What's Up? Chicken Butt!

This is a stock answer I've used to have fun with nieces, nephews, children of friends and drunk people at the bar for years. It's a joke, and admittedly, a bad one. But it's funny once in a while.

Now KFC is putting ads on the backsides of female college students. It's a joke, and I claim, an ad which is in bad taste. But it's funny not at all and is badvertising in the strictest sense of the word.

Now, I'm all for advertising where your target audience is likely to see the ad, but I think this pushes the limits and is only trying to make news, not do good advertising.

The ad has a picture of the Colonel and says "Double Down." That's the extent of it.

I'm sure it was Harland Sanders' dream when he built his chicken empire to have his likenes on the derriers of liberal arts students across the country.

Guys in their late teens and early twenties are the ones most like to buy this culinary gem. So KFC its product where they feel the audience is looking.

But I think the ad is disjointed. I'll explain. Let's take a look at this morsel.

The awkwardly named Double Down is two chicken breasts with bacon, cheese and sauce jammed in between. No bun. It's bunless. The advertise on the asses of young women, targeting young men. Get it?

Neither do I. I think it's creating a stir just for the sake of getting the name of this thing in the news. The medium overwhelms the message.

While it goes just far enough to create a stir, I think the campaign misses an opportunity. if it wants to objectify the female anatomy, wouldn't it make more sense to advertise this sammich on the front of their t-shirt rather than the back of their pants?

I'm just saying...

This promo is cheesy, but it means well

I must say that I have somewhat mixed emotions on this subject. I'll explain why, but suffice it to say I don't know which side of the fence I will land on.

White Castle is making available hamburger-scented candles.

I'm all for cross promotion, but I think this is pushing the limit of synergy. Is there really a need? Does someone really want their living room to smell like greasy little sliders?

Apparently so, is the answer, because there has been such a demand for the little items that they are sold out.

Let me repeat that... They sold out of hamburger-scented candles. Don't worry. They're ordering more.

I would never think that there would be a market for such a thing, but I'm not in marketing. I write copy.

The proceeds from the sale of the candles benefit Autism Speaks. While it may be a stretch for me to imagine why White Castle would produce hamburger-scented candles, it is not a stretch for me to to encourage donating in some small way to that wonderful organization. As the parent of an autistic child, I give my support to this by saying emphatically, "I wouldn't have suggested it, but whatever. Thanks for the donation."

How do you get a candle to smell like a hamburger, anyway? Hopefully it'll say on the box, because I'm buying a candle the next White Castle I see.

Visit the website to learn more at www.autismspeaks.org.

Finding the goal when writing copy

A professor once told me that in order to write effective copy, it must be equal parts business and poetry. Find the balance, he said, and you'll write copy that kills.

It's something that I always strive to do. Make the reader remember the copy, but remember the brand as well. Let the readers get lost in thought, just a little, but make the cash register ring.

Unfortunately, at best it is difficult to do. At worst, I forget to do it. It is so simple to remember to marry the creative and business side. But it can sometimes stop me in my tracks, too.

I came across Lorraine Thompson's blog comparing writing copy to acting, and it was a perfect metaphor for my goal when sitting down in front of a blank computer screen. As someone who has done a little stage work (a little) I'm familiar with method acting. Comparing the goals of a copywriter to Brando was simple, fitting, and in a word, perfect. I wish I would have thought of it. But I guarantee that I'll remember it.

Social media... it's cheap, it's easy, it's social

Recently, we re-designed a website for a daycare facility. The owner is a very nice lady who handles everything, and I mean everything, at the school. When we met her, she was carrying a monkey wrench and had just finished doing some plumbing work.

We talked briefly about how to differentiate the school, what kind of content and graphics she wanted, and about her dogs, which accompanied her to work every day.

She was open to every suggestion we made, and was really intrigued when we discussed using Social Media in her branding efforts. No one else did that. It was a great opportunity, one that could really show potential clients how they differed from franchise daycare operations. It would give the parents the opportunity to keep up with what their kids are doing on a daily basis. And it would allow them to supply parents with any industry information they thought was important.

We set her up with a blog page, a Facebook page and a Twitter account. She would write the blog with our help. The Facebook page would be used only for photos and additional branding tool and would require very little maintenance. We can put everything on autopilot so that tweets and blog entries are automatically sent to Facebook. We suggested that her teachers and administrators should send out one tweet per day.

That's where our plan came unraveled.

She didn't want her teachers accessing computers to complete the task. Fine, I said. Have them tell the administrator on duty or the receptionist and let them take care of it. She didn't want them to have to dedicate the time to the task.

I made a prediction to my partner at lunch that when we were out of the picture the blog would never get written. He agreed, adding that they were missing a great opportunity to really make an impact with potential and existing clients. It takes 30 seconds to send out a tweet. Eight rooms, that's four minutes a day. I couldn't convince her to spend that time to promote. Writing a blog would take 15 minutes a pop, but for arguments sake, let's say 30.

In less than an hour, she could add value to a client's experience, increase traffic, more effectively brand her business and differentiate her facility from her competition. All at a cost of ZERO DOLLARS. Even if we did all of it for them, it would be $60 a week. (We're cheap.)

Social media is an opportunity to keep your customers engaged. It is mass marketing, but directed at the individual. It's cheap. Wait... it's FREE! It doesn't take much effort, but it does take some effort. It's simply an opportunity to brand a business by presenting the unique characteristics of it. Most of all, it's social. Get it? "Social" media?

Our client's website is successful. They are benefiting from an increase in traffic of more than 50% and are adding about three new clients a month. But the blog page is blank. Facebook is only used for pictures and the Twitter account is not active. They have a trickle of new business when they could have a stream.

I think our client has really missed the opportunity to more effectively promote the business. I think the next time a potential client asks about social media, I'll show them the math.

Changing Tiger's Stripes

The new Tiger Woods Nike spot has been described as edgy. I'll use a different term: Risky.



Tiger Woods has been in the news a lot over the last six months, and it's not for playing golf. Unless you've been living in a cave, you know about his infidelity, his treatment for sex addiction, and the laundry list of sponsors who have dropped him.

Except Nike.

Like his wife who stays by him, the company is gambling on Tiger, maybe because they quite simply don't know what else to do. The future of his public image depends largely on his ability to keep his personal life together.

So Nike's creative team put together a new spot featuring the voice of his dead father asking a silent Tiger if he's learned anything. I'll admit, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I think Nike is taking a big risk. If it fails, Nike's demographic just became golfers who cheat on their wives.

Far be it from me to criticize someone who makes a decision to try to keep a marriage together. If I was Mrs. Tiger's friend, I'd say "You'll be OK if you decide to end it. You're beautiful, rich and you have options."

If I was the creative director for the Nike account, I'd say the same thing to them.