Donny Deutsch gives in, gets a BlackBerry
Until recently, it shouldn't have come as a surprise if Donny Deutsch was late responding to your e-mail. The talk-show host and chairman of the agency that bears his name was a staunch technophobe who shunned the BlackBerry, he told the CMO Executive Summit on Tuesday. But Deutsch recently gave in to the inevitable, after a pretty incredible streak of going without a smartphone. Deutsch admitted he's ambivalent about technology. As a self-described "late adopter," he feels "we're too connected as a society." That's an interesting take from someone in the communications business. But Deutsch is a Big Idea man. He told marketers not to get caught up in all the latest and greatest technology. The fundamentals of marketing, he said, are still about coming up with an "anthemic truth" and plugging in the rest. |
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Published on November 3, 2009 | Permalink
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DirecTV uses only living people in new spot
The DirecTV commercial with Chris Farley (for which David Spade was reportedly paid $200,000) seems to have disappeared from the airwaves, and has been replaced by the Wayne's World 2 spot above with Dana Carvey and Kim Basinger, neither of whom perished years ago from drug abuse. I wouldn't classify this as a famous movie scene. Garth was always an annoying, second-rate character. Still, Basinger is pretty captivating, and overall it's an improvement over the Tommy Boy fiasco. Some people are hard to please, though—like Matthew Kelley, who says he finds the Basinger/Carvey ad "offensive because both their careers are dead." —Posted by Tim Nudd Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on November 2, 2009 | Permalink
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DirecTV's Chris Farley spot just feels wrong
I've generally been a fan of the DirecTV ads by Deutsch with the actors breaking character from classic TV and movie scenes to deliver the pitch. But the series has gotten dicey with the introduction of dead celebs into the mix. Last October, we had the spot with with Craig T. Nelson and Heather O'Rourke from Poltergeist, which was unfortunate, given that O'Rourke (who played Carol Anne) died tragically in 1988 at age 12. Now, a year later (hey, Halloween's coming up again), we get this Tommy Boy homage, with Chris Farley and David Spade. Farley, of course, died of a drug overdose in 1997. The whole dead-celebs thing is a gray area in advertising. Sometimes it seems less off-putting than other times. But you know there's an issue when an ad finishes and you hear audible groans from around the room. UPDATE: Asylum.com procured this statement from David Spade: "When DIRECT TV came to me and the Farley family with this idea about 'Tommy Boy,' we talked and thought it would be a cool way to remind people just how funny Chris was. It is a clever homage to my friend and a movie that we loved doing." Meanwhile, a rep for DirecTV tells Asylum: "We should look to Chris' family and friends for the ultimate opinion on this subject. They were involved from the beginning of this project and felt that the spot was a great to tribute to Chris." —Posted by Tim Nudd Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on October 23, 2009 | Permalink
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Diet Dr Pepper guy just wants you to believe
Since the invention of diet soda, advertisers have tried hard to convince consumers that it tastes just as good without the 10 tablespoons of sugar. The latest to try is Diet Dr Pepper, courtesy of Deutsch, whose whimsical effort harkens back to childhood Claymation specials, which, as you may know by now, normally scare the bejesus out of me. But despite the moving clay, this commercial isn't that frightening, with the notable exception of one trippy part when the Easter Bunny starts shouting out flavors, like he just downed a bag of Jelly Bellys. The spot is actually kinda cute, with all the holiday icons along with Bigfoot and the Tooth Fairy in a therapy group called "I Exist," whining about how no one believes in them. When the Diet Dr Pepper guy shares that he wants people to believe in a good diet soda, they all laugh at him. Of course, remember how heartbroken you were when you found about Santa? You might as well prepare for a similar disappointment if you think diet soda will ever taste like regular. —Posted by Rebecca Cullers See also: |
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Published on September 22, 2009 | Permalink
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CiCi's pizza better than fast-food greasebag
After setting a commercial in a morgue and dropping pennies onto our nation's filthy streets for the hungry masses to collect, CiCi's Pizza turns things around with some decent new ads from Deutsch/LA. A wisecracking spokesbag tells it like it is in a hoarse, Borscht-belt-style delivery that works way better than it should. The bag has a real in-your-face attitude, and it rants so much about beef and pickles and cheese, I was hungry for an Angus 1/3-pounder by the end of the second spot. So, congrats, CiCi's, for the best McDonald's campaign I've seen all year. —Posted by David Gianatasio
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Published on September 17, 2009 | Permalink
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New ads say PlayStation 3 'does everything'Deutsch/LA is back with a new campaign for the Sony PlayStation 3, and it doesn't underpromise. The new tagline is: "It only does everything." There'll be nine spots altogether heading into the holiday season. Here are the first two, promoting the PS3's online capabilities and new $299 price point. They star one of our favorite actors, whale-noise maker Jerry Lambert, last seen brushing off a peeved Dustin Pedroia as "director of game accuracy" for MLB '09: The Show. Lambert is moving up through PlayStation's management food chain. Here, he serves as "director of rumor confirmation" and (a truly enviable position) "vp of enough is enough." |
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Published on August 28, 2009 | Permalink
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New CiCi's Pizza campaign is penny foolish
CiCi's Pizza is dropping a million pennies in streets near its restaurants nationwide as part of a promotion launched by ad shop Deutsch. Patrons who find the specially marked 1-cent pieces win free meals. The big negative, of course, is that you have to eat at CiCi's. I guess no one could afford, or was willing to pay, "five bucks and change," the price-point CiCi's extolled in its ads in November, so the chain drastically lowered the bar. Seriously, there's something a bit crass and mean-spirited about asking consumers to fish pennies out of the gutter for a few slices of pepperoni pie. What if a fight erupts over the tokens and someone winds up in the hospital, or worse? That's a PR debacle just waiting to happen. Worst of all is the imagery of schlubby looking patrons mounting pedestals to celebrate their penny-ante finds. Is that how CiCi's sees its customers? Maybe someone should take those pennies to the chain's corporate HQ and tactfully tell the marketing poobahs exactly where they can spend them. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on March 31, 2009 | Permalink
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PlayStation thinks Dustin Pedroia is a hack
There's so much to enjoy in this new "Dustin vs. PlayStation" campaign by Deutsch for the MLB '09: The Show video game. First, it's got Dustin Pedroia, the unlikely American League MVP and just-as-unlikely pitchman, arguing with the makers of the game over how it's been programmed: namely, that his avatar can't hit the high-and-inside fastball. The Red Sox second baseman insists he can indeed hit it, and he wouldn't be polishing his MVP trophy if he couldn't. Even better: His nemesis in the campaign is PlayStation's "director of game accuracy," played by the hilarious dude from the Holiday Inn commercials—the one who tells his buddies to "bring it down a notch" when they're hassling Joe Buck in the hotel bar, and who later falls asleep in the tanning bed. The PlayStation channel on YouTube currently only has these two spots: the "Dustin vs. PlayStation" ad above and the "Joe the Fan" spot below (possibly starring David Gianatasio in the role of Joe). There are a bunch more on the way. Hopefully the Holiday Inn guy will make whale sounds in at least one of them. |
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Published on March 17, 2009 | Permalink
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Tylenol PM wall-sheep will help you drift offDeutsch is doing some pretty clever projection advertising for Tylenol PM around New York City. The video here, from Flickr users Steve and Sara, shows a parade of sheep bouncing off a "Sleep tight" headline on a blank wall in Brooklyn. The New York Times has a short piece on another execution in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood: The projection there shows a bunch of apartment windows; the closed ones represent Tylenol PM users, while the open ones show people trying like hell to will themselves to sleep. It's a cool idea and effect. The only downside, according to the Times, is the roar of the portable generator needed to run the projector—not itself something conducive to sleep. |
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Published on March 11, 2009 | Permalink
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Deutsch whips out DirecTV's 'Coucha Sutra'
Various studies over the years have suggested that people enjoy watching TV almost as much as they like having sex. Thus, maybe the notion of a "Coucha Sutra" is long overdue. Deutsch L.A. has created just such an instruction manual for DirecTV in a print ad running in the latest Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, which hits newsstands Tuesday. See the full Coucha Sutra ad here. "What is Coucha Sutra?" asks the press release. "Consider it Modern Man’s Kama Sutra. The ancient Indian spiritual text, composed in the 2nd Century AD and famous for its detailed illustrations of human sexual behavior, has been revolutionized by DirecTV to depict the multitude of 'positions' assumed in the most sensual and spiritual of places in our time … the couch." |
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Published on February 9, 2009 | Permalink
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What has Donny Deutsch been up to lately?
It doesn't include any swimsuit pics, but an article about Donny Deutsch in the new issue of Success magazine is revealing in its own way. Among the tidbits: In his current role at Deutsch Inc., he "considers himself more of a 'spiritual leader' " than a "buttoned-up company chairman"; while doling out tough advice to would-be entrepreneurs who watch his CNBC show, The Big Idea, he "believes in being honest, not mean"; his "very specific rituals" include a daily breakfast of six egg whites with American cheese; and he's an "avid runner" who covers "four to five miles several days a week before meeting a standing 7:30 dinner reservation with friends at one of a dozen top Manhattan bistros." If you wish to emulate Deutsch, don't stay up too late reading about him: "He is usually in bed by 11:30 p.m." —Posted by Mark Dolliver |
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Published on November 20, 2008 | Permalink
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CiCi's sprinkling death, disease on its pizzas
CiCi's Pizza touts its "Five bucks and change" value menu in new spots by Deutsch/LA. The ad above calls to mind a '90s-style alien autopsy video, which might not be the best strategy for a food place, as such procedures are commonly used to determine the cause of death. What killed the Martian, Scully? Was it ... CiCi's? Apparently not, because the being still has five bucks in change in its fanny pack. A second commercial takes place in a vet's office. No, the dog's not sick from eating at CiCi's. It swallowed a $5 bill, which the vet then suggests its owner use to buy pizza at the chain. How hygienic. Thankfully, the guy's not licensed to treat humans. A third spot takes place on a game-show set. Despite the unappetizing set-ups, these ads do underscore the fact that "change" is indeed sweeping through the land: If you can get a pizza for $5, the Democrats must be back in power. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on November 5, 2008 | Permalink
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Scene suggestions for the next DirecTV ads
—Posted by David Kiefaber |
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Published on October 24, 2008 | Permalink
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Is DirecTV's 'Poltergeist' spot in bad taste?
—Posted by Tim Nudd |
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Published on October 13, 2008 | Permalink
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Be careful not to step on the tiny billboards
Deutsch/LA deserves a steak dinner. In marketing the new PlayStation game LittleBigPlanet, they've come up with the best kind of billboard: the kind I can't see. These little boards are apparently springing up around San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, and they're easy on the eyes. And a shin-high promotional campaign won't hurt the game much, even if LittleBigPlanet is basically Second Life without all the sex and gambling. In that spirit, they should change the headline here to "Good graphics shall overcome." —Posted by David Kiefaber |
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Published on August 26, 2008 | Permalink
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