"Who cares about the packaging?"

Some poor reporting from CNN that unintentionally makes a great point:

Embedded video from CNN Video

The 4 minute report emphasizes on a sense of great mystery as to why consumers are so unhappy with the new packaging. The reporters discuss consumers wanting a sense of control in an unstable economy, etc. etc. That's just mumble jumble. The fact of the matter is clear: consumers want the orange with the straw. What seems to baffle the reporters even more is why the consumers want that image back. While Linda Kaplan Thalers goes on about how the straw in the orange represents pure and nautural juice what she is really missing is the fact that the orange with the straw is Tropicana's brand symbol. This symbol evokes brand recoginition with the consumer. So while it may very well represent pure juice, to consumers it represents much more. It evokes the familiarity of thebrand with which consumers have built a trusting relationship. Tropicana without its straw-in-orange is Target without its bullseye, Nike without its Swoosh, and Tiffany without its blue box.

I still like the new look for Tropicana, but then again - I don't even drink orange juice.

Phelps Flop

In today's brandfreak.com post, Robert Klara discusses the PR crisis cleanup of the recent Michael Phelps flop:

Case 2: In a public statement, Phelps admitted that his November inhalation of loco weed represented "bad judgment." But then he used his age as an excuse: "I'm 23 years old" and acted "in a youthful and inappropriate way," he carped. (No doubt, dude—but you've got $100 million in endorsements at stake.) Fortunately for Phelps, there's still a little time. "I would like to see him tell his fans, many of whom are children, that he made a big mistake—and he should mean it," veteran PR man Sam Chapman tells BrandFreak. "The key to successful crisis communications is being authentic." Put that in your pipe and ... y'know.

I disagree with Chapman.  If the key to successful crisis communication is being authentic, then Phelps saying he made a mistake would be lying and that would not be authentic. However, his response was authentic. Yes, he is an Olympic gold medalist and record holder, but he is also a 23-year-old.  What does the public think most other 20-something-year-old males are doing when they go out at night? If it's not what Phelps was doing, then it's probably drinking & driving. But I digress... these "children" that are his fans probably don't even know what a bong hit is nor are they watching Entertainment Tonight or reading Perezhilton.com. If they do know what it is (or reading perezhilton.com), then their parents/guardians have bigger fish to fry.

Better Than the Bowl Commercials...

Was the half-time show! If you went out for a snack run, check out this clip:

Super Bowl's Super (and not-so-super) Ads.

Thank goodness for Bridgestone Tires.  Not only did they sponsor an awesome half-time show (BRUUUCE!), but their Tater spot topped my list of best ads of the 2009 Super Bowl. The overall performance of most Super Bowl spots this year was less than spectacular, but Bridgestone definitely entertained.

Bridgestone: Tater

Not only was Mrs. Potato Head's constant nagging something male AND female viewers could relate to and be amused by, Bridgestone really sealed the laughing deal with the angry eyes. Check it out:

Pepsi: Refresh Anthem

Pepsi's new campaign is one of my favorites.  It is a smart campaign that helps connect the past to the present using pop culture and historic moments while still maintaining a focus on the Pepsi brand.  The commercial uses music to thread the split past/present scenes together and, considering the fact that I sang along to every word of Springsteen's "Glory Days" - a song released years before I was born - during the half-time show, this was an affective way to connect with consumers old and young.

GE: Scarecrow

Despite my dislike for The Wizard of OZ (it creeps me out), this spot was another one of my favorites.  GE's tag line "Imagination at Work" was well represented in its Super Bowl commercial and the commercial strongly reflected the brand's message.  This was one of the more creative and well-thought-out commercials this year.

With the good always come the bad and this year there were some really bad. I will start with godaddy.com.

Godaddy.com: Shower

This commercial simply made me say "What the hell? What the hell was that even for? That was horrible."  If I were to describe the brand based on the message reflected in this ad, the words I would use are: Cheap, trashy, unintelligent, bland. This was by far the worst spot during the Super Bowl this year.  Shame on godaddy.com for trying to use such low-class sexually-related material to drive consumers to its website.

SoBe: Lizards 3D

Not that this commercial was horrible, but there were some things about it that earned it a spot in the bottom.  First, I've felt this way since last year: Lizards = Slimy and I don't want slimy, lizardy water.  Though the lizard has always been a symbol of SoBe the computer animated version just makes it icky and not something I want to associate with my drinking water.  Second, though the concept was cute, it kind of felt like a rip off of the recent Justin Timberlake/Beyonce "Single Ladies" SNL parody. The commercial was presented in 3D, but really - 3D technology isn't anything new.  Not the worst, but SoBe could do better.

Bud Light: Drinkability

I was disappointed with the Anheuser-Busch commercials this year.  Usually they rank up in my favorites, but this year's Bud Light, Budweiser, and Budweiser America commercials just didn't do it for me. Even the Budweiser horse commercials failed to make me smile.  Instead of funny and entertaining they were slap-humor stupid.  Nothing about watching a skier crash down a mountain and into picnic tables makes me want a Bud Light nor does it warrant any creative applause. Better luck next year.

Which spots were your favorites and which do you think failed to entertain?