Your dying relatives are a treasure chest!
Companies offering cash for gold are usually not the most tasteful advertisers. Still, this may be the first commercial of its kind to advocate yanking Grandma's fillings out with pliers before she has even keeled over. "No wonder people hate advertising," writes the guy who sent us the spot. But actually, these ads are even worse when they're played straight. |
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Tim...
Actually, I think this ad is great! It's a tacky business to begin with, and I think that the advertiser has done a good job of making a low-cost spot that gets the point across quickly, while having a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun.
If the minimum point of TV Advertising (and advertising in general) is to make the consumer audience aware of your product or service, then I would say Cash For Gold USA has succeeded.
People hate advertising because a) it is expensive and b) it has such a limited return on investment, usually because the campaign has been mismanaged from the get-go and poorly targeted. The advertiser gets limited response, frustration ensues, and more money either gets thrown down the proverbial rathole OR they give up altogether (we could go on all day...)
I think the buying public hates it because it is often perceived as being disingenous, and it's certainly intrusive.
With this particular ad, you've got an advertiser who is willing to make fun of themselves in order to get a point across in :30. It's obviously light on production value, which means they had more money to buy the stuff that matters: air time. It's just outlandish enough that you'll remember their name (I know I will).
Maybe I've just got a sick sense of humor or a messed-up world view, but I think whoever did the creative on this more than did their job. It's not sexy, and it's definitely crass, but again, if the point of advertising is to stand out and to get people to remember your name, they've aced it.
The only other point I'll make is that something like this is viral video gold. As soon as I saw it, I laughed like a maniac and thought "OMG! I have GOT to share this on MySpace. Oh! It's too good to waste on just one friend... better send a bulletin". (and yes, I sound like a bad 80's Valley Girl when I think to myself. And no, I'm not sure I meant the pun.)
All of that said, I would never EVER try to play this one straight. EVER. E-V-E-R.
Ok enough rambling! Thanks for letting me take up some real estate here on your blog and thanks for sharing this ad.
Posted by: Andrea | Aug 19, 2008 4:48:16 PM
It's not a real ad. It's fake. It's called spec. Does adweek not know ad terms like spec? It seems not by all the fake work that's posted and written about.
Posted by: Doug | Aug 20, 2008 10:17:12 AM
It's posted on the company's web site, Doug.
Posted by: Tim Nudd | Aug 20, 2008 10:23:04 AM
Dude, really with the companies doing payday loans, snake oil, Pyramid Schemes and Rent to Own Scams...i dont wanna know what will be next, the removing gold fillings may very well be next LOL
Posted by: glenn | Aug 20, 2008 3:40:11 PM
Is it me, or does is sound (more like read) like Andrea works for cash for gold company. Hell, she may even be one of the actresses in the commercial. The point of advertising is not for someone to remember the name of the company. The point is to sell a good or service.
Honestly, if this is award winning work, then what are local car ads. Those ads are definitely not sexy and are very crass. Viral gold. I think not.
Posted by: Adam | Aug 21, 2008 9:17:45 AM
