and what a big airport they have.

However, there was a third that I saw a couple of times (in the midwest) which my relative never saw (on the east coast). The same "how ya doin'?" guys are in the commercial, and one asks, "Didja take care-a that thing?" He says yeah, or just a second, and calls another guy and asks the same thing, that guy calls another guy, says the same thing, etc. Eventually it all comes back to the guy that started the chain. Was this just a regional thing?

A teacher of mine also said that a Pace picante sauce commercial never aired on the east coast, because the punch line was that the picante sauce was made in "NEW YORK CITY?!" He claimed that it didn't air on the east coast, because, for east coasters, what's wrong with NYC? Don't know if that's true or not.

Anyway, are there any commercials in your area that aren't related to local business or local figures that are run by national mega-companies that aren't run in other parts of the country? I realize that this question will probably only apply to people that travel a lot, have moved recently, or otherwise have some contact with someone in another part of the country.

[Redsland]

Adman here.

I have no specific knowledge of the Anheuser-Busch account or the Pace account, so I can't answer the question of whether these were regional spots or national ones.

However, when a company has the kind of marketing budget that Anheuser-Busch has, it's not usual for the company to create regional messages. Regionalization can be very effective, but it's also very expensive. The media dollars stay the same either way, but each regional spot you make has to be written, cast, shot, produced, etc., etc., which drives the total cost of the campaign way up.

I suspect that Pace does not have the wherewithal to run a separate "East Coast" spot. In fact I'd argue against it even if they could afford the spot. (Regardless of whether people have a positive opinion of NYC, I suspect most would agree that Texas is to picante sauce as NYC is to marinara.)

If Pace wasn't running TV in the east, then more likely another factor is to blame, like distribution.

[RealityChuck]

Originally Posted by Dignan

A teacher of mine also said that a Pace picante sauce commercial never aired on the east coast, because the punch line was that the picante sauce was made in "NEW YORK CITY?!" He claimed that it didn't air on the east coast, because, for east coasters, what's wrong with NYC? Don't know if that's true or not.

Well, it ran in New York state, and probably in NYC itself. The point of the commercial wasn't insulting to New Yorkers, since the point was that a southwestern food is more authentic if it's made in the southwest.

It would be the same thing if someone was making bagels in Texas. Or if Woody Allen played a character named "Tex.*"







(*Actually, he did, in the criminally overlooked comedy Picking Up the Pieces)

[ftg]

This was back in the early 80s, IIRC. A national chain of radio stations had this young woman with Big Brown Eyes talking about how her favorite music was played by their local station. Of course, the format of the station varied from city to city. So in some places it was "soft rock", others oldies, and sometimes country music was her thing. Sincere to the max!

[Max Torque]

There are a lot of ads on TV and radio down here that play to what I like to call "Texan arrogance". See, Texans are very proud, some would say to a fault, of Texas and their Texan-hood, and ads play to that. Thus, we have Pizza Hut showing "Texas Knows Best" commercials, jingles that say "Ford and Texas go hand-in-hand", and the like.

I'm sure fellow Texans can think of more examples.

[angelicate]

Originally Posted by Max Torque

There are a lot of ads on TV and radio down here that play to what I like to call "Texan arrogance". See, Texans are very proud, some would say to a fault, of Texas and their Texan-hood, and ads play to that. Thus, we have Pizza Hut showing "Texas Knows Best" commercials, jingles that say "Ford and Texas go hand-in-hand", and the like.

I'm sure fellow Texans can think of more examples.

Oh yeah, I never realized it until I moved out of Texas and went back for visits. I don't hear any "Ford is the best in Virginia!" commercials here, but in Texas it seems like every commercial has to throw in "Texas" somewhere.

[dalej42]

I think ESPN did a series of commercials which showed a guy and a girl making out with each other. Each was wearing two rival college sweatshirts. In Ohio, they showed Ohio State and Michigan.

How I HATED that commercial..they'd show thirty of seconds of a "Get a room" type makeout scene and then show, "If it wasn't for sports, this would be disgusting."