Hard-to-ignore demonstration.

Hard-to-ignore demonstration.

Flex Seal Colors has a demonstration of how their product seals against water leaks by coating an entire truck with it in colors and then plunging the truck into a pool of water, with the spokesman inside the cab talking to us viewers. An extreme use of the product, but a very convincing demonstration.

Tomcat-“Dead Mouse Theater”

Tomcat-“Dead Mouse Theater”

A mouse, dressed as a Viking (the terrorists of their time) kills his boyhood friend as he’s begging for his life with a blow to the head with a mace.

Why humanize mice and then kill them as they beg for mercy? What image were they going for: Terrorists that kill their former friends? Why is that theater entertainment? Empathy is with the murdered mice. How does that sell their product?

How did they sell this idea to their client with the threat of terrorism dominating the news?

“Rocky Theme”Inspires.

“Rocky Theme”Inspires.

A spot to sell wireless headphones has the familiar “Rocky Theme” playing (supposedly on the jogger’s headphones) but keeps being interrupted and started again to the frustration of the runner as he is being passed up while trying to fix the problem.

The theme is a legitimate attention-getter because many people have used it to prepare for a difficult task or to stimulate their adrenalin while jogging.

The commercial shows that inspiration can turn into frustration if the equipment doesn’t work right.

                  (JPL Syncro Sport)

What Would You “Never Do?”

 

What Would You “Never Do?”

How many “nevers” have you said in your lifetime? How many of them have you kept? If you said “Hardly any”, you can see why this spot by State Farm hit a common chord among people. It deals in the evolution of maturity in humans. 

"Clinically Proven"

 “Clinically Proven”

You can’t watch three commercials without two of them using the phrase: “Clinically Proven.” I used to think that meant there was some science involved, like a scientific study or a lab procedure that proved the claim. Then I started to realize there would have to be more testing labs in the country than golden labs.

I decided to research what “clinically proven” really meant. The result of my research is, there is no research involved. In fact, there is no real definition of what it means to even claim “clinically proven.” It could mean anything, or more likely, nothing.

This is usually a deceptive term that sounds scientifically valid, but probably has little or no scientific evidence to back it up. The term is basically useless and should be a red flag for any claim it is supporting. Which should signal to you: “buyer beware!”