FC NOW: The Fast Company Weblog
January 31, 2006
In a Lather Over Advertising
Have you seen this television ad? A team of government agents discover a UFO in the desert. Inside are technological wonders previously unseen. A trailer for a new film perhaps? Actually, it is an advertisement for Gillete's new razor, the Fusion. While the TV spot has a movie trailer aesthetic and a release date of February 5, it doesn't mention at all that the Fusion is a men's shaving razor. When I told my wife what the trailer was teasing, she laughed at the incongruous relationship between the commercial and the product.
Do Hollywood production values and over-the-top visuals really help an advertising campaign? For a razor? I believe clever and well written advertisements perform better than action-packed bombardments. And this Gillette ad is the epitome of that, all flash and no substance. Then again, I am talking about it, aren't I?
What do you think about the Fusion commercial? What makes an ad successful?
Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at January 31, 2006 12:48 PM | Category: advertising + PR |
4 Comments
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A good TV ad, much like most ads, is an elegant combination of product message, brand, and visual style. The Gillette ad you mention is what we call a ten cent idea with a million dollar budget.
It's still a hack ad, no matter how much money you put into it.
A successful commercial will brand a memory into the mind of the viewer that will remain long after the commercial has ended. Sometimes, it will leave us pondering a specific scene, imagining an experience, or just cause us to be curious. Maybe, I will walk into the store looking for razors and see the fusion package. Just like the government workers, I am curious about this product. I am sure that the commercial is linked to the packaging in some way, something to trigger a connection between two visual stimuli. Even in the supposed, straight forward commercial, there are usually visual cues that are meant to trigger connections. After the time and energy spent in writing about this commercial, don’t you have at least the slightest desire to slip into the store when no is looking and secretly buy that razor for yourself? Just imagine, a shave, out of this world!
Vernon
Hopken@aol.com
No wonder Marx grew a beard. Perhaps he was trying to tell us something about razors and the innevitability of facile advertising and the physical limitations of the number of blades housed on a singe razor.
Has anyone see a preview for this commercial. I will be following the Fusions launch for a upper year University class and would be interested in any info that can be provided.