Advertising Tricks of the Trade…

I always love when a fast food or restaurant chain commercial comes on TV. It is really such a true disconnect from reality in most cases, but it is great to see how well these marketers are able to position their products and services. I think that they are the best of the bunch in creating a value and emotion out of some French fries.

I remember growing up when my dad was running an ad agency in Chicago. He had clients like McDonalds, Jack in the Box, and Mr. Pibb. It was fun to see the creative work they put together to market to consumers and position themselves. I am sure some of my dad’s ideas are still in the commercials we see today, for good or bad.

My dad’s agency even designed the McDonalds flag, which of course seems pretty simple now, but it probably took many meetings with the client and focus groups with picky consumers.

Anyway, I remember when my dad was working with one of the fast food companies, It was either Browns Chicken or Jack in the Box, and the CEO insisted that all the food in the commercials and print ads were real. They would have to run down to the local franchise and buy the food and then bring it back and try and make it look good.

As I am sure you are aware, this undertaking was a challenge, and after thousands of dollars wasted in production costs, they finally came up with something that worked for the market, while not compromising the integrity of the CEO. I think what they ended up doing was just showing a box of the food, rather than the actual cooked food.

I found this posting that someone had put together that shows the marketing version of fast food and then the actual version. You can see what my dad was up against in these photos. It is hard to be a marketer, but even harder to be a consumer.

Character Is Who You Are When No One Is Looking...

This is a story from the Norwegian newspaper VG, the biggest newspaper in the country, from today's edition. A blogger translated the story and posted on his blog... I have reposted here because I thought this story was really cool. I 100% believe it for many reasons, but the most important is Norwegians seem like the kind of people who really wouldn't bullshit.

Not that these things matter in today's dog-eat-dog world, but I found it quite touching, and I want to share. I think that this is a story that some may be interested in hearing. If you're not interested, cork it. I've translated the story into English and am posting it here. The original, in Norwegian, is here.

Mary lacked money to fly home to Norway – he saved her love

ÅSGÅRDSTRAND (VG): Mary was a newlywed and ready to move to Norway, but was stopped at the airport because she didn’t have enough money for the trip. Then a stranger turned up and paid for her.

Mary Menth Andersen was 31 years old at the time and had just married Norwegian Dag Andersen. She was looking forward to starting a new life in Åsgårdstrand in Vestfold with him. But first she had to get all of her belongings across to Norway. The date was November 2nd, 1988. At the airport in Miami things were hectic as usual, with long lines at the check-in counters. When it was finally Mary’s turn and she had placed her luggage on the baggage line, she got the message that would crush her bubbling feeling of happiness.

-You’ll have to pay a 103 dollar surcharge if you want to bring both those suitcases to Norway, the man behind the counter said. Mary had no money. Her new husband had travelled ahead of her to Norway, and she had no one else to call.
-I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most prized possessions, says Mary.

Although she explained the situation to the man behind the counter, he showed no signs of mercy.
-I started to cry, tears were pouring down my face and I had no idea what to do. Then I heard a gentle and friendly voice behind me saying, That’s OK, I’ll pay for her. Mary turned around to see a tall man whom she had never seen before.
-He had a gentle and kind voice that was still firm and decisive. The first thing I thought was, Who is this man?
Although this happened 20 years ago, Mary still remembers the authority that radiated from the man.
-He was nicely dressed, fashionably dressed with brown leather shoes, a cotton shirt open at the throat and khaki pants, says Mary. She was thrilled to be able to bring both her suitcases to Norway and assured the stranger that he would get his money back. The man wrote his name and address on a piece of paper that he gave to Mary. She thanked him repeatedly. When she finally walked off towards the security checkpoint, he waved goodbye to her.

The piece of paper said ‘Barack Obama’ and his address in Kansas, which is the state where his mother comes from. Mary carried the slip of paper around in her wallet for years, before it was thrown out.
-He was my knight in shining armor, says Mary, smiling. She paid the 103 dollars back to Obama the day after she arrived in Norway. At that time he had just finished his job as a poorly paid community worker in Chicago, and had started his law studies at prestigious Harvard university.

In the spring of 2006 Mary’s parents had heard that Obama was considering a run for president, but that he had still not decided. They chose to write a letter in which they told him that he would receive their votes. At the same time, they thanked Obama for helping their daughter 18 years earlier.

In a letter to Mary’s parents dated May 4th, 2006 and stamped ‘United States Senate, Washington DC’, Barack Obama writes: ‘I want to thank you for the lovely things you wrote about me and for reminding me of what happened at Miami airport. I’m happy I could help back then, and I’m delighted to hear that your daughter is happy in Norway. Please send her my best wishes. Sincerely, Barack Obama, United States Senator’. The parents sent the letter on to Mary.

This week VG met her and her husband in the café that she runs with her friend Lisbeth Tollefsrud in Åsgårdstrand.
-It’s amazing to think that the man who helped me 20 years ago may now become the next US president, says Mary delightedly. She has already voted for Obama. She recently donated 100 dollars to his campaign.
She often tells the story from Miami airport, both when race issues are raised and when the conversation turns to the presidential elections.
-I sincerely hope the Americans will see reason and understand that Obama means change, says Mary.

And here she is with her husband and the letter.

This is not a big or important story. But it is a nice story and if one is voting for a person, and not just for a political platform, it might be interesting to hear it. Somehow I don't see this story being covered in American media much, so let's count this as one blogger's contribution to the news coverage of the 2008 election. :-)

Dryver's 1st Grade

Tell me you don't love the missing teeth. I love when Dryver tries to eat Corn on the Cob, it is funny. He loves to eat and spends so much time trying to eat every little bit. What a great kid!

Subliminal Login?

Sitting and waiting for my flight to Los Angeles this morning in the Red Carpet Club at Dulles. I decide to get some work done as my flight is running late, again. I start-up my laptop and fire up Firefox.

I can see the wireless has hooked-up to T-Mobile, as they have a wi-fi deal with United Airlines. The login screen loads up and I am about to login, but I get this strange feeling that I am doing something wrong. Almost something naughty. I check to make sure my pants are zipped up, yup, everything okay.


Why do I have this feeling all of a sudden? Then it comes to me, the photo up at the right hand corner of the login screen. What are those two up to? ‘Stick Together’ – what does that mean?

Humm, all I know is I feel dirty, and it is still only 7am.

What a Zoo!

I was waiting for my train in NY today and sitting in the Acela Lounge. They had the Anna Nicole Smith trial on the TV in the corner of the lounge area. Somehow I was attracted to the television and could not get away. I almost missed my train. It was unbelievable. It was amazing. If you can watch it, you need to tune in, it is an event of the century.

I seriously don’t think they could script a better show. I saw Howard K. Stern, no relationship to Howard A. Stern the King of All Media, and they were grilling him. The judge was yelling at him. The judge was yelling at the 10+ lawyers in the room. It was a real circus. and I was blown away by what I saw. I swear you would never see this type of drama even on prime time television.

You gotta watch this if you can. I remember when I was younger working at IRI in Chicago and we would listen to the OJ trial on the radio. We had a lady that worked there that seemed to listen to the trial for a living. She would sit in her office with the lights off and relax. It was great as a younger worker to know there was no stress.

So this trial seems to be shaping up to be even more of a zoo. They are talking about the many drugs that Anna Nicole Smith was taking, including Methadone and HydroMorphine. They are asking Howard K. Stern (her lawyer) about faxes he sent for her will right before she died. The many drugs she was taking and the many doctors she was going to see. Asking about checks that he wrote on her account for $7,200 each.

This is amazing stuff to watch. You gotta watch this!