Thursday, October 17, 2013

Thinking outside the box?

One of the campaigns I see a lot of lately is for LaQuinta Hotels. The heroes of the spots are effective in business because they stay at the hotel. They get their ducks in a row, bring home the bacon, and think outside the box.





That's my favorite. Not because it's better than all the others, but because it's ironic on so many levels. The visual is amusing, with all the other executroids crowded into a huge box, unable to come up with an original big idea. The suit in charge says "We need ideas, people. Think. Think!" (It's the second "Think!" that gets me.)

Jerry's suggestion is "synergistic integration." It makes me laugh, not only because he makes the visual for it by interlocking his fingers into a double fist, he drops a marketing speak bomb that these executroids supposedly haven't heard of, he offers no explanation of what it is, the suit in charge calls him a genius, and it's obvious that the actor has no idea what synergistic integration is.

All these bad elements combine to make to make an amusing commercial. Usually, I'm not a fan of badvertising. This is the exception to my rule.