The King vs Ronald McDonald

I had a very interesting conversation about fast food characters, such as Ronald McDonald and the Burger King King. I began the conversation stating how creepy both characters were and how ridiculous the money spent on advertising these characters was. In the conversation, I realized that the target market can never be overlooked within advertising.

I recently attended the Texas State Fair in Dallas and saw a huge stage. When I got a closer, I then saw a Ronald McDonald character performing to children. It blew my mind that McDonalds would pay for such a large stage for one character and for a great location within the State Fair. I was then enlightened that the Ronald McDonald fast food character is targeting the children, not the adults. To the kids, the character seems like a fun clown who just want to play with them all the time. 

Then, I turned to the Burger King King. How could he too be a character targeting children. At least Ronald McDonald looked friendly and inviting. The King, to me, looks extremely creepy and frightening to children. It was then brought to my attention that this character is not targeting kids. On the contrary, it is targeting 18-35 year old males to be exact. His goal was to promote: No one does creepy better than Burger King. He brought back the conversation to their target market and boosted revenue for doing so. His creepiness brought success to Burger King and they continued to promote the King with video games.

That’s one difference with McDonalds and Burger King, because of their different target audience; they spend more advertising on different medium. As mentioned before, McDonalds spent money on performance for kids and Burger King spent more on video games. This is because more children like physical interaction where they feel as if they have a friend. Burger King’s target market doesn’t get out much nor do they watch a lot of television. Therefore they discovered where most of their audience is consuming media, in videogames.

In this crazy world of advertisements, you are allowed to not like some of it, as I did with these two characters, however these characters were not targeted towards me. Plus, the results from both advertising tactics resulted in success. I learned you cannot overlook the advertising audience, or you will not communicate the message clearly to your target market.

There's a Guerilla in the Room

Someone once told me, if you make any advertisement, you should be able to portray it in print first. But once you decide to go beyond the print ad, the execution becomes more difficult to get across to the audience. Some would think it is easier to grab the audience’s attention when it is guerrilla marketing and they are right, but the question isn’t about grabbing their attention but for them to understand your message. Guerrilla marketing is an unconventional promotion of a company, product, or service. The downfall to guerrilla marketing is that people might only look at the visual you used and not the message behind it or the product.

For example, this is a Nationwide Insurance guerilla marketing is very eye catching and fun to look at, but the message takes more than 5 seconds to really understand. Yes this ad is big and can be seen from the travelers on the road, but they will only spend so much time looking at it and their attention isn’t on the headline or the tagline of the advertisement, but on the paint and where it went. I feel majority of the viewers wouldn’t be able to tell it was an insurance ad. But wait! It is also an ad for Coops Paint… now there is two messages trying to speak to viewers how might spend 5 seconds viewing this marketing.

Here is an example of guerrilla marketing that is successful in my opinion. Charmin does an annual guerrilla marketing in New York City. They set up public bathrooms in the middle of New York. The marketing team did a lot of planning on this campaign because they found out what New Yorkers want and are constantly looking for in the city, clean public bathrooms. What Charmin did was to make “going” enjoyable. They placed multiple bathrooms with Charmin toilet paper inside. Also they constantly reminded the audience about the brand by placing advertisements and their brand all around the consumers as they go to the bathroom.

To be success at guerilla marketing you must plan, research, and execute to your fullest ability. Nothing in this type of marketing can be half-way done. Also remember, if your audience sees your guerrilla marketing, will they understand the message is the first question and will they remember the brand is the second. 

Le(t's)-Go

Legos, oh oh oh Legos. I might be bias because I have a soft spot in my heart (and a hard spot on the bottom of my foot) because of Legos. Legos is the master of using your imagination and their advertising campaigns capture just that. I think their ads are brilliant. They bring me back to my childhood and remind me to use my imagination for fun too, even as an adult.

When I showed these ads to my boyfriend and he said, "I like them, but do they advertise to kids? Will kids know what 'The Simpsons' or 'South Park' are?" Although he makes a point that kids might not know the characters we adults grew up with, I asked him, "But who will buy the product?" The answer is the parents of kids. So technically they are the target market, not the kids themselves.

Here is another ad done by Legos that I think captures all aspects of what Legos is and does. It's simple and the message they want you to get is so visually clear. Its for using your imagination. It also rubs against our childhood when we used everyday objects and pretended it was something else to entertain ourselves. It kinda reminds me of 'The Rugrats' when the main character Tommy used his imagination to elaborate on an adventure for him and his friends. The message in this ad is so powerful,understood, and most of all, it is simple.

Room for another car ad

Above are print ads for Mercedes Benz showing the benefit of being able to move the car seats around to fit your preference. I like this ad because it gives the viewer a task to do, and that is to solve what the seats are spelling out. I think if there is a simple task for the audience to do, then it is rewarding when they figure it out and they will spend that much more time on the ad. I believe the task cant be too hard to do and has to be intriguing since the ad itself is usually only looked at for maybe 2-4 seconds.

That is why I think most ads have a cleverness to them. They are trying to 'hook' the reader to spend more time viewing the ad. If this ad just had a picture of a car on it and said, "New benefit: change the seats around," no one would take the time to read that. Advertisement is a game. Its a challenge for advertisers to draw in the audience and it is a game for the viewer because they get to pick and chose what they pay attention to.

I think car ads are a bit tricky as well. They used to just show the cool look of the car, and then in tiny print say some of the benefits, and maybe have a star rating beside the picture. But now, people have seen it multiply times and people are looking more into the other aspects (I could be experiencing this because people my age are beginning to buy their second or third car, whereas in high school most people chose a car based on their looks). There is only so many times you can show just the outside of a car in a car ad....

Here are some examples of car ads that have been done and done over and over again and again.

What's it advertising?

2004 French Evian Commercial















2011 Subway Commercial

2011 Zooks Commerical

Could you have named these commercials without the caption?


The Evian commercial proved to be rememberable since I first saw it my sophomore year in high school. I was impressed by the cute animation and the story the commercial told. It gave the water drop (or Evian) personality, which is positively used to show the character of Evian. What I took from this commercial was the Evian is for those people who are a little rebellious, dances through life, and is curious. I loved how it went through cycles that water is used for because it reminds me that water is pure.

However, my struggle with this commercial is that, for the longest time, I could not remember what it was advertising. Did they grab my attention? Yes. Did I remember the commercial? Yes. Did they do their job? No, because I didn't retain what they were trying to sell me.

That is a huge problem with some advertisements; they forget the main reason they are advertising. Advertisement's purpose is to sell me something. But if I can’t remember the product, there is no reason I have in purchasing it.

To further this mistake by many companies, Subway grossed me out more than made me want to purchase their product. In fact, by the time they revealed what the commercial was selling, I had already lost interest, and my appetite for any type of food.



Same thing happened with Zooks commercial ad. It was of a guy prepping to throw a dart at a bar to impress his date. His famous, “Kah-kah-kaww” was quoted by my friends all the time. It was rememberable because it was funny, but in the long run, no one knew could say what the commercial advertised. Furthermore, it related to maybe 2% of the world that actually ‘preps’ before throwing a dart in a loud obnoxious way.



In the long run, the key to remember here is stick to the purpose of why you are advertising, to sell your product. If the commercial doesn’t help the audience to remember your product (not just your ad) then your advertisement was pointless. Sometimes when you are creating ideas, this main goal does get lost, but we have to remember to ask, “what’s the purpose,” and, “is my ad effective toward the purpose.”

My Brain Works

It has come to my attention that I have been writing my blog all-wrong lately. So I apologize for the long, paper like essays I have previously written.

            Have you ever been asked, “If you could ask God one question, what would it be?” I feel like most people’s question change as they experience more and grow up. However, my question has remained the same for about 15 years now. I remember writing it in my journal in elementary school, although most of the spelling was wrong at the time, but it is the same question. Why do I think the way I do?

            This question seems simple, easy, and lame compared to some of the other questions that could be answered, but to me, it is more meaningful and personal. I will never know how anyone else thinks about the world, ideas, action, etc. I can only speak for myself. That is one reason I like advertising, because I feel that I can think of ideas in a very unusual way. The tricky part for me is reeling myself back into reality and understanding some people do not think the way that I do.

            My ideas, as most I would believe, process faster than I can type or write down. I remember playing a game with my family where I would be given two unrelated objects and had to find a link between them. For example, tree and dolphin: Here would be my answer:

Tree: Trees grow up, but their roots grow down. The roots are what give the tree life because it takes in water and nutrients. Living things need water. The Earth is made of 75% water. Inside the 75% of water are animals that consider the ocean their home. Sea World gives us humans who live on land insight into the animals that live in the water. You can swim with animals that live in the water, like dolphins. =Dolphin

            A far-fetched imagination can be beneficial to creative advertising ideas. This is why I am talking about this because this one process advertising creatives can take. To me, there is no such thing as “getting stuck,” it is more about what’s the next connection. Plus, if you are passionate about finding the answer, you will.

Empty Space

Space, empty space, is more than just nothing. It is mysterious; it is alone, empty, and most of all simple. If there was one thing that has stuck with me from my freshman year advertising course is "KISS," or keep it simple stupid. It is like a matte or boarder to an image or text and makes the viewers focus straight to your point. This space is known as white space and if executed correctly, it could be very dramatic, powerful, and effective. White space, also known as negative space or empty space, tells the consumer that the ad trustworthy and gets to the point. It literally helps to highlight what you want the viewer to be looking at. Look at this example of what white space can accomplish. This FedEx logo shows a hidden secret that can be found in the negative space. There is a white arrow in the logo that adds movement to the logo.

Another successful use of negative space is the “Think Small” campaign for Volkswagen. This is one of the most famous uses of white space because it grabs the reader. The dominant white in the ad makes the reader focus on the text “Think Small” and the image of the car. It helps explain the message of the tag line and emphasizes the simplicity of the small car.

Empty space is fun because viewers expect to look at a whole 2-dimensional image. With negative space it is testing the viewer to look at the image differently. Have you ever been asked, “what does this say” to the images below?

As a younger person who doesn’t realize to look at the image in a different way, it could be extremely difficult to read. But once it is explained and seen, it is almost an accomplishing feeling that you ‘figured it out.’

Other ways to view empty space is in color. Color can bring a lot of personality to an ad. One of my favorite campaigns that uses color as their negative space is the Apple iPod Campaign. This creative idea gives each silhouette a personality with very subtle details such as bracelets, hair, and dance moves. Furthermore, it completely focuses on the white earphones and iPod. The black silhouette is pushed behind the white image and puts a huge focus on the product. It plays with our psychological mind in trying to determine foreground and background. The reader thinks, what’s in front, what is important, what I need to be focusing on. With negative space, it is easily determined what the focus should be on.

All in all, the use of white space tells much more than it seems. It can play with proportions, text, images, color, and more. The opportunities you can have by using empty space are unlimited but you have to execute it correctly or it will seem disorganized and ineffective. However, if you ever need to make a statement, just remember to “KISS,” KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID.

Advertainment for Attention

What is advertisement when it is not combined with entertainment? No one knows because they skip over the ad and filter it into their spam folder. One of the greatest challenges in advertisement is to grab the consumer’s attention and maintain their interest. Today, I feel that an advertisement must incorporate some entertainment to intrigue the consumer. Advertainment is the merge of advertisement and entertainment. Because there are so many brands, products, and services that surround a person everyday, ads must stand out above the rest. Otherwise it is just more clutter and noise.

            Although the term “advertainment” has been recently defined as the hybrid advertisement, advertainment had been around for a long time. One example of advertainment is product placement in television, radio, films, and video games. One early example of a famous advertainment is form the television show, “I Love Lucy.” During the show, the program discovered a way to keep their audiences from changing channels by entertaining them as well as selling a product. Therefore, Lucy and Ricky can be seen in multiple episodes being spokespeople for Philip Morris Cigarettes. “Don’t say cigarettes, say Philip Morris,” is one of Lucy’s lines in the commercial. This was usually at the end of the episode and kept the actors in character while advertising the cigarettes.

            Don’t be fooled that advertainment is as simple as putting a product or service on an entertainment media and BAM it works. It needs to be known that it is an actual product or service and not something made up or a part of the show. One advertainment that went south was the “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast in 1938.  Here, although the hosts did say the program was fictionally based on H. G. Wells book “War of the Worlds,” they did not anticipate how many listeners chime in and out every few minutes. Because this was not taken into consideration, the hosts did not rely the fact that the advertainment was in fact based on a book. Therefore, many audiences took the story as actual news and began to panic.

            Also, there is a degree of too much entertainment in an advertainment. Take a look at the recent Old Spice Muscle Music. Although the muscle music as visually and audibly entertaining, it lacks two important aspects of its advertising. First off, it has nothing to do with the product. If a consumer were to see this interactive video, they would have no knowledge of what he is trying to sell or the purpose of his musical muscles. Secondly, it lacks the trait of getting consumers to want to purchase Old Spice. True, the muscle music is entertaining and quite rememberable, however, in the end it has no aspect of convincing the audience to purchase Old Spice.

            With all of the advertisement clutter we consume everyday, it is impressive if a person remembers an ad. Majority of the ‘clutter’ is looked over or no even noticed by the viewers. For this reason I feel that most advertisers have felt a need o think in the hybrid advertising. Furthermore I feel that the consumers are beginning to expect to be entertained if the advertiser wants their attention. Of course, nothing in advertisement has a permanent shelf live. What is working one day may become a failure the next.