RIP: Pepsi Super Bowl Presence

Blame it on the changing advertising landscape, the poor economy, or whatever variable you please, but Pepsi, the second largest Super Bowl advertiser in the last 10 years, will not be advertising its drinks during 2010's game.

The company says it wants to focus the would-be Super Bowl budget on online work and a more "refreshing" campaign.

"In 2010, each of our beverage brands has a strategy and marketing platform that will be less about a singular event and more about a movement," said a Pepsi Co spokeswoman, Nicole Bradley.

This is really a two-fold shame, one because it is a big blow to the world's biggest advertising platform (it has always been thought, "gee, where else can I plan on a guaranteed 40+ Nielsen rating?") and also because Pepsi's spots during the big game are often damn good.

A recent retrospective of some of the best:

2009:


2008:


2007:


2004:


Not to say that online/viral is a bad idea, because it isn't (John is always there to call me on these things). Everyone can benefit from online and new media efforts. My beef is that this is a blow to one of the only platforms where people actively seek out advertising, which is almost a priceless added value (actually not priceless, 30 seconds is going to run about $2.5 million this year).

Is the Super Bowl in trouble? No. They've sold about 90% of available time to this point. They'll sell it out in 2010. It'll be interesting to see how much, if at all, the astronomical cost for these ads drops in coming years because of a waning economy or just because of lack of interest.

The New Look of Sun-Maid: Sun Mistress?

It's about time the dried fruit category had a sex symbol as a brand mascot.

Sun-maid must have recently just started running ads like the one below with the new-look Sun-Maiden, because the Internet is abuzz all of a sudden, despite the fact that the new look (and the spot below, by McCann Erickson) has been around since 2007.



I assume you're familiar with the Sun-Maid girl's original identity: originally a little homely looking thing, kneeling and wearing a bonnet. The new version clearly panders to the evolving (read: degenerating) tastes of the American consuming public. But to the raisin-consuming public? I was under the impression that most people who eat raisins are between the ages of 2 and 8, or 65+.

Below is a progression of the brand identity of Sun-Maid, starting with an image of Lorraine Collett Petersen, who is the original inspiration for the logo, according to raisin industry lore.



Somehow, Sun-Maid is attempting to tie their product to healthy living by increasing their mascot's cup size. The disheveled looking raisin girl could not have possibly represented a healthy lifestyle (although if you look at the above image from 1923, you may agree with that last statement. She looks like the love child of Hester Prynne and Sasquatch.)


Regardless, I'm not willing to call this a bad move by any means. Many purists and ad history buffs are probably spewing about how inappropriate it is for Sun-Maid to inflate their mascot's bosom. Realize there's only so much you can get from the toddler and octogenarian markets before you need to expand your target and reinvent your brand, and that's clearly what Sun-Maid is trying to do. They're just living by the old axiom, when life gives you grapes, turn them into grapefruits.

Just kidding. I made that axiom up.

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Best ad on TV 9/9/1966

I've always been enamored with cereal mascots. Kids' breakfast cereal is really the only product on Earth that needs a mascot to be a real brand. The bigger, more colorful, and kookier, the better.

After seeing this classic Cap'n Crunch commercial, it certainly looks like the Cap'n has lost some of his swagger. The old school Cap'n is mouthing off to pirates (the one in the commercial noticeably has a French accent) and dropping anchors on people's heads. Into the late 80's and early 90's, the Cap'n became nothing more than a glorified potential child molester with his own island.

The emotional appeal of a cartoon character works when the character is made up, but how about when children's icons begin to endorse products?



Baaaahney! My cigarettes!

Rather ironic that the Flintstones would go on to endorse vitamins, and coincidentally, a breakfast cereal.

Burger King gives guys Whoppers

Yeah, the above image is from a Burger King commercial.

BK, the notoriously secondary burger joint in America, has been trying for years to keep its target away from McDonald's and other fierce, heart-disease inducing rivals. That target? Young-to-middle aged hard-working sex-obsessed men.

It has come to the point where BK's ads are obvious, shameless grabs for the attention of the Homer Simpson and Glen Quagmires of the world. Some of the ads challenge the target's masculinity (the Angry Whopper, anyone?). Others include subtly sexual imagery, which has progressed to outright innuendo.

In 2006, BK unveiled the Whopperettes in time for Super Bowl XL:

Needless to say, most of us would like to take a bite out of that sandwich.

One year later, the New Zealand Advertising Standards Authority pulled two BK ads on the grounds that they violated Advertising Codes of Practice in that country. See for yourself:

It's so big, they have to share it, too.

"Burger King has never intended to offend," said Marketing manager Megan Denize. "The ads are a light-hearted reflection of the cheeky nature of the Burger King brand. Burger King is a brand that prides itself on not taking itself too seriously. Our customers value not only our great tasting food but also our fun attitude."

Undoubtedly, at least 50% of the population values their fun, girls-bouncing-on-a-trampoline attitude.

Finally, we have BK's latest effort, this time in print. This one brought to my attention by my good friend, Danielle.

Failed tag lines for the Super Seven Incher ad? I'd guess:

• BET YOU CAN'T TAKE IT ALL

• THAT'S ALMOST 2 INCHES ABOVE AVERAGE

• FOR MAXIMUM PLEASURE...

• NOW WITH SECRET SAUCE

and of course

• SHUT UP AND SWALLOW

You've got to appreciate the King's efforts to grab hold of it's target. While McDonald's continues to become a global this-that-and-the-other-thing restaurant and Wendy's panders to those hit hard by the economy (it turns out Threeconomics is still not a college course), BK is sticking to the horny male segment of the population.

And even if they don't continue to sell their cardiac arrest on a bun, there's always the cologne market.


Have it your way, baby.

Adding Lil' to your name only works if you're a rapper

New from the people who brought you Lil' Wayne, Lil' Kim, Lil' Jon and the Eastside Boys, and expensive bottled water comes...

Here's Lil' Fiji, straddled by regular Fiji and what I assume is marketed as Big Ol' Fiji

That's right folks! The same bottled water shipped in from a rain forest on the island of Fiji, drank by the President himself now comes in a smaller and even less economical package! Why drink outrageously expensive 16 oz bottles of water when you can drink 11.2 oz bottles?

I was taken aback when I saw the above package on the shelf at Target. Now understand, I'm beyond the fact that people actually pay for water. Getting people to buy bottled water at all is one of the great successes of advertising of the last decade; most people have come to accept the practice. My house is constantly stocked with bottled water. There's something to the idea of the cleanliness or the healthiness of drinking a Dasani (Coke's tap water) or a Poland Spring (Nestlé ground water).

It's different when you're talking Natural Artesian Water. A nine-pack of Lil' Fiji goes for $8.99. A dollar a bottle. A 28-pack of Poland Spring 20 oz bottles goes for $6.54. That's 9 cents per ounce versus 1.2 cents per ounce. I didn't look up the comparable size for cheap water because 11.2 isn't really a legitimate or appropriate size for anything.

Let's go on the assumption that bottled water actually is better for you in some way than tap water. Therefore, both Poland Spring and Fiji (Lil' or otherwise) must both offer benefits that tap water does not. Based on the pricing, can we then deduce that Fiji is eight times better for you than the leading bottled water brand? In short, no.

People are willing to pay for brand names; if they weren't, my industry wouldn't exist. Somebody must be willing to pay a dollar a bottle for Lil' Fiji; the brand has actually been around for three years. To some people, Lil' Fiji must be eight times cooler than Lil' Poland Springs, or Lil' water from the faucet. To you folks, I say: thank you.

Without the upper echelon tool kits that buy products like Lil' Fiji because it comes from 8000 miles away and Barack Obama drinks it, branding would be meaningless, and I'd be drifting aimlessly through the world. And probably be a philosphy major.

Pepsi determines it is a new generation

I can't find the ad they ran during the game tonight. I had seen this one before, and I suppose this is the reasoning behind the new design...a new generation is upon us. It kind of makes sense, new government probably equates to a new generation, especially to those of us who were in elementary school the last time we got a new president. It's kind of subtle, but it makes sense to me now. Whereas Coke is branding themselves as Coca-Cola Classic with the simple red throwback design, Pepsi is evolving with us. You clever dogs, you.

And then there's the overkill on the logo...


Commentary on Super Bowl ads in general to come...

Rebranding of pepsi? Look how hip it is!

My first attempt at an ad(am)vertising video blog:



Forgot to mention:
Diet Pepsi cans have a different logo with a thinner white stripe in the center of the ball (also note "mtn dew"):

Kind of funny, it's symbolic of you being thinner because you drink diet instead of regular. I wonder if there's also a graphic representation of how aspartame gives you cancer...

Wah wah wah.

"Errands are for old people..."

That's what I friend told me today when I had to run to the grocery store. I stopped by my local Wegmans, which to those who don't know, is the Nirvana of soccer moms in Western and Central New York. After swiping my credit card (yay American economy), I got my receipt:



Something wasn't right about it...that wordmark. As long as I can remember Weggies had beed branded with their big blocky name:



I went outside and checked to make sure the name on the outside of the store still looked the same. So, what's with the change? A visit to their website shows the new brand has permeated there, too.



It's not like Wegmans' customers didn't already identify with the company, and I can't imagine they were losing business to Tops Friendly Markets or Price Chopper. Maybe it has something to do with Wal-Mart's recent rebranding effort. With more Super Centers popping up across the map, the sun is setting on the day of the grocery store as we know it. As for the message, I'm not sure. The scriptier font looks more personal, I suppose, whereas the blocky letters were very 80's and may have given off an industrial look. In an attempt to distance itself from the big-box look, Wegmans went in the other direction.

If that's the case, I like it, but they need to do a little more. Too many messages. When you go in the store, there's all kinds of signage. Some in a light Arial, some in bold Comic Sans. Aside from the fact that no one should ever use Comic Sans, I think their new image will be complete when they overhaul all the design in the stores, and not just the logo on the bags and receipts.