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On this day in 1970, President Nixon signed a bill limiting cigarette advertisements on TV and radio. Nixon, who was an avid pipe smoker, indulging in as many as eight bowls a day, supported the legislation at the urging of public health advocates. There had been warnings about the dangers of smoking as far back as 1939, and by the end of the 1950s, all states had laws banning the sale of cigarettes to minors. In 1964, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) agreed that advertisers had a responsibility to warn the public of the health hazards of cigarette smoking.
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In an attempt to reassure consumers that drinking sugary, carbonated beverages is a-okay, Coca-Cola has released two new commercials highlighting the ways the company is helping to reduce obesity. ”Across our portfolio of over 650 beverages, we now offer over 180 low- and no-calorie choices,” says the narrator of one commercial, titled “Come Together.” The ad goes on to say that calories from soda are no different than any other calories we put into our bodies every day, and suggests that it’s the consumer’s responsibility to burn off what he or she takes in.
A second commercial says a can of Coke contains 140 “happy” calories that can be spent doing “happy” things, like walking your dog and laughing out loud.
(Source: theweek.com)
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Honda has designed the Fit She’s, “the only car model aimed exclusively at women.” The designers took a regular Honda Fit and made it “adult cute.” The seats, steering wheel, and floor mats are all stitched in pink, and the apostrophe in “She’s” is shaped like a heart. Wrinkles, be gone: A special windshield cuts ultraviolet rays, and the AC unit allegedly improves the driver’s skin quality.
7 patronizing for-women-only products
(Source: theweek.com)
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In the first half of a new commercial from Luvs Diapers, a frazzled first-time mom sits alone in a restaurant, struggling to breastfeed her son under a blanket so as not to offend her fellow patrons. Cut to the second half of the clip, and a slightly older and wiser mom is in the same restaurant, this time breastfeeding her second baby in plain view while her firstborn, now a few years older, sits beside her. The shocked waiter can’t take his eyes off the woman’s chest, but the cool-headed and confident mom handles it like a pro, pointing to her face and saying, “Hey, up here.”
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Pizza Hut Malaysia is offering a “squirting crust” pizza that oozes a “burst of garlic Napoli sauce and cheese” after every bite. Even more bizarre than the messy pie is the ad promoting it, which chronicles every girl’s dream: Getting engaged at the local Pizza Hut after biting into a gushing piece of experimental pizza.
Don’t worry, there’s more where that came from. 6 strange Pizza Hut ads from around the world
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“I feel I must complain in the strongest terms about the sexism of this item. Where are the ‘For Him’ pens? How can I embrace my masculinity, when there is no pen for me? Am I destined to just watch all of the women around me falling into a sparkly dream of ponies, crochet and butterflies, while I pace angrily here, unable to access the manly world of construction vehicles, barbeques, motor racing, and science? I can barely adjust my crotch, I am so angry. Make pens For Him. Strong pens. Manly pens. Pens that dress on the right. Pens with good grips for masculine hands. MANPENS!”
In case you missed it: Some marketing genius at BIC decided that women, too delicate to grip standard BIC pens, needed a writing utensil designed specifically for their tiny, fragile hands.
Here, a roundup of the best joke-laden product reviews
(Source: theweek.com)
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Facebook is launching a new type of mobile advertising that targets consumers based on the apps they use, pushing the limits of how companies track what people do on their phones.
—Shayndi Raice at The Wall Street Journal
Is this a smart way to make mobile advertising profitable? Or is it too invasive?
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Dudepins… bro
Pinterest… for guys? That’s the premise behind the sudden rise of guy-centric pinning sites with names like Dudepins, Manteresting, PunchPin, and DartIt Up, which are all vying to be the manliest alternative to Pinterest.The glut of dude-centric Pinterest clones: A guide
(Source: theweek.com)
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Nabisco’s proudly gay oreo
Nabisco’s polarizing advertisement of a rainbow cream oreo — which says, in part, “Proudly support love!” — received some 220,000 likes and over 36,000 comments on Facebook, both positive and negative.
Liberal customers are thrilled. Conservative consumers, not so much(Source: theweek.com)
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Science: It’s a girl thing!
The European Union is sponsoring a three-year campaign to encourage young girls to study science and engineering, but a teaser video for the effort has caused feminists — and pretty much everybody else — to erupt in protest.
The video, called Science: It’s a Girl Thing, features young women gyrating and doing “science” while wearing stilettos and short dresses. As the women saunter into view, a male scientist looks up from his microscope, puts on glasses, and leers. Random shots of lipstick flash on screen, interspersed with images of lab equipment and sexy young women casting come-hither looks and doing math. The campaign yanked the video from its website shortly after the wave of criticism hit.
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Walt Disney will no longer carry ads for foods that don’t meet strict requirements for sodium, sugar, and saturated fat content during its children’s programming. The company is the owner of ABC, ABC Family, the Disney Channel, and other TV outlets.
Disney Chairman Robert Iger said the move was part of an effort to combat childhood obesity. First Lady Michelle Obama, appearing with Iger, threw the White House’s support behind the deal, saying it was “truly a game changer for the health of our children.” However, while it’s assumed Disney will lose advertising dollars, Iger insisted that the initiative was also “smart business.”
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When junk email became known as “spam,” Spam the pork-esque product faced “the greatest marketing challenge in its 75-year history.” Eventually, Spam embraced its inner punchline, rolling out an ad campaign with tag lines like “Glorious Spam!” and a mascot called Sir Can-a-Lot.
Result: Spam has thrived. Here, 7 other dramatic rebranding campaigns
