Month: February 2011

According to a recent  post on AdFreak, the Doritos “Pug Attack” commercial – along with Bud Light’s “Dogsitter” – triumphed as the best commercial of Superbowl XLV. As can be seen above, “Pug Attack” relies on three key elements to grab viewers’ attention: ridiculous overacting, dramatic music and the undeniable power of Pug Cuteness. The commercial’s simplistic humor is endearing, but I don’t find it particularly interesting or groundbreaking.

But Doritos has since won me over. Not with an adorable animal = likable product advertising scheme, but rather with a weird one. Every time I turned on the TV last week, it seemed I was watching the following commercial.  Even if my mind was elsewhere – say, considering possible topics for my next marketing blog post – it inevitably caught my attention with its inexplicable French dialogue.

This commercial is so weird. I love it! Every detail accentuates the weirdness, from the strange, cubic containers that each conceal a single Doritos chip to to the sweat peppering the nervous inventor’s face. Rarely do I get this excited over a simple commercial, but that’s the point: unlike the Doritos Superbowl ad, this commercial is anything but simple. It is unique, creative and engages the audience’s attitudes on every level. Behaviorally, I’m incited to explore the contest’s website and contribute my own outlandish entry, while cognitively I’m inclined to think of Doritos as a brand that is innovative – they’ve proposed two previously unheard of flavors, Buffalo Wings N’ Ranch and Onion Rings N’ Ketchup – and cares about the input of its customers. As my excited reaction attests, I also feel more positively about Doritos – a product I was previously apathetic toward.

“That’s so silly,” was my mom’s disparaging comment upon glancing at the following commercial for Electronic Arts’ Dead Space 2.

Initially, I agreed with my mom’s assessment. It wasn’t until I read the Dead Space-related post on Victoria Capron’s blog that I reconsidered my opinion from a marketing standpoint. The commercial is undoubtedly silly; the appalled reactions of real-life mothers (200 of whom participated in EA-sponsored focus-group sessions) are juxtaposed with violent, cringe-inducing footage from the game. The promotional website highlighted in the ad – appropriately titled yourmomhatesthis.com – emphasizes the game’s Mature rating, which it garnered due to excessive “blood and gore, intense violence and strong language.”

So, as a woman in the commercial asks, “Why would they even make something like this?” The ad appears to be targeting teenagers and tweens, for whom parental outrage – and associative products that are “too cool” for the older generation to grasp – can be an appealing prospect. However, with its 17+ rating, the game is being marketed to a demographic that can’t legally purchase it. Additionally, the commercial is only shown in the evening, when viewership among kids is low. Therefore, there is a discrepancy between the ad’s apparent target market and those who will view the commercial and legally purchase the game.

Perhaps, as Victoria pointed out in her blog post, Electronic Arts is betting on children influencing the purchasing decision of their parents. But maybe Electronic Arts could better – or, at least, more accurately – market Dead Space 2 by promoting the game’s overwhelmingly positive reviews, rather than relying on shock value and hype to attract young buyers.