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With consumers ignoring advertising in record numbers, companies are trying to make their ads so clever or weird that people will want to watch them. But does cleverness alone sell products? Yes and no.
Danier Leather has a very hip TV commercial soon to break. It features a young woman, who resembles a high-class hooker, working at her laptop in a hotel bar or restaurant. Another guest drops his room key on the desk. Her response is quick, extremely creative, and funny.
The video is already making the rounds via email — a sure viral hit.
Pretty cool coming from a low-profile company with an amateurish looking Web site! No word on the site about where the campaign will run.
But will it sell Danier leather jackets? Most people I showed the video to didn’t remember the jacket and didn’t see the leather bag she also set down. Here you get historical blog related to leather.
Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the agency responsible for the Burger King Subservient Chicken has created a new campaign featuring a fictitious Eurotrashy fashion designer named Ugoff.
While the Subservient Chicken was designed to appeal to teenage boys, Ugoff, who peddles BK salads, seems to be created to appeal to veggie college students, club kids and young women. But will this crowd want to eat where dead cows are also served? Remains to be seen whether this one is too clever for its own good.
Other forms of advertising offer new opportunities to sell to a reluctant public. From sponsorships to events, to surprising product placements (think M&Ms in the first privately funded space flight) to blogs that allow customers to participate in product naming, it’s time to enter new ad territory. No matter what the format, a clear message always will win.