Friday, August 17, 2007

Dancing Alien = Reasonable Mortgage

In college, I majored in Computer Science. Not Advertising, not Marketing, but CS. So, I understand how web pages (including web ads) are created....I just don't get the connection/thought behind some of them.

Specifically, can someone from an ad agency (possibly Darrin Stephens from MacMahon and Tate) explain these specific ones for a Mortgage company
  1. An ad that is simply a dancing clown.

  2. An ad that is a dancing alien

  3. An ad that has one or two dancing girls who are "surprised" to see the camera recording them.

It's not like these ads are only on oddball websites. They pop up on some of the big hitters....which I would guess means they paid big bucks for the space. For that kind of exposure, I would expect a better hook.

Of course, it can be argued that since I remember them, they must be effective. What an expert who applies this logic fails to understand is that I refuse to click on their ad simply because they are STUPID!!!

Because I am in a generous mood tonight....I am giving these advertising experts a better idea for a mortgage company web ad......

The ad opens with a wide angle, distant shot of a subdivision. It zooms to the sidewalk in front of a nice suburban house with the black suited backs of two large men in the bulk of the pic, and a wide-eyed child sitting at a lemonade stand in front of them. As the camera pans around, the two large men, who are now gesturing to the kid to "pay up" are "surprised" to see the camera, and put their hands over their mouths.

Run with it, folks. It will work. Trust me. It screams loans.

Addendum: Add a Stupid dancing robot to the list above.

Addendum II: Add a Stupid dancing wizard to the list above.

3 comments:

Guinevere said...

I've thought exactly the same thing when I see these ads! It's like, "What's that got to do with a home loan???" lol

I love your idea! lol

Anonymous said...

Love it! Run with it baby!! Let's do lunch next Tuesday!! I'll have my people get in touch with your people!!! Seriously, I would actually LOOK at your ad! The one with the dancing girls is everywhere and thank God I haven't clicked on it!! But I might next time, just to see how worse it can get!

Chris said...

I almost refinanced back in February when the ads featured the dancing Lincoln and Washington. Then they switched to the girls who got caught dancing at their desks, which totally turned me against it.

Maybe you're idea will work on me. We'll just have to wait and see. I DO like the idea of a robot helping me with my loan...

Mountain Dew, Why Do You Hate Me?

 For most of my life (a lengthy bit of time) I have been a passionate supporter of Mountain Dew.  To apply a time filter to this statement, ...