Month: September 2010

Last week I was shown the video below by a friend.  It is a compilation of a set of commercial ran to advertise Panda cheese.  These commercials go to show how humor can have a place in advertising if used properly.  I think the level of popularity that this video, and similar videos that use humor in their advertisements (such as the current Old Spice campaign), is a testament to the power of comedy in gaining the attention of the population, and developing a high level of brand recognition in a very positive way.  Any one of my group of friends could see an image of that Panda in an obscure advertisement and immediately be able to tell you it is the Panda Cheese panda.  Because I find this video so entertaining, I’ve been sharing it with people around me, all the while not realizing that I am acting as a means for the company to spread their name and image.  If your commercials are so funny and entertaining that people take the time to spread awareness of them on their own behalf, then I get the feeling your advertisement plan is on the right track.

Here’s the video.  They won’t let you embed this video, so booerns to that.  I promise it isn’t a rick roll.  This time…

The other day I ran across an article which namely took a stab at hipsters, equating them with the death of originality and cultural growth in North America.  Personally, I’m indifferent to hipsters; wear what you want, I could care less.  There was one part of the article I found interesting, where the writer commented on the effect that corporate marketing has on the path of cultural evolution for particular groups.  I found this passage particular revealing.  It’s well known that advertising and marketing can effect the growth of style, a major identifying factor of particular social groups, but it also made me think about the more subtle effects this can take on.  For instance, with the development of 3D technology for major movies, someone along the chain of command thought it would be prudent to update 3D glasses that people wear at the theatre.  Because of this redevelopment of 3D glasses into a more modern, ‘trendier’ look, these glasses were adopted by particular groups, with the lenses popped out, and adopted into their daily style.  Who would have seen that coming?

This is a link to the article if you have a few minutes to kill.  It’s actually a very good read.  https://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html?page=68&worsethanyouthought