From time to time, all of us would love to indulge on fast food. Even though most people say, “they aren’t good for you,” all of us still splurge our savings into greasy burgers, carbohydrate-filled pizzas and fried chicken. Who doesn’t love fried chicken? If you are not a vegetarian, you are going to love this; the Double Down is coming back to Canada! 

Two juicy chicken fillets with crisp bacon strips and Monterey jack cheese smacked in between. It’s hardly what one would call a sandwich or a burger, it’s much more, sodium wise. Since the release of this limited time sandwich in 2010, critiques have raged about how much sodium it contains. In just one Double Down sandwich, it packs 1,740 mg[1] of sodium, which is close to the recommended average of 2,300 mg.[2] In Vincent’s post regarding McDonald offering books with their greasy burgers, KFC instead chose to respond to the critiques by addressing the problem, instead of avoiding it. The new double down now contains less sodium of 1570 mg[3]. It doesn’t seem like a large reduction and still packs a punch to your heart. However, is it worth it to experience this chicken sensation? It is up to you to decide. If you end up having heartburn, don’t call me, call your doctor.

Not all commercials are equal. We can tell when some commercials have more impact than others. However, what happens after your advertisement campaign becomes a success? Success is not something that lasts forever. Songs that are number one don’t stay number one forever. Superbowl commercials were a hot topic a few weeks ago, but now, you rarely hear people talking about them. As human beings, we are often looking out for new things and tend to get bored of the old. The problem is, how to you make people hyped up over the old again? Good thing creativity never stops. Most people have either seen or heard about their highly successful Old Spice “smell like a man” commercials. To expand on the success of that campaign, P & G merged two products into one commercial.

Similar to Céline Grootes‘ post about Blackberry’s advertisement with a “Blackberry” destroying (an) “Apple,” the old spice man interrupts a Bounce commercial resulting in both products being advertised in the same commercial. Except in this commercial, the spokesperson for each product is complimenting each other. Personally, it seemed like a highly desperate attempt to add life back to an aging marketing campaign. An advertisement for a laundry product does not seem exciting at all. They usually involves someone narrating the features of the product and how well it integrates into their everyday lives. However, in this commercial, P & G decides to intrigue the audience by adding a humorous spin. It is not easy to come up with new ideas to top the success of the original Old Spice commercial.

Bounce & Old Spice Commercial

References:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/adhocracy/we-interrupt-this-ad-to-bring-you-another-ad/article2363316/

Whenever we turn on a T.V., most of us dread seeing commercials. However, when the Super Bowl is on, it is a whole different ballpark. Not everyone is a die hard sports fan. It is the commercials that keeps us from touching the remote. Instead of flipping channels whenever commercials pop up, our eyes are glued to the T.V. to see what crafty marketers came up with this year. Who doesn’t like Super Bowl commercials? They are funny, creative and well planned. Corporations spend millions on perfecting their commercials.  Sure, some are corny, cheesy or awkward, but in the end, we are all entertained. However, who came up with the idea of these fantastic commercials? We all know who stars in them, one glance at the Century21 Real Estate advertisement and you know Donald Trump is in it, but who wrote that script?

It doesn’t matter whether the ad is good or bad, we will always remember it by the actors. Corporations spend millions hiring actors that represent their brand image. For example, in Kelly Kan’s blog, when you see a Blackberry advertisement, you see a businessman such as George Clooney in a business suit.  However, eople in the background are always discredited for their work. We only care for what we see in front of us. The genius writers who came up with the idea never achieve the same stardom as actors in the script. Next time when you watch a television ad, think about the genius behind it, not the good looking person in it.

References:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/that-ad-was-funny-but-will-you-remember-who-made-it/article2328725/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/the-5-best-super-bowl-commercials-and-the-2-worst/article2327592/

When you are at a food court, what influences your decision? Would you choose to dine at McDonalds or Burger King? Both companies want your business and would do whatever it has to for you to buy a Big Mac or a Whopper. That’s why countless dollars have been spent on marketing campaigns and promotion to get you to buy their burgers. Burger companies can’t really differentiate themselves in an extreme way. They could add a special sauce, change the style of the bun or add an extra patty, but at the end of the day, it is just a patty covered by a bun. Instead of focusing on burger differentiation, a fast food chain in South Africa is differentiating their menu. At all of their locations, Wimpy South Africa carries Braille menus. In order to spread the word, the chefs at Wimpy created 15 special burgers. The sesame seeds on top of the bun were placed carefully with tweezers and arranged to form words in Braille. The words reveal messages about the contents of the burger such as “100% pure beef burger.” The burgers were given to 15 people in local organizations for the blind. The campaign was proven to be a success. It captivated the attention of the media spreading the campaign all around the world to places such as Canada. Since the release of their campaign video 2 days ago, there have been over 250,000 hits. Next time you get a chance to eat a burger, try to see if you could feel the difference!

Sources Used:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/south-african-chain-reaches-out-to-visually-impaired-with-braille-burgers/article2302313/

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/weird-wide-web/wimpy-braille-burger-south-africa-sesame-seeds-blind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YAchE0-o-o