I have to say, I’m something of a conundrum. I’m a marketing person’s dream. However, I rarely carry through. I’ll see a commercial, usually of some food item, and I’ll be like “WANT!” Rarely do I get it though. The same with packaging… but I’m suckered by that more often. Possibly what saves me is talking to my sister while I browse. She’s… this Never mind that.evil voice.
How does this translate into book buying? Well, I don’t exactly want to analyze that, actually. But I will say when I’m browsing through catalogs etc, or pages… yes, covers do catch my eye. And then I immediately go to read the book blurb, and excerpt. (Websites, people, websites!)
Anyway, here are two of the most memorable commercials I’ve ever seen. The first I saw in college and my reaction was this: O_O – I may have said “holy shit!” as well. I also don’t think it’s exactly a gay commercial, but whatever. You know how youtube can be.
Now this second one? My favorite commercial of all time. Of all time. I’d demand you all ooh and ahh and squee over it, but I won’t because if you don’t I will be crushed. Anyway… I’ll let you watch it and decide for yourself before I talk more.
The first, is titled “The Secret,” and the second “Big Day,” I believe. I love the music to both, but especially the second. It’s One Million Miles Away by J Ralph.
Okay, and now that you’ve seen the first one… here’s one with better quality. I wanted to use this one in my post… but the still kinda ruined it.
Anyway, while those are two of the commercials I remember most vividly… they didn’t particularly work. I don’t drink Campari, and rarely have. Maybe only in a cocktail once or twice? Bitters aren’t my favorite thing. Next, I don’t drive a Volkswagon. Never have – other than this rental car I had for a few days because some dude decided to drive into me. That was not fun. So, no Campari, and no Volkswagen. I’m trying to think of products I use regularly, and their commercials. I’m coming up blank. Guess I’m not the creature of marketing I thought I was?
So what’d you think? And – do you have a favorite commercial? Or book cover? Are you an easy marketing mark?
Hi Lime!
I know it’s been a while since I dropped by, work has been kicking my butt.
The 2 commercials that popped in my head are:
–A Thanksgiving ad from when I was growing up for Louis Shanks Furniture (I think it’s a Texas store only though) commercial for Thanksgiving that I loved because it had this really cute turkey that would jump off the table and run (presumably to the sale) LOL
–Then there was the Christmas commercial for boxers with a guy wearing reindeer antlers and boxers that danced the most adorable dance evah!! lol
I fell in love cuz he’d make me laugh every time I saw it. This isnt the one I remember but it’s the only one I could find other than a new years/present themed one: http://bit.ly/oXcAOC
I never bought the stuff advertised but I was too young to buy furniture at the time ….same kinda goes for the buying of underwear for a guy at that time lol. But marketing does work on me; mostly for makeup/beauty products though. Even though I only buy “green”, all-natural, and/or organic stuff I still get lured by the pretty packaging:D
Never seen the Campari or VW commercials, but I’m the type that fast forwards or mutes them usually
Welcome back! 🙂 … :X What do I call you/what do you prefer?
Sorry work has been a pain.
I don’t know the Louis Shanks furniture – I wonder if it’s online… and yes! I remember the Joe Boxers dancing guy! 😀 He *was* so happy. Very cute.
I’m tempted to go and buy some Old Spice just to reward them for the “Hello, ladies. . .” spots. They are just sooo funny. Creativity like that deserves a reward.
Kilian – oh yes! Have you seen the Fabio ones? :X I missed the “old spice men “death match” – I really hope the new guy won. Heh – am I allowed to admit that in romance-land? 😉
Wow, that Campari ad! V sexy!
I don’t think either of these ads necessarily directly sell to anyone, but what they do do is make you really aware of the brand and make you associate it with it great things in your mind. The Campari ad – sexy and sophisticated and worldly. The VW one – dependable yet edgy.
I must admit to having a nostalgic love of the Milk Tray adverts that used to play in the 70s and early 80s in Britain – they had a secret agent breaking in to a lady’s room to leave a box of chocolates for her with the tagline (in a low, chocolatey voice) “And all because the lady loves Milk Tray”. Fab.
Joanna – yes, you’re right. I do associate generally good things with them. And that Milk Tray commercial sounds lovely! Sexy, fun, and chocolate!
I think the music for the VW commercial is also what stuck with me for the longest. It’s haunting. We also used it as the background for other things, in school.
I love that Volkswagen commercial too. I’ve never seen the Campari commercial before – very interesting. My favorite commercials are usually ones that make me laugh. I don’t eat Jack in the Box, but some of those commercials crack me up. The other one that comes to mind is the Aflac commercial with Yogi Berra where he says something like, “they give you cash which is just as good as money.”
As far as book covers go, they definitely influence me, but much more important is the back cover blurb and the author.
Robin, isn’t that the best commercial ever? I think it would be so awesome in a story, don’t you?
Oh my – the Jack in the Box commercials. I’ve never been to one – but do you remember the “beat down” ones? Where the Jack guy goes and kicks butt? And rips the sleeves off his suit? Loved that one.
I’m also with you 100% – what’s in the book matters most to me, and I don’t think I’ve ever bought a book based solely on the cover. It might get my attention first, but what keeps it is the blurb etc.
I’ll buy any book that has cover art by Kinuko Craft. I’ve never been led astray by this rule of thumb.
Kilian – fascinating. I’ve never heard of someone who has done that before, and I think that’s really neat. I had to go look up Kinuko Craft, of course. Love the imaginary realist art. It’s all gorgeous.
I have to ask – do you just recognize the artist then? I only looked at the website a little, but didn’t notice a “book covers” section.
She does the covers for one of my favorite writers, Patricia McKillip. I started noticing the art when I bought McKillip’s books, then kept an eye out for her work. Her style is very distinctive, but she doesn’t do many covers. Too expensive for the publishers, I suppose, so they save her for the best books. She did the PB cover for an early edition of Outlander. My senior memory is coming up blank for other titles. I think book covers is only a very small part of her oeuvre.