Why is beer advertising so bad?

Have we as a society gotten so besotted with ad messages that we can’t even make a good beer commercial?  I don’t include Corona in this assessment, whose simple work I still find to be splendid.  Now I admit to getting a chuckle every so often hearing the “real men of genius” radio, but it certainly doesn’t make me want to quaff down a Bud Light.  But could the Coor’s Light frozen silver bullet train be any more inane? 

Coors Light advertising, according to a senior marketing executive, gets back to the brands roots of “refreshing and cold.” Refreshing and fun are Coke’s core attributes; so is it any wonder when I see a Coors Light commercial I get thirsty for a Coke?

I’m a beer guy.  There are a lot of things that might induce me to drink a frosty one, but a frozen train darting between a bunch of smiling blonde women isn’t one of them.  Hmmmm, or is it? Sigmund?      

Tag: Coors Light, Bud Light, beer advertising, Coke

Forget Consumer Generated Content…

…agencies need to worry about marketer generated content.  Check out this Ad Age quote from the CMO of Miller Randy Ransom regarding its new in-house effort for Miller Lite:

“We are taking a ‘hard right turn’ back to the core essence of Miller Lite, which has always been about differentiating Miller Lite from competitors as a better beer.  The new ads (in-house) demonstrate our ability to move with speed and conviction. And we like the flexibility that these simple formats provide to quickly customize our messaging for a variety of mediums.”

The implication in Mr. Ransom’s quote is that agency’s cannot move with speed and conviction, are not flexible, and can’t quickly customize messages to a variety of mediums.  That’s a problem.  It’s a bigger problem than the work that got Miller Lite into this mess, which I’m sure was collaborative.

(Oh, and Alex Bogusky, strap on a pair and fire these bozos.)

Ding Dong

One of my favorite sayings about advertising is “Just when you think you know something about this business, someone comes along to prove you wrong.” Well, I’m going to go out on a limb here after reading about Avon’s new campaign and say it’s not going to be very successful. It will have some success because they are pumping $340 million into the marketplace.

When the president of global marketing goes on record as saying “Avon is the company that best understands and empowers women” I immediately cringe and anticipate failure. That’s marko-babble. When I read further that the objectives of the ads are to improve their sales channel by recruiting doorbell ringers AND at the same time communicating that the Avon family of products prepares women for the aging process (the line is “Hello Tomorrow”) I know they are soon to be in deep doo-doo. What’s the idea?  What will consumers say about the advertising, product, and brand the day after they see the work?

And the last premise – slowing the aging process – by itself is questionable.  First of all, it targets older women and doesn’t address today’s newer buyers. Second, aging is more about genetics and lifestyle than about creams (with the exception of SPF). And third, women want to look healthy and beautiful now, not in the future. That’s why all the pictures in the ads are going to be of youngish women.  Ding dong, hello.

: Avon Products,