Rainbow Oreo

Earlier this week, Oreo unleashed a new ad supporting Pride Month. It is simple and features what is known as "America's Favorite Cookie" with rainbow colored filling with "June 25 Pride" underneath.

This ad caused much controversy online--ranging from people attempting to boycott Oreo and parent company Kraft to people saying how Oreo is going to corrupt children who eat the cookies. While all of this is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion, I also kind of find it ridiculous that Oreo released the advertisement in the first place. Why is it necessary for a product (especially a cookie) and the corporation that owns it to say whether or not they support gay rights? Is the company in it because they truly support the cause or because they hope that revenue will be raised? In this controversial case, Oreo has received a ton of attention, both good and bad. This works out very conveniently for them because it gets people talking about Oreo and once they're talking about it, they're thinking about it and then buying the product.

Oreo and Kraft aren't the only company that has made public their support of gay rights and I find it disturbing in all cases. While I'm completely supportive of gay rights, I have a nagging feeling that corporations aren't showing their support for the right reasons; instead they are hoping to gain attention and revenue by stepping in at a pivotal point in history. It's almost as if Oreo is piggy-backing on a very real civil rights issue that affects millions of people and to me, this seems to make it less important.

Advertising Gone Wrong

Both Home Depot and Pizza Hut are under fire as The Black Keys are filing copyright infringement lawsuits against the companies. The Black Keys allege that Home Depot and Pizza Hut used "Lonely Boy" and "Gold on the Ceiling" in advertisements without first obtaining permission. This article from CBS states that the $75,000 claims will likely rule in favor of The Black Keys because neither company attempted to get the rights to use the songs.

Here's Pizza Hut's commercial and below is "Gold on the Ceiling".

While Pizza Hut didn't use the exact song, it's close enough to warrant an infringement on the artists' rights. What amazes me is that large companies (who do/should have a legal team) will attempt to copy songs by artists or use their songs without their permission. Is there no one that steps in and says, "Hey, maybe we shouldn't use something so blatantly similar." 

The fact that The Black Keys have recently become very popular may play some role into wanting to use the songs, but the same thing happens to smaller artists as well. For example, VW recently ran a commercial that used a song that was strikingly similar to the Beach House song "Take Care". While VW attempted to gain permission from the band, they denied, only to find a song that sounded like one of theirs show up on the subsequent VW commercials. Beach House issued a statement saying that they had not give permission to VW and are currently deciding whether to sue the car manufacturer. 

While a song copied from a smaller artist may not be as easily caught, it's still unethical to use their creativity to market something they do not want to be associated with. One would think that in today's world, where lawsuits run rampant and legal advice is everywhere, companies would stay away from this sort of behavior, VW, the Home Depot and Pizza Hut all prove otherwise.    

Advertising in MKE: Part Six

Living in Milwaukee, I've seen plenty of interesting ads. There have been ads on the dangers of sleeping with your baby, graphic anti-smoking ads, and the importance of eating right for a strong baby. Now, however, there is a new breed of advertisements popping up around the city. They attempt to bring light to teenage pregnancy and statutory rape.

It's a campaign being run by Serve Marketing for the United Way of Greater Milwaukee and depicts young girls wrapped in snakes or covered by rats with the slogan, "What kind of man preys on young girls?" It's a powerful message and it leads the viewer to the website Baby Can Wait, which "connects Milwaukee's youth with sexual health resources".

The ads are shocking, but aren't the first to draw attention to the website. Earlier in the year, there were ads with a princess saying, "All my dreams came true when my Prince Charming got me pregnant and left."

These advertisements are found in bus stop shelters and bring to light very serious issues that many people may not wish to address. That's why I appreciate them--they are there to shock and disturb because a man who takes advantage of a young girl is shocking and disturbing.

The advertisements completely appeal to the emotional aspect of human nature. No one should be okay with hurting and taking advantage of children and by placing these ads at high-traffic bus stops, people will see them and hopefully want to take action against statutory rape and teen pregnancy.

Emotional Appeal to Pets

I'm an animal lover, so when I saw this ad the other day, I instantly took a liking to it. It's a campaign done by Renaissance Creative for the Riverside Humane Society and what makes it so great is that it appeals to the emotional side of human beings without being sad. There are many advertisements for humane societies that tug on the heart strings by showing animals in horrible conditions and saying how you can save an animals life by adopting. They have a great message for sure, but it's not always fun to see those kinds of ads.

This campaign, however, states quips about animals, such as that a cat's brain is 99% similar to a man's brain, so it's natural that you should adopt. I love that the bottom of the advertisements say things like "Adopt a soulmate" and "Adopt a bodyguard"; it puts the animal on the same level as humans and doesn't aim to create pity in the potential adopter. By giving the animals humanistic traits, these advertisements are seeking to create more of a bond between human and animal instead of the typical ads that make a person feel as though they are saving an animal instead of gaining a companion.

Advertising in MKE: Part Five

What's the only thing better than watching The Big Lebowski? An entire weekend devoted to Dude-approved activities, of course! For the first time, Lebowski Fest is coming to Milwaukee for a weekend filled with bowling, White Russians and a screening of the classic cult flick.

I love this poster advertising the celebration because it's the movie in a nutshell. It has everything that makes The Big Lebowski the Big Lebowski and is tastefully designed. While it doesn't give any details of the event, it intrigues the viewer and makes them want to find out more. Someone who isn't a fan of the film may overlook it, but for diehards and casual viewers alike, this poster offers a great representation of the film.

Advertising on Pandora

When I get sick of the music on my iPod or iTunes, I often turn to Pandora to mix it up. As most everyone knows, it's Internet radio that allows you to pick a favorite artist or genre and it will play similar artists. The app on my phone is a lifesaver if I've forgotten my iPod when I'm driving, and one thing I've noticed as of late is the amount of advertising that goes into Pandora. 

Every few songs an advertisement for various products or services will come up. I've seen everything from ads for dating websites, insurance and Wal Mart.





Every few songs an advertisement for various products or services will come up. I've seen everything from ads for dating websites, insurance and Wal Mart. The ads that strike me the most, however, are for bands. There will typically be a snippet of a song played with an announcement saying, "Check out so and so's new album, out now!". I always thought these were bands that no one really listened to until I heard one of my favorites, Beach House, promoting their latest album Bloom on Pandora. Everyone in my friend group loves Beach House, so it's not that their music is that desperate or disliked (unless we have horrible taste in music), but after I heard that I realized what a great way advertising on Pandora can be for artists to get new listeners. Beach House, despite being one of my favorites, isn't a huge band and still play smaller venues and festivals.



If a Pandora listener is tuned to a station that has a similar sound to the artists that person already likes, there's a higher chance they'll check out the new artist. It's a fantastic way to reach a new audience and, at least in my case, I listen to the artist advertisements instead of just tuning them out like I do with ads for cars or insurance.

Advertising in MKE: Part Four

With the upcoming recall election of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, it's hard not to notice the amount of advertising that surrounds it. Whether its radio ads or television commercials, there's no way to ignore or avoid it.

What I find most interesting, however, is the amount of people that have chosen to advertise their beliefs on their cars or in their lawns. There are a plethora of "Stand with Wisconsin" and "Recall Walker" bumper stickers and yard signs to be found in the city of Milwaukee and it says a lot about our culture. We are a society that feels both comfortable and fed up. Comfortable enough that we are able to express our ideas and fed up enough to do so. The majority of signs I have seen in the city are against Walker; there have been very few "I stand with Walker" sign sightings as far as I am aware.

Though it isn't necessarily an ad, by putting a bumper sticker on your car, you're letting everyone around you know what you believe. The idea that Scott Walker is bad is being marketed, and whether someone agrees or disagrees, they are a consumer of this information.

Advertising in MKE: Part Three

This summer I'm nannying for a family that lives in the Riverwest neighborhood of Milwaukee. The area is known for its diversity and the fact that a lot of college students and hipsters live there. There are many parks in the area, so the kids I watch and I are always out and about and one thing I've come across time and time again is the advertising in the neighborhood.

The ads I've seen aren't of the typical advertising agency variety; instead, there are dozens of posters for local events, ranging from concerts and group art projects to book signings and poetry readings. The ads for these events are typically photocopied and hand-drawn on a piece of 8.5 x 11" paper. What I absolutely love about these is that they are all unique and illustrate a style not seen in run of the mill ads. They are fun to look at and read and they're usually in interesting locations such as alleyways, telephone poles and both inside and outside of local buildings.

These sort of advertisements appeal to an indie crowd and piqué the curiosity of someone walking by. In many cases, if it weren't for seeing these posters, people would have no way of knowing about what's going on, so it also appeals to the exclusivity of the market it's trying to target. A basement show in a house in Riverwest isn't for everyone, but for the people that enjoy that like knowing that not everyone is going to know about the show and it will be more catered to their crowd.

Some posters are funny or make obscure references, which further appeals to the typical Riverwest resident.

It's interesting to note the differences in how advertising is done in two different areas that aren't far apart in Milwaukee, that is, the downtown/Marquette area and the east side/UW-M area. Advertising in the downtown area seems to be predominately made up of PSAs and informing people while on the east side it's for advertising events and cool things to do.