Trip Advisor “Book!” Ad

This is a pretty cute and clever ad, showing a little dog who wants to go on vacation with its owners learning how to say: “Book!” when it barks. I’ll bet this will be very annoying after seeing it a few times, but I’ll bet it will be memorable.

One way they could reinforce brand identity in this ad would be to change the owl logo for Trip Advisor into a graphic of the face of this dog from the ad. They wouldn’t have to change the logo for the company, but simply cut in the dog’s face over the logo after we’ve seen it. Then we’d likely remember it’s an ad for Trip Advisor, as opposed to any other travel website.

That’s the thing about so many ads: they have a fun idea, but they don’t tie it into the company or product enough that we remember it specifically. This fun edit to the logo really might do the trick here.

Here’s man’s best travelling companion’s spot:

http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7cO1/trip-advisor-learning-to-book

Captain America at Women’s World Cup

In the semifinal of the Women’s World Cup today, the United States faced down Germany for the chance to go to the final. And in the crowd, we saw broadcast on TV a kid wearing a Captain America costume cheering for the US. I wonder if there was a German kid wearing a Red Skull costume cheering for Germany. They didn’t show it, but it was broadcast on American TV, after all, so they wouldn’t, would they? But Germany wore red uniforms, so it would have been quite appropriate color-wise.

(The Red Skull was a WWII-era German super villain who was Captain America’s arch nemesis in the comic books.)

Laundry Detergent Gang Movie Ad

In an action movie, a gang member is being inducted, and he is instructed to kill their nemesis, a dangerous hit man, with the words, as he is handed a gun by the gang leader: “Blood in, blood out.”

Then we see the gang inductee kill his target, but getting blood on his clothes. He returns to the gang leader, telling him he has accomplished his task, but he got blood on his clothes, and he apologizes for the evidence trail. But the gang leader takes the bloody clothes and says: “Like I said: blood in, blood out.” Then he walks into the laundry room, grabs the brand of detergent the ad is for, pours some in the laundry machine, and holding up the bloody clothes, he says: “Blood in…” Then he puts the bloody clothes into the laundry machine. And then we jump cut to him taking the clothes out of the washing machine, and they’re completely clean, and he points to them and says: “…Blood out.”

(Seeing the movie John Wick on HBO made me think of this.)

Dracula’s Rinse of Darkness

Yes, it’s Dracula’s Rinse of Darkness! It makes old vampires’ hair look dark and young again!

Let’s face it; nobody’s going to be scared of an old-looking vampire! That’s why you need Dracula’s Rinse of Darkness! With the darkness in your hair as well as your heart, you’ll feast upon them without fail!

(This is based on the title of the 1966 Hammer movie: Dracula: Prince of Darkness.)

AT&T Life Simulator Ad

This is a nice ad, showing in a humorous fashion how purportedly resilient the Galaxy S6 is. And this is the kind of stuff that happens to people’s phones every day. I just wonder, if this happens to your phone, and it dies, will AT&T say: “It must be your fault. Did you see our ad? That stuff can’t break the phone. It must be you.”

Here’s the life simulating spot:

http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7cxk/at-and-t-samsung-galaxy-s6-active-life-simulator

Buffalo Wild Wings Karate Ad

In this spot for Buffalo Wild Wings, we see two young men ask if the channel on the closest TV set could be turned to watch another sport, as they aren’t excited by Karate. Well, some guy who looks like the adult version of the losing guy at the end of The Karate Kid stands up, offended, and the guys show themselves to be compete cowards. And while this is kind of funny, it makes me think the Buffalo Wild Wings tagline should be: “Buffalo Wild Wings: Where a Private, Off-the Cuff Comment Can Get Your Ass Kicked.”

It’s nice to see that that guy from The Karate Kid is still looking to start some sh!t, though.

Here’s the cowardly commercial:

http://www.ispot.tv/ad/78ny/buffalo-wild-wings-karate

Milk Mother Ad

A mother gives her elementary school age son a glass of milk. He drinks it, and she tells him milk is a wonderful thing. Then he says he agrees that milk is a wonderful thing, and she’s a wonderful “milk” too: she’s a “Mother I’d Like to Kiss.” And then he kisses her on the cheek, and she smiles and blushes.

(This is obviously a joke on the term MILF, and as written would send the message to the people who buy the milk {Mom and Dad} without enlightening the kids to the MILF term, if there are any who don’t already know about it.)

McDonald’s “An American in Paris” Ad (Proposed)

I saw the Broadway musical version of An American in Paris recently, and while sitting through it, I thought about how it might make for a cute ad for McDonald’s, since McDonald’s has restaurants in France. And it could go something like this:

In this proposed ad for McDonald’s, the American in Paris is Ronald McDonald, and there he meets an assortment of French mimes, and they attempt to communicate. Ronald can’t seem to communicate effectively, being treated with scorn and derision by the French mimes until he presents them with some McDonald’s hamburgers and French fries. Then they all become friends, and the mimes love the hamburgers and fries, doing mimed behavior to indicate the hamburgers and fries are delicious and they appreciate them.

(This spot would be made as a silent piece, which would communicate its message even with the TV set muted during the ads, something I think a large percentage of viewers do.)

Hemmorhoid Medication Political Candidate (Joke) Ad

We see a politician making all kinds of wild statements, and the announcer says: “Talking out your ass can cause hemorrhoids. To get relief, use (product). And stop talking out your ass.”