American Online Advertising Spending

ErrMack RT @doc_strangelove Online Display Ad Spend Up 57% http://bit.ly/F4Ezi

Dr. Strangelove discussed American spending on advertisements in class on Monday July 20th. Americans spend about 5 times more domestically per capita on advertising to their citizens than any other western country. The United States alone exceeds the total amount that the rest of the world collectively spends on advertising. Canada and the United States are very similar in a number of ways, but based generally on their spending, Americans see 5 times as many advertisements as Canadians. These figures refer to advertising in general and include television, radio, newspaper advertisements in addition to online advertising and all other forms of advertising spending.

Of all types of advertising, spending on online advertising has notably increased. Dr. Strangelove shared a news release via twitter from the Nielsen Company’s study of online advertising spending. The Nielsen Company’s online and mobile solutions deliver comprehensive, independent measurement and analysis of digital audiences, advertising, video, consumer-generated media, word of mouth, commerce and consumer behaviour. Their study found that the “consumer goods industry increased online display ad spending by 57% during the last two years.” This statistic is not academically sound as it was produced by a company whose best interest is to report on increases in advertising spending in order to promote their services of how they can maximize a company’s online advertising investment. However, it gives a general idea about the dramatic increase in online advertising spending over the past two years.

According to Neilson, YouTube is the most popular entertainment website for consumer products companies as of the first quarter of 2009. YouTube had 637.7 million display ad impressions and a 24% share of all advertising in general. A display ad creates an impression every time it is displayed to a consumer on a website, regardless of whether the consumer clicks on it or not. YouTube was the fastest growing website among the top 10 sites that consumer goods companies advertise on, increasing its display add impressions by 572% from 2008 to 2009. AOL.com ranked second, Oprah.com third and IMBd fourth.

“YouTube, as the most visible example of online video, is working hard to monetize their inventory across a number of verticals and Consumer Goods may hold particular promise in that effort.” – David Wiesenfeld, vice president, online marketing solutions, Nielsen Company

These statistics refer only to display ads. These ads are traditional banner style ads that have an image that attempts to entice the consumer to click on at ad. Once the consumer clicks on the ad they are taken to a different website.  At the very least, the ad is meant to make an impression on the consumer even if they don’t choose to click on it. YouTube offers advertisers and alternative to traditional ads. Companies can play ads directly in the videos themselves. These ads appear at the bottom of related videos. Consumers can choose to click on them or close the ad by clicking on the x in the right hand corner. Companies can go one step further and place their commercials on YouTube for consumers to view at their convenience. This is a fundamental change because consumers are choosing to view these advertisements voluntarily on their own time instead of being subjected to them while they’re trying to do something else online. YouTube gives companies the outlet to go another step further.

This is a video that Dr. Strangelove showed in class that was posted on YouTube. Many students were surprised to learn that it was actually a commercial for Gatorade as opposed to merely a stroke of athletic brilliance on the part of the ball girl. This video, and other likes it, are hidden advertisements among the millions of videos on YouTube. Consumers are under the pretenses that they’ve found a spectacular sports clip online and don’t know that they’re actually viewing an advertisement. This is the future of online advertising. In a world where companies fight for the consumer’s attention, creating an advertisement that offers the consumer entertainment without the in-your-face nature of most ads proves to be very effective.

Consumers themselves can help the penetration process of these types of advertisements. After viewing this advertisement in class, I mentioned it to a sports fanatic friend. Without even seeing the video he recalled the clip from watching sports replays on television. After attempting to prove to me that it was a real clip from a baseball game, I convinced him it was actually an advertisement for Gatorade. Next time I was at my computer I recalled the conversation and thought to post the link to the video on his Facebook wall as proof of my victory. Social networks allow consumers to share interesting things that they find online. The power of world of mouth marketing means that members of your social network are very likely to check out a link if you recommend it for them, as I did in this case using Facebook. While the friend who’s wall I posted the link too knew it was an advertisement after our previous conversation, the link is avaliable to all other members of his network who are not aware that this is an ad. Advertisements, or cool videos in this case, disseminate very quickly on social networks through this process of sharing.

By creating advertisements with the right “it factor,” companies can create social network buzz and penetrate a much wider pool of consumers on a more personal level. The inspiration for this blog entry itself came from a link Dr. Strangelove posted on his twitter account. Advertisers can harness the power of social networks and use YouTube as a medium of distribution to make every online advertising dollar count. Consumers will soon face a new world of advertising land mines that are not as easy to avoid as simply ignoring annoying banner ads.

From Perrier to Sprite

In the wake of the Sprite blow job commercial, AdFreak condemns Perez Hilton and Ryan Seacrest for entertaining the idea that it was a real commercial made for television, even if only for a day or so. Adland posted a vintage French Perrier commercial from 1976 which is much more reserved in its visual metaphor, compared to the pornographic Sprite spec ad. AdFreak went as far as to give Perrier kudos “for making a ruboff look downright artsy.”

Dr. Strangelove noted in his lecture on Wednesday, July 22nd that Perrier is not a stranger to using sexual themes in their advertisements. Naturally, these advertisements contain images of women much more often than men. A memorable 1996 print advertisement featured a woman with merely Perrier bottle caps covering her nipples as a type of bikini. The follow ads are from a more recent Perrier advertising campaign.

These symbols of female sexuality are served to consumers by corporations on a daily basis. Advertisements promoted in the capitalist system convey messages about gender roles in society in addition to the intended messages about a particular product. In the past century with the advent of new media, it can be said that these corporate messages have been the most powerful source of promotion for these cultural messages. Capitalism defines what appropriate behaviour is for both women and men. The inequity between the acceptable roles for men and women is so entrenched in society that the uproar of feminism and promotion of equality between the sexes has little power against the corporate giants that control the media. Advertisers use the long standing understanding of the acceptable gender roles in our society to make ads that appeal to these roles and thus reinforce them.

In our western society, women are inferior to men in every possible way. A woman’s place is in the kitchen, followed by the bedroom, where as a man is free to do whatever he sees fit without being subjected to judgment. This is not to say that men are not subject to gender roles, but that women’s roles are more strongly defined and allow for less flexibility than men’s roles.

A twenty-something university educated powerful female of today, not unlike myself, would say that these traditional women’s roles are just that: traditional. Today, a woman is free to do whatever she wants and does not face the same cultural restrictions as in generations before us. Gender roles have indeed developed over the past century and a woman now has many more options than before. It would be an exaggeration to say that we’ve reached complete equality between the genders, but in western society a woman has every right that a man has and lives comfortably within society.

This is comforting to the women graduating from universities and out-pacing men. However, it does not undo the years of capitalist advertising messages that have strengthened the presence of appropriate gender roles in society. We internalize these roles and build them into our personal goals and aspirations. It may be possible for a woman to become a president of a large corporate player in the capitalist system but the fact of the matter is she likely doesn’t want to. Many educated women aspire to achieve a traditional family life with a well kept house and smart children, and worry that their student life cooking skills won’t be enough to please their future bread winning husbands. Internalizing these views means that women actually see themselves as secondary. Advertisers simply reinforce these messages. It would not be effective for an advertisement to go against these cultural scripts because consumers would not accept the message. The capitalist system ensures that women will continue to hear messages that they are inferior to men and the implications of the system mean that women will reject advertisements that deviate from this message.

Advertisements like these from a well known company such as Perrier should outright offend women. A woman’s body is being completely objectified for the purpose of selling water in this “ass-vertisement”. In reality it is so common that many women don’t think twice about the image. Some would go as far as to say that they like it. Corporate messages have normalized these ads in society. Their messages teach women to identify with a male point of view and accept it as normal. Women have adopted the system of male values that the predominantly white male system corporate system promotes. Ads like the Perrier commercial within this value system lose their offensive edge and create an opportunity for women to be subjected to a whole new undiscovered level of offensiveness. Videos from the 1976 Perrier commercial to the 2009 Sprite spec ad featured above are an indication of the increase the blatancy of sexuality we can expect to see in the future.

He’s Just a Regular Everyday Normal Guy

On July 27, 2009, Dr. Strangelove introduced Montreal comedian Jon Lajoie’s song: Regular Everyday Normal Guy. The music video has garnered 10,666,847 views and counting since it was posted on November 21, 2007. Jon Lajoie has created several videos with a similar misogynistic message.

Both parodies poke fun at the hegemonic male “gangster” figure; not the classic mobster of the 1930s but the modern day street character that is prominent in the rap music industry. This cultural text normalizes the violence that is often associated with the working class in urban centers. It also objectifies women and promotes misogamy.  It stresses the importance of credibility in terms of one’s life experiences. Anyone can conform to this role by adopting the language, style and attitude. However, appropriate behaviour in this case is not enough. You may not be accepted into the style tribe if you do not have enough credibility. The complete persona dictates that you must have experienced the hardships associated with low income urban living.

This particular cultural text is interesting because it celebrates extreme wealth but includes those who are disadvantaged. The traditional story is like a fairy tale. An individual in this role starts in a low income class and then rises above their humble beginnings, becomes successful and accumulates wealth and fame. The reality is that the majority of individuals will remain just an everyday normal guy and will never achieve this happy ending. This male role can create problems because it promotes females as the inferior gender as well as a gang mentality that can ultimately lead to violence. Members of minority races often identify with this text so it can also lead to racism. You certainly wouldn’t want anyone getting all up in your grill or busting a cap in your ass.

This definition of a “gangster” is based on a stereotype that is promoted on YouTube through videos like Jon Lajoies’, as well as other mass media mediums. Dr. Strangelove identified this cultural text as a set of ideals that individuals can measures themselves and others against. Stuart Hall, a cultural theorist and sociologist who worked in the United Kingdom, classified cultural texts into three general categories: dominant, negotiated and oppositional. He also recognized that each individual will decode and interpret a cultural text differently based on their personal discourse.

• The dominant role is “the preferred reading” in society that is based on the masses. It is exemplified by the average middle class. The gangster text falls under this category. A dominant role is not necessarily accepted by everyone, but it is understood and prevalent in dominant society.
• A negotiated text has a larger range of interpretations than a dominant text. Individuals recognize the range of understandings and can accept different views but do not share always share them. Dr. Strangelove used varying political views as an example of negotiated roles. A liberal can understand a conservative’s point of view without sharing it them self.
• Lastly, an oppositional text rejects mainstream society and cannot be understood by those who are not a part of it. Roles that will never be accepted by mainstream society like extreme feminists or anarchists are considered oppositional texts. Oppositional roles tend to be embodied by the fewest number of people, while more people occupy negotiated roles and the majority of people encompass one or more dominant roles in a society.

YouTube is a very effective advertising medium for promoting cultural texts that are negotiated or oppositional roles. It is also effective in reinforcing the dominant roles in society but this is not as significant because these roles are already accepted by the mainstream. YouTube provides an opportunity for roles that are part of underground society or otherwise not included in the mainstream to be further defined. For example, underground trends in music or fashion that have associated style tribes can become more defined on YouTube. If an individual hears a new song that they enjoy that is not part of the mainstream, they can simply look up the video on YouTube to find out what type of text is associated with it.

For example, the hipster pictured above is a developing cultural text. UrbanDictionary.com defines the “Hipster” as someone who:

Listens to bands that you have never heard of. Has hairstyle that can only be described as “complicated.” (Most likely achieved by a minimum of one week not washing it.) Probably tattooed. Maybe gay. Definitely cooler than you. Reads Black Book, Nylon, and the Styles section of the New York Times. Drinks Pabst Blue Ribbon. Often. Complains. Always denies being a hipster. Hates the word. Probably living off parents money – and spends a great deal of it to look like they don’t have any. Has friends and/or self cut hair. Dyes it frequently (black, white-blonde, etc. and until scalp bleeds). Has a closet full of clothing but usually wears same three things OVER AND OVER (most likely very tight black pants, scarf, and ironic tee-shirt). Chips off nail polish artfully after $50 manicure. Sleeps with everyone and talks about it at great volume in crowded coffee shops. Addicted to coffee, cigarettes (Parliaments, Kamel Reds, Lucky Strikes, etc.), and possibly cocaine. Claims to be in a band. Rehearsals consist of choosing outfits for next show and drinking PBR. Always on the list. Majors or majored in art, writing, or queer studies. Name-drops. May go by “Penny Lane,” “Eleanor Rigby,” etc. when drunk. On PBR. Which is usually.

This underground style tribe is gaining popularity thanks to YouTube. User generated content allows new cultural texts to develop much faster than ever before. Traditionally, the dominant roles in society do just that and dominate over other less powerful texts. YouTube helps to even the playing field and provides users with a wealth of information pertaining to a number of different possible roles in society. If you’re looking for something new to wear, I suggest you do you’re shopping on YouTube long before you enter any mall to gain a better understanding of the style tribe you’d like to aspire to be a part of.

The “everyday normal guy” video effectively identifies the gangster role by making a parody. Similar amateur content is on YouTube defining what it is to be a stereotypical hipster.

Parodies like this that have been created by amateur video makers and distributed on YouTube help to reinforce current dominant roles in society, as well as effectively promote underground negotiated and oppositional roles. The latter would have been very difficult in pre-YouTube time.

Sprite Blows the Big One

The now infamous and supposedly banned Sprite commercial is nearing the end of its rounds on the internet. It’s almost not worth commenting on because the YouTube effect and similar rapid dissemination on other social networking websites ensures that anyone taking the time to read this blog has already seen the video. We’re jumping on the band wagon anyways:

(The commercial runs from 0:45 to 1:13)

The female positioned in such a way does not leave anything to the imagination, and the male leans back to enjoy.

It’s not the ad itself that is worth a comment in this case, but the context in which the ad emerged. This is not to say that it is a unique case, as many advertisements, gimmicks and promotions appear in a similar fashion. The distribution is largely made possible because of YouTube. Here is a breakdown of the timeline of this new Sprite advertisement:

Sunday, July 19th

The Sprite commercial hits the airwaves! It’s difficult to determine who the very first person to post the commercial was. The nature of YouTube means that it is hard to know what to believe. The line between public relations, marketing and advertising becomes so blurred that there is no accountability. The commercial was released under the pretenses that it was a banned television commercial from Germany. However, who was behind the commercial and where it was actually created is unknown, so the assumption is made that it is a genuine Sprite commercial from Coca Cola made with the intention of being aired in Germany before it was censored off television. Whether or not this is actually the case becomes irrelevant. The saying goes “no press is bad press” but for a multinational corporation, promotion through a medium like YouTube where companies have very little control over the reaction that consumers generate can be risky for the brand’s image. This type of promotion is a far reach from the traditional advertising where companies spend months coming up with marketing plans and have complete control over every aspect of the campaign.

The Sprite ‘commercial’ circulates around the internet and buzz is created. With the help of celebrity bloggers like Perez Hilton and Ryan Seacrest among others, this buzz is amplified. The significance of these mainstream blogs picking up the ad is that their reader audiences are not the traditional niche audiences that are interested in the world of marketing and advertising. It is reasonable to expect that anyone with a vested interest would come across this commercial in their everyday trolling of the internet, but the readers of these two blogs in particular who are interested in celebrities and Hollywood gossip are being tipped on to the new “it” thing of today that they may not have found otherwise. This starts the cycle of social network promotion.

Monday, July 20th

As early as Monday in the commercial’s 3 days of fame, bloggers were speculating that this ad was some sort of spoof. The sheer outlandishness of this display makes it difficult to believe that the big wigs at Coca Cola would not allow this to happen. It’s clear that consumers have deemed it unacceptable for such a mainstream brand to challenge the social norm to such a degree. As sexually liberated as today’s western society is, the backlash generated from the ad shows that consumers have decided that blow jobs on television are to remain a taboo. It is this same outrageousness of the images in this video that make up its “it” factor. The internet is talking about it and sharing this video because it is so obscene, while condemning its obscenity at the same time.

If one is still thinking under the pretense that this is a real commercial, then the consumer has spoken and the attempt at viral marketing has failed. However, this ploy can’t be judged too quickly. It’s contradictory to say that the promotion has failed and be still talking about it at the same time, further promoting the video to others and adding to the viral success of the ad. Generally speaking anything online that generates a lot of traffic or views could be deemed successful, but in this case the company must access the type of traffic being generated and the comments being made on this video to determine whether or not it meets their own criteria for a success promotion of their brand. In this case its quite evident that Sprite and Coca Cola would not be happy about this kind of imagery being linked with their brand image.

Tuesday, July 21st

By Tuesday, consumers don’t need to decipher for themselves anymore because bloggers have officially ousted this ‘commercial’ as a fake. Perez Hilton confirms to his readers that the ad was not made by Coca Cola and the Gawker calls it a ‘spec ad’ – an ad that is unofficial and will never get officially sanctioned by the brand represented. Similarly, the New York Press, Ad Freak, and the Huffington Post (all internet news blogs concerned with advertising among other things) released updated stories confirming that the commercial is not what it originally seemed.

Immediately the commercials start coming down off of YouTube for copyright infringement, once Coca Cola officially announced that they had not permitted the use of their trademark material. The links to videos on the various news sites above become broken because the video has been removed, but nevertheless it lives on. The commercial can be found on websites other that YouTube as well as within other commentaries that are allowed, such as the version posted above. Attempting to take down the videos only makes it marginally harder for consumers to access the footage. Most would agree that they’re willing to spend the extra minute it might take. There are video responses posted on YouTube from users reflecting on the fake commercial and adding their personal insight. Nothing that the corporation can do will un-do the effects of the distribution of the video over the past three days.

Wednesday, July 22nd

And it’s all over! Internet users have seen the video and have moved on to the next big thing of today. The only new information that has been posted are various accounts of interviews from both the main male actor in the video and the director himself, Max Isaacson. He talks about how he is “frankly quite surprised that spots of this nature were so quickly and easily believed to be legitimate” and that “this was a simple mistake that went much too far too fast.” He reiterates that when the video was first posted on YouTube the description plainly stated that the ad was not real but this did little to curve its effects.

Another account details why the commercial was created:

At the heart of it all these spots were meant to exist as something of a social experiment. It went much better than I had expected. I wanted to do two things: first to make the spots, which I thought were pretty entertaining ideas; and second to release it to the world and see how many people would believe that it was real. I made sure to put under the description that they were spec commercials, but that seemed to have little import.

To be honest I just wanted to get a rise out of everyone. I was kind of knocked off my ass when I spent an hour reading on the Huffington Post about whether or not the ads were pulled because it was an interracial couple. I mean that’s about five seconds of spray! How could it be real let alone banned for racial issues. One commenter said that they knew someone on the censorship board, and I didn’t even plant that one.

We shot those spots for no more than three thousand dollars, total. The only thing we had to shell out for was the five foot tall Sprite can. The kitchen is my kitchen and the bedroom is my roommates. Everyone donated their services, and were awesome I must add, but this was as by the seat of my pants as it could be, but I guess if you tell a big lie long enough etc. etc.

Sprite and Coca Cola are staying as far away from this commercial as possible to protect their brand image but that’s not to say that they are strangers to sex in advertising.

Shockvertising – Advertising’s Extreme Sport

If advertising were a sport, its extreme version would be “shockvertising”–ads designed to cause controversy (Lzar Dzamic, AIGA)

In Britain, an advert for the children's charity Barnardo's, showing a baby preparing to inject itself with heroin, has been blocked by the Committee of Advertising Practice.

As discussed in Dr.Strangelove’s July 22nd lecture, shockvertising is highly popular, yet also highly controversial. Advertising campaigns featuring kids having their foreheads tattooed with a company logo or using death row inmates to sell sweaters are becoming much more mainstream, and this has many concerned.

So where do these campaigns come from, and why are they accepted as ‘just’ by society? An enlightening article in the AIGA Journal of Design states that our over-exposure to media is one reason behind the prevalence of shockvertising in the world.  Since we are exposed to SO much media and information on a daily basis, advertisers are finding that they have to push the limits even further in order to grab our attention. Another reason behind shockvertising is that our media environment in the last decade has become tolerant of much stronger and controversial content. Seeing a girl tied up and chained does not affect us nearly in the way it would have maybe 20 years ago.

Advertisers such as the United Colours of Bennetton are overjoyed with their clever shockvertising campaigns. Such campaigns invoke publicity ratings through the roof — regardless if the publicity is in their favour or not. Just the fact that these campaigns get consumers and the media talking about their company means good things for Bennetton.

As stated in a BBC article about the campaign:

Although Benetton’s global scattergun campaigns can appear a trifle laboured at times, they have certainly prompted thought among those who neither know, nor care, where their local branch is. (BBC News)

Let’s face it. Shockvertising campaigns, although hurtful and over-the-top to some, get the job done for advertisers and they couldn’t ask for more.

Hardee’s in the Hot Seat

Just when you thought you had heard enough about fast food chains in the news, the current conflict with Hardee’s and the Virginia-based Parents Television Council (PTC) emerges on the docket. Hardee’s is being accused of being “racy” and “brainless” in their new biscuit hole campaign. The commercial in question shows taste testers stating their preferences for Hardee’s “B-holes” over the competitor’s “A-hole” biscuits — a very tongue and cheek marketing concept.

The campaign doesn’t seem to be supported by Hardee’s head office, and is purely franchise-based. However, this has not had an impact on the amount of controversy surrounding the campaign. The PTC is calling for a boycot of Hardee’s products until they pull the ad. Hardee’s head office had this to say,

CKE Restaurants, Inc., owner and franchisor of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s restaurants, adopts a creative approach to our advertising. It is intended to communicate the core message of our premium quality food to our target audience of Young, Hungry Guys. We do not aim to exclude or offend any other group with our efforts, but merely to appeal and amuse a very specific audience. We understand that not everyone may view our advertising the same way and we respect all views.

The biscuit hole campaign has gained much popularity through YouTube, and the specific franchisee in question has recently stated that they don’t plan on airing the commercial in any air spaces for which they have ‘control’. As we all know, companies have limited control on YouTube, so we should be able to see this campaign around for the next little while.

The PTC has voiced their opinion on this issue and have had some good things to say. This issue has shown the objections that many in our society have to the use of sex and sexual innuendos in food advertising.  The following statement by the PTC summarizes these feelings quite succinctly,

The Hardee’s marketing team seems intent on pushing the boundaries at every turn whether we’re talking about ‘iced B-holes’ or the company’s attempts at turning hamburgers into sex objects…each and every local franchisee can and should object, and every Hardee’s customer has the right to patronize a more responsible fast-food restaurant chain.

You can find the campaign in question below — decide for yourself if the biscuit hole concept is over the top or not.

Edgy Latex

Although many of the advertisements we have been examining in this blog push the limit, it seems that condom ads go a bit further. YouTube has provided an outlet for condom companies to create some very creative viral ad campaigns and it seems that consumers are loving them. Does the fact that many of these campaigns only appear on viral sites such as YouTube hinder condom sales? Definitely not and if anything, these viral campaigns that are passed from consumer to consumer through word-of-mouth are more successful than any television advertisement.

Durex is one brand who has become quite clever in their use of YouTube for advertisements:

I remember hearing about the above advertisement through Facebook and have seen it many other times on both YouTube and Twitter — so it has gotten around in the social networking world.

Durex has also taken a more subtle, yet successful route, with this advertisement shown in France:

With the cheery song and incorporation of different age groups in the ad, Durex is sure to successfully target and impact buying decisions from all of their potential consumers.

You are probably asking why these ads only appear on social networking sites, and not on television channels throughout the world. The reason why condom advertisements on television are a ‘touchy’ subject is due to networks. However, as stated in an article in the Chicago Tribune, the American public may be ready for more condom advertisements on television:

In a sample of 1,142 adults, 71 percent of the participants supported the airing of condom ads on network television. Of those in favor, about half said the ads should be allowed only at certain hours, such as late at night, when children are less likely to see them.

I believe that with the increasing popularity of such advertisements on social networking sites, we will be seeing more condom ads on our television sets quite soon.

Slow Down, You Move Too Fast

In the words of Simon and Garfunkel,

Slow down, you move too fast

You got to make the morning last

In the July 15th lecture, Dr. Strangelove discussed the additional tension arising from capitalism: discipline. Our society is driven by time and structure, entirely due to capitalism. All aspects of life are run by the clock. If you sit down and think about how much of your day depends on time and schedule, it really is startling. Most of us wake up by alarm clock, arrive to work or school on time, conduct our workday according to schedule, and then go home and arrange our evening around our favourite television program.

Our society is so dependent on time for our everyday lives.

In the historic article by E.P Thompson, where he explains capitalism through the Industrial Revolution and its dependence on discipline and time structure, Thompson discusses the control the institution has over our lives.

Eighteenth-century institutions enable the rules to obtain, either directly or indirectly, a control over the whole life of the labourer, as opposed to the purchase, seriatim, of his labour power

Thompson stressed the power of the institution and its concentration on time over its employees. The United States is the country with the least number of holidays in the world, but has the hardest workers – and Canada isn’t far behind. This concentration is also emphasized through our education system and how we are brought up in our homes. It has spanned through time and will continue to do so as long as capitalism lives.

What I want to stress through this post, however, is that following the clock should not be our sole focus and purpose in life. I have realized in the past few years that life is very short and constantly being concerned with time and schedule can actually shorten your life, instead of making it better, or necessarily longer. We should try to live each day to its fullest and look past the clock and our schedule to really experience all we can in this world.

Society should break free from the clock one in a while.

Another Carl’s Jr. Blog Post

Announcement: Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s are seeking video submissions from scantily clad “hot chicks” eating burgers, so they can use them in advertisements.

This latest announcement from Carl’s Jr. originally had me thinking “Oh no, what have they done!” But after thinking about this for a while, although we are going to see MORE women showing off the “goods” while eating a hamburger, it is actually another good move in advertising. However, there is already negativity directed towards the campaign that came out in early July, such as this from Amplify Your Voice:

It’s one thing to put famous models and actresses in your commercials, but to actually seek out the exploitation and degradation of young women around the country for the benefit of your new burger?

Amplify Your Voice believes that it is Carl’s Jr. to blame for the exploitation and degradation that the women featured in the videos are going to face, but in reality, the person(s) who choose to make or submit a video are the ones responsible, as they are (or should be) aware of how Carl’s Jr. has featured these videos in the past. But getting into the offensiveness of the commercials is not the intention of this blog post.

The point is, as talked about in the last blog post, “Has Carl’s Jr. Done Something Right in Advertising?” – viewer engagement in the online community is the key to good internet advertising. By starting this campaign, Carl’s Jr. is continuing to engage the consumers by getting them to make their own version of the Paris Hilton/Padma Lakshmi/Audrina Patridge commercial. Not all the videos are going to be as sexy as the celebrities were, or as well filmed, and there are definitely going to be some really awful commercials. These videos are going to end up on YouTube and people are going to watch them, talk about them, criticize them, and ultimately going to create more brand awareness for Carl’s Jr. So another good advertising move? I think so.

Here is a link to the playlist on our YouTube Channel compiling videos submitted so far: “How Chicks Eating Burgers”

But, for your convenience, here are a couple of the videos featured:

A note on the title: I had to put a little humour into it seeing as EVERYONE is talking about Carl’s Jr.

Has Carl’s Jr. Done Something Right in Advertising?

We’ve all seen the Audrina Patridge, Paris Hilton, and Padma Lakshmi commercials for Carl’s Jr. that offended millions of viewers worldwide, but that is old news. In June, nine “cewebrities” from YouTube were chosen by Carl’s Jr. to endorse a new burger for the infamous chain. While these YouTube stars are amateurs, they all have vast networks. Combined, the nine vloggers had close to 4 million YouTube subscribers before their endorsements were posted on their channels over a month ago, and all have an impressive number of fans on facebook and followers on twitter.

I am only posting one of the nine videos but if you want to watch all of them, visit All That Looks Good, Tastes Good’s YouTube Channel, and view our Carl’s Jr. YouTube Campaign playlist

So, has Carl’s Jr. done something right in the name of advertising? That would be a YES! Firstly, the most important thing done in this campaign was that by using the cewebrities that already had large networks, it guaranteed initial success for the ads. Secondly,

by using existing cewebrities to tap into existing communities and create content that is specifically targeted to the online audience, it engages the viewer and encourages participation. – The Future of Ads

Viewer engagement is the future of advertising. We can all view advertisements on television, but as consumers we cannot respond to that type of media. But when you go to YouTube, viewers and consumers can have a voice. Creating this series of YouTube videos has sparked a tremendous amount of viewer engagement. One of the best examples is the Portobello Mushroom Burger video I displayed above: it has approximately 3 million views, 30,000 ratings, and 30,000 comments. This is a huge level of viewer engagement. And how is viewer engagement good? Well it gets people talking about the product. Whether it be good or bad, it doesn’t matter. Any talk is good. As well, after most viewers have seen just one video, YouTube is designed so that consumers will often be led (through comments on the video or video links showing up in the “related videos” section) to view the other eight YouTube videos. This translates into nine watched Carl’s Jr. ads per user!

Another result of this campaign has been a number of video’s making fun of Carl’s Jr. For example, the following video “Anti-Carl’s Jr. Commercial” has generated 560,000 views, over 20,000 ratings, and approximately 10,000 comments. But the funny thing is that the maker of this video was one of the nine chosen YouTube cewebrities to endorse the product.

So, as much as people may think Carl’s Jr. is awful for their Audrina, Paris, and Padma commercials, they should recognize that Carl’s Jr. took a huge risk, but got their foot into the door of the future of advertising. There have been few companies that have used YouTube directly to advertise, but in the future we are definitely going to see a rise in this method as it is cheap, the networks are already in place, and it is easy to engage the consumer.