New Year. New Writing. New Advertising Thoughts.

Happy 2011! Almost a year later I've returned to my AdGab blog to write about my favorite and least favorite advertisements. I've been busy the past year working for a local television affiliate and learning a lot about the behind-the-scenes aspects of television advertising. A great perk of my job is getting to watch TV all day - yes, I got to see the 2010 Winter Olympics live, Regis and Kelly every day, and I won't even have to take off of work to watch Prince Williams wed. On top of all that greatness, my coworker (shout out to Justine!) and I get to pick apart the commercials that we can't stand. The number one winner for 2010 was Tide Acti-Lift.

Observe.



1) The shot of the mother and her friends walking into the club is reminiscent of a shot in the opener of season one of The Hills. Yes, let me screen-split it to show the full ridiculousness. (Also note the outfits her friends are wearing.)


2) Why is the mother and her friends at a club? Do mothers of teens relate to this? I'm curious, please let me know if you are a mother of a teenager and still go to clubs with your friends.

3) Is that Nate's Taco Truck at the club? Okay that's irrelevant and only understood by VCU students/alum.

4) The fine print at :20 says "Dramatization: Dry roasted pepper olive oil stain on 100% cotton." So no, it's not even taco grease and buyers will be disappointed.

5) Out of all the clothes her daughter has, she chose to borrow that ugly green shirt.

In all seriousness. WHO were they trying to target? Single mothers in mid-life crisis? Okay, I get it. Instead of the mom doing laundry to clean her kid's and husband's stains out of their clothes it's her cleaning a stain out of the shirt she stole from her daughter for a fun girls night out. Yes, mothers have lives other than laundry and housework, but I really hope "The Secret Life of the American Mother" isn't her stealing her daughter's clothes to go out on the town clubbing.

Okay mothers of kids and teenagers, what activity and spill do YOU think would have made more sense for this commercial? Hopefully this is out of rotation for 2011.