Maybe it’s just me, but I never quite understood the Toyota campaign advertising them as “everyday,” with Sly & the Family Stone’s “Everydate People” as the theme. To me, at least, describing something as “everyday” implies that it’s plain, ordinary, utilitarian or (dare I make this pun?) pedestrian. Is this really how you want people to view your cars?
Am I the only one who thought this? :dubious:
As I remember, the Campbell Soup Company had a similar problem when it introduced a product called Soup For One, because people didn’t like to be reminded that they were single.
This is similar to the Taco Bell chihuahua (Yo quiero Taco Bell). While it was one of the most popular ad campaigns of the decade, Taco Bell’s sales actually declined during its run. Shows that it is possible to create an iconic and wildly popular marketing campaign that does nothing to boost the sales of the actual product you are advertising. Taco Bells sales began to increase as soon as they dropped the dog and focused their ads on the actual food they sell and their low menu prices.
Maybe. For me, the connotation it’s getting across is that Toyota is a working man’s vehicle. Toyota’s not selling high-end luxury cars or SUVs; they’re selling reasonably priced cars and trucks that will get you where you need to go inexpensively and reliably, something you can use for everyday work. Some people don’t need high-class, fancy stuff; hitting the utilitarian, point A-to-point B market isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Nissan had a similar problem with the “doll” commercial. Everybody loved it, but nobody bought their cars.
Well to be fair to the puppy, at the time Taco Hell started this promotion TH served breakfast. A damn good fast food breakfast I might add. Now one odd ball thing about TH’s breakfasts, they had lots of 24 hour operations, but did not serve breakfast until 6 AM. So if I left my house at 5:45 I could not get breakfast from TH. :rolleyes:. Then about 1/2 way through the campaign, TH stopped serving breakfast. They then killed the campaign because their sales went down. Gee you restricted your customer’s choices, and you wonder why your sales went down? Hint dude it wasn’t the dog.
Hong Kong had to change its tourism slogan from “Hong Kong will take your breath away” to “there’s no place like Hong Kong” after the SARS outbreak.
In regards to interpretations of commercials (as opposed to ‘bloopers’), the message I get from the past couple of years worth of Apple computer ads is this:
Kids use Apple computers
Professionals, even dorky ones, use Wintel computers
Ditto on Dodge’s continued use (for years) of the song clip “hit it.”
I remember thinking, “Who approved that, the Insurance Underwriters of America?”
Another ad which ran briefly was one for one of the OTC yeast infection treatments. The commercial went through the usual spiel about how wonderful the product was, while a woman sat on her couch reading the pamphlet that came with the stuff. At the very end of the commercial, you see her putting on a surgical glove! WTF? I mean, I suppose that’s what you use for that treatment, but who would check the stuff out and then “suit up” in their living room? Apparently, it bothered other people as well, because they soon clipped that section off the commercial.
No the body shops.
This wasn’t so much a blunder as bad luck, but I believe Snapple had to hastily recall their “Bali Blast” flavor after the2002 terrorist attacks in Bali.
Speaking of Snapple, their sales went into a steep decline after they ditched Wendy in their ads.
The message I get is that Apple is the computer for smug, pretentious jerks. I wonder if Apple has any clue that those commercials reinforce all the negative stereotypes about Mac users.
Hey, now. I’m holding a copy in my hands, bought when I was in middle or high school.
I have a hard time believing that. Let’s say they had 1 million pennies. Each penny weighs 2.5 g , so a million weigh 2,500,000 grams or 2,500 kg, or about 5,512 lb. This amounts to about 36 people weighing 150 lb each. If loads of that order of magnitude brought down a building, I would be surprised.
I just want to add, that this was not a one time thing with the Readers Digest. They sent pennies out for years. When I was a kid, I used to peel them off to add to my spending money.
Well there was the McDonald’s promotion that didn’t go as planned thanks to kids at CalTech. You may recall a similar shem in the movie Real Genius.
That never occurred to me until now. :o