El Gaffney

Super Bowl Ads: Upon Further Review

The call in the first post stand: Pretty much even with last year…which is not a good thing.

Now having been able to re-watch last night’s ads, read some reviews, engage in (limited) conversations, and most importantly awaken from my food+beverage coma, I will report on the day after. Firstly, you may have noticed that above I said convos were limited. Surprisingly, few people at the advertising agency were talking about the commercials today. There were a few mentions of the Coca-Cola work (which I should have mentioned we do here at Wieden in the last post) as well as a bit of debate on the CareerBuilder stuff, which our Portland office does too. As much as I’d like to delve into that one alone, I’m going to hold my tongue as a relatively new guy because I don’t want to be forced to use CB! (I will say that the site is more interesting and would be interested to hear your take on the 4 spots. Do you think the right two were selected?)

Anyway, we weren’t talking about the ads. We were talking about the game. Yes, living in New York had a big impact; however, we’re still at an ad agency (with spots in the game). So if we were talking about the Giants and Patriots in this creative space, it’s probably a safe bet that the cooler talk elsewhere was less about the commercials this year. The point: Context matters. Because the game was actually really good, the spots got less of the spotlight.

Context also matters for each individual viewer. What the previous post should show is how personal reactions can be. Two of the most memorable spots for me (the two about which I chose to blog) were too of the least talked about spots this year. Not particularly positive or negative reactions. A look at the more quantitative measures (the ad polls) shows a variety of results. They are, however, consistent in the number one: Dalmatian training a Clydesdale for Budweiser.

Yet this point should not discount the group setting in which most Super Bowl viewing takes place, and the (not always explicit or obvious) impact that has on each ad’s likability. Groups tend to reach a sort of consensus. Think about your reviews today. Was there any ad you had a change of heart on? (Heart stays in body with change.) Even if you held the minority opinion in the living room, you can start fresh with the consensus viewpoint and have a better chance of having something in common/avoiding a debate today. I’m sure you’re not that easily swayed and you have a spine (just not a heart—check your boss’ office); I’m just suggesting it’s possible you left the party thinking that Life Water wasted its money because Naomi is the worst even if you thought lizards dancing to Thriller was pretty cute.

But the most interesting thing I saw today has to be this advertising review by the Miller High Life guy. He definitely tells it like it is and is more truly the voice of the average viewer.

Crazy props on the turnaround time. If Saatchi & Saatchi did create it, though, it’s a little sneaky (read as: wack) to hype its own Tide spot.

Tags: agency, superbowl, wk

Holiday Sweater Fridizzle

I couldn’t think of a better way to say “Happy Holidays”. Even with all the help from agencies like R/GA and corporations like Puma. So hopefully this picture is worth at least those two words.

I won in the category Best Incorporation of an Animal. I was the CATegory. Enjoy the kittens peeking out from behind the present as I walk up to accept my prize—Ozzy Goes to Hollywood on VHS.
Thanks again to Annie for the gear.

Tags: fashion, holidays, office, wk

Working at Wieden

I never made a formal announcement because I told the 15 of you who read this at least somewhat regularly in-person. However, given that every once in a while Google Analytics shows me that someone from another part of the globe drops in (on?), it behooves me (yes, behooves—I’m always jealous when other people get to use that word , so even if there’s a better verb here, I’m going with behooves) to post to the world that:

(1) I now work at Wieden + Kennedy. (Day 12)
(2a) The nonsense expressed here is all me baby.
(2b) Neither Wieden nor Kennedy know I have a blog. (But a few AE’s do)
(3) Just rounding the list out with a number 3, so it looks prettier and officialier.

I’m working mostly on ESPN. You’ve probably already realized a bit of an increase in sports-related posts. And this trend will likely continue as the job requirement to “be even more of a sports fan” is one I’ve been gladly fulfilling.

Finally, for the many of you who aren’t in the industry, definitely go check out the agency’s site. But let me highlight a few things of the things (in addition to the kick ass work on ESPN – I’m saying that as a pre-job fan) that drew and now continue to draw me to this place:

Coca-Cola and Nike and Honda. London’s blog and holiday card (well actually it’s not PC in that regard; it’s a Christmas card). Portland’s school, and the fact that they get involved with things like Ignite Portland, the premise of which is this: “If you had five minutes on stage what would you say? What if you only got 20 slides and they rotated automatically after 15 seconds?” (You can see videos of the presentations here)

But just like any place, it’s all about the people. They are some of the most creative people I know and have done some of the work I admire, yet they’re all approachable and importantly not territorial. In 13 days, I’ve concepted with a writer, brainstormed with digital media, written briefs, and played pipeball (more on that See for yourself below where I’ve embedded a video of some of the guys I work with (in our offices at the start):

Be hooves.

Tags: jobs, planning, wk

Inbox of Immaturity

It’s been a while since you got your fill. The theme of the past two weeks was clearly throwback tracks and flicks. Here are the things that flooded my inbox, IM, and message board from friends.

First, this Duran Duran Rio seems like a bit of rebelling against the end of summer unless he started here with this Bruce Campbell Duran Duran cover for Old Spice and worked his way back.

Regardless, I don’t know what kind of search led to this Swayze number but it could have led in two directions – Hasselhoff eating a cheeseburger off the ground or late 80s-early 90s movies around the time of Ghost’s release. I’m happy to inform that in this case, the road less traveled was coming to America – watch and let your Soul Glo and the state of Johnny Utah – see Point Break Live

And though the final numbers may seem a bit random—The Aliens Robot Man and Night Ranger Sister Christian—well, they are random. Enjoy.

Tags: ioi, movies, oldspice, wk