GoPro Captures A Fire-Rescued Kitten, But…

It’s a heroic ad for GoPro of the real-life, helmet cam captured rescue of a kitten from a burning Fresno house. But learning that the kitten later died from smoke inhalation is officially the bummer of the day.

Tuesday Throwback: Crystal Pepsi Forever

Crystal Pepsi came out when I was 6 years old, and it is one of the early commercials in my life that I remember vividly. According to Wikipedia, in the early ’90s, there was a marketing trend that associated clearness with purity. Crystal Pepsi was advertised as a caffeine-free clear cola that had a classic Pepsi taste. Pepsi put their big guns on the project, and created a Super Bowl commercial featuring Van Halen’s “Right Now.”

The commercial conveyed the excitement of a product that for lack of a better term, had a “right now” feeling. I convinced my dad to buy a bottle, despite the fact that I didn’t even drink soda at this point (the bubbles burned my tongue). Crystal Pepsi’s sales were good initially, but fell quickly, as consumers saw it as a mere gimmick. Anyone with the slightest marketing knowledge knows that it’s a huge effort to get people to change from an item with which they have a connection. Just look at the example of New Coke, often known as the biggest commercial flop of all time. So Crystal Pepsi went away almost as fast as it came. But don’t worry, if you watch enough ’90s nostalgia shows on VH1, you’ll inevitably see a segment about it.

Generation Opportunity Wants Young People To Avoid Creepy Uncle Sam And Opt Out Of Obamacare

I generally try to stay away from politics on this blog. I have my beliefs, but they don’t usually play a role in how I view advertising. Of course, sometimes political-type ads come up that are just too outrageous to ignore. I saw this today on Gawker. They’re from Generation Opportunity, a conservative group with a deep anti-Obamacare agenda. They show a young man and woman going on doctor’s appointments funded by Obamacare (officially the Affordable Care Act).  When they get to “delicate” parts of the exam, Creepy Uncle Sam rears his head and the ads end with a simple printed message: “Don’t let government play doctor.” In the words of Gawker:  “The gendered ads, as you can see below, don’t offer much more than scare tactics in the way of substance, but such is the tone of the contemporary political sphere: “DO YOU WANT THE GOVERNMENT IN YOUR VAGINA, LADY? AND YOU, BRO, DO YOU WANT UNCLE SAM IN YOUR ASS? WELL, DO YOU?”

Better Late Than Never: Geico’s Hump Day Commercial

I’m sure you’ve seen and been amused by this one many times, since it’s been out for months. But sometimes, it’s good to remind yourself that it’s Hump Day. And who better to shout Hump Day’s praises than a camel?

Bud Light, The NFL, And Quinoa: A Classic Combination

To be fair, I thought it was pronounced KWEEN-uh for a while too. And it does look like a loofah. Here’s what quinoa actually is.

Chipotle’s Haunting Animated Commercial, Featuring The Vocals Of Fiona Apple

There’s been a whole lot of great long-form work to come out lately, and here’s another. Chipotle isn’t a company that advertises too much, but when they do it tends to be viral-type videos like “Back to the Start.” Their work also tends to get rave reviews. Chipotle’s new spot “The Scarecrow” smells like an award winner. It features a bleak, haunting, dystopian world. I’ll let Adweek do more of the explanation. It’s an incredibly beautiful video. But the real standout is the mesmerizing, hypnotic vocals of Fiona Apple who sings a cover of “Pure Imagination” from the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie. And yes, Fiona’s song will be soon available for download. There’s also a game for “The Scarecrow.” Excellent, excellent stuff.

True: The Thai Telecommunications Company Has A Touching Ad

This touching, cinematic commercial comes from a seemingly unlikely source: True, a telecommunications conglomerate based in Thailand. Even if you can see the twist ending before it arrives, it still has a moving message that about the value of good deeds. Many are never forgotten. The spot has been getting acclaims around the blogosphere, and on YouTube. As I’m writing this, it has more than 15,000 likes vs. 97 dislikes. Wow.

Tuesday Throwback: This Magical Commercial From Norway’s Wideroe

OK, it isn’t really a throwback since this ad came out last year. But I just noticed that I posted about it exactly a year ago and I didn’t think the original post got as many views as I thought it should have. So here’s the original post I did. And here is Wideroe’s magical commercial, which I thought was the best of the year.

Petco Shows The Human-Animal Bond

Do you like animals? If not, you’re also probably not a good person. But if so, you’ll probably think Petco’s new commercial is great. Here’s what AdFreak has to say.

State Farm Now Has Aaron Rodgers With The Superfans

Well, football is back. Which also means a whole new boatload of football-related commercials. And the Aaron Rodgers “Discount Double Check” campaign for State Farm continues. And now it features Aaron interacting with the Superfans, famous for their loud interjections of “Da Bears” on Saturday Night Live in the early ’90s. I’m actually a little surprised that it took so long for this concept to come up. It’s mildly amusing…grill class. And Aaron Rodgers is befuddled, as always.