The Pirate Bay Plunders Argument For Network Neutrality Laws?

Woah, Man, That Raccoon Is Like, Watching The Football Game

from the trippy dept

Thu, Dec 21st 2006 7:53pm — Carlo Longino

While many advertisers are relying less on television and instead devoting more resources to online media, some companies are still trying to breathe new life into the good old 30-second TV spot. One of the most common ideas is targeted advertising that's aimed at a particular area or demographic, but one company is working on ads that are sensitive not to the context of the viewer, but rather the context of the programming or another external influence. For example, a Wendy's ad will run during some NFL games this weekend, featuring some animated raccoons whose dialogue will change depending on what's happening in the game. Earlier Wendy's ads in a test of the system advertised chili if the weather was, uh, chilly, and the frozen Frosty dessert when it was warm. This is a somewhat interesting system that could make TV ads a little more relevant and a lot more interesting, depending on how they're done. The chili/Frosty example isn't particularly interesting, really, because it's still an ad many people are probably likely to ignore. However, in the case of the raccoon ads, if they're entertaining and clever as well as timely, they could attract a lot of viewers. This could be a good example of how advertisers need to realize that their ads are content, and they need to create ads that people want to see. But simply changing the product that's being advertised depending on the weather may just be an attempt at dressing up standard captive-audience advertising, although it is an attempt to make it a little bit more relevant for viewers.

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11 Comments

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Buck, 21 Dec 2006 @ 8:46pm

Whoa!
"Wow man! That raccoon just totally said something about the game we're watching. I can so totally relate! Think I'll buy some Wendy's!"

Yes, that is exactly how stupid these companies consider the average consumer to be. Think about that next time you are tempted to give them your money.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Dec 2006 @ 8:49pm

Sorry to break it to you, but the average consumer is that stupid.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Dec 2006 @ 9:08pm

You know, in a strange kind of way, I would actually appreciate that an advertiser took the time to consider the program context instead of just trying to spy on me personally. I don't like the exploitive methods used by many marketers, but this one really doesn't seem too bad. Maybe there's hope for advertising after all.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Dec 2006 @ 10:51pm

Re: spying on viewers
Well, this wouldn't really be spying though since if you air the ads during the superbowl, you've only got one thing to target - football. The same goes for cartoon network, the history channel (civil war guys eating at Wendy's?) or home and garden (Martha Stewart?)
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James Bond, 21 Dec 2006 @ 11:56pm

Racoon Advertising
interesting concept but not new.If you look at all the cartoon/ animated popular movies these days that everyone gets all wet about (Not Me) then you see the connection when cartoons are the big moneymakers that seem to be adults and not kids buying and watching then naturally the advertising style follows.To me advertising is and shoud be basic information,say a car,info,picture and an honest price.Same can be for everything.He who has the lowest price on an item with hard facts and info I want gets the sale
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TasMot, 22 Dec 2006 @ 6:05am

Re: Whoa!
The purpose of the racoon thing is not to make you buy Wendy's because of the racoons commenting on the weather. The idea behind the ad is to get you to associate (deep down in you subconcious) a warm fuzzy feeling (generated by chuckling at the racoons) with Wendy's, so that the next time you are hungry Wendy's pops into you head with a warm fuzzy feeling.

On your average human this stuff really does work (why else would they keep throwing money at it year after year).

Swaying your subconcious is a very powerful tool (because you don't get the chance to think abou it) and if you don't have some negative experience to counter it, you may just say "hey, there's a Wendy's let's give it a try" rather than "Ew, Yuk, there's a Wendy's keep driving".
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Dec 2006 @ 7:09am

The idea behind the ads seems to be that if they can get us talking about it, that will result in sales. I don't have the stats on that, but I have my doubts.
Think of the Budweiser frogs from a few years back. They were amusing, and I could talk about them with my relatives at family gatherings (which was kinda nice - sometimes it's difficult to communicate with family in a pleasant fashion.)
When I was walking down the beer aisle, I may have chuckled a bit when I saw the bottles of Bud, as I reached past them to get my Guinness.
I'm just not sure that advertising/marketing people are the most intelligent people. Fun guys to have at a party, maybe, but not the ones I'm going to count on for my business.
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haywood, 22 Dec 2006 @ 7:09am

I've said it before...
Who ever has Target's ad account should get everyone's.
I actually look forward to their commercials, talk about warm and fuzzy.
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Tas, 22 Dec 2006 @ 7:20am

Re: Re: Whoa!
TasMot is right about the subconscious thing. Sure, you might not see a Wendy's ad on TV and immediately drive to a Wendy's. But, that ad is now with you, so when you are out looking to get some fast-food, you may go to a Wendy's.

My husband and I were out looking to purchase a new mattress recently. I kept going towards the Serta's because I think the Serta sheep are just too cute. I was able to control my subconscious, however, because there were better products available.

I always thought ads were stupid and didn't affect my purchases, but this made me realize that ads probably do actually work.
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Limerat, 22 Dec 2006 @ 7:38am

Talking raccoons are not going to make we want to eat at Wendys any more than Hammy the squirrel id going to make me want to buy DVDs at Wally World.
When I see a raccoon,I associate it with it's deadly roundworm.
I wish they would do commercials more like they do on PBS,say the name of it,show a picture of it and that's all...And no more than three commercials per break. It's gotten to the point to where commercial tv is more and more commercial and less and less program..
The only commercials I watch are the Get a Mac ones...But they don't make me want to get a Mac and my PC runs Linux,so there you have it.
* gets off soapbox*
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NotInfluenced, 22 Dec 2006 @ 11:55am

While we are on the subject of stupid comercials and stupid consumers. I hate the Coors light beer commercials where a frosty cold train comes through town and gets everyone cold and refereshed. I purposely don't buy a vendors product when their commercials are so lame.
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