Hasta La Creative!

Much anticipated, the switch to Digital Television, or DTV, finally took place on June 12, 2009. Despite over 1.5 years of warning, many found themselves with no programmings that fateful day. The original switch date of February 17, 2009 was pushed back due to the “lack of preparedness” of over 10% of US households. The whole effort to switch to DTV, according to the Federal Communications Commission,  began on January 23, 2001.

Eight years of planning, $10 billion dollars invested, and you’re now looking at it. Whew! Glad that’s over. Reminds me of Y2K.

Yet, it’s not really funny. Especially for the 1,700 broadcast stations that spent their money to upgrade to the new digital equipment, and then to wait patiently for the change. It arrived in February,and then the digital implementation was delayed. It arrived again in June as the cut was finally made.The money invested by the stations was to be recouped via the use of additional signals. Each broadcast station has been given its core channel, which currently carries the signal, along with 5 additional signals that “piggyback” on the original.The additional signals are actually sub-channels, capable of carrying additional programming. For instance, if a viewer wants to watch an “all business, news and weather” version of his or her local NBC affiliate, the station can theoretically satisfy this niche. Geographic areas with high Hispanic indices can have access to Spanish sub-channels.

BusinessWeek reports that there are areas of the country already utilizing DTV’s capabilities, but the others have run into a major stumbling block: the economy.

ION’s Qubo airs cartoon programming for kids while ION Life focuses on health and fitness. NBC offers its local stations a sports channel and just launched a New York City news channel. MGM aims to partner with local stations to offer a movie channel, and entertainment service LATV offers bilingual programming for young Latinos.

Here’s the problem: The cable, satellite, and phone companies are loath to distribute programming that is largely untested and may compete with their own channels. What’s more, the recent switch to digital TV coincides with a punishing recession. Local TV advertising fell 28% in the first quarter from the same period in 2008.

It is not a question of “if” the stations will use the expanded bandwidth, but a question of “when.” There has been speculation that the added sub-channels will be used to send TV programming straight to computers and cell phones, further integrating TV, Online, and Mobile platforms.

Either way, it looks as if it may be a while before the dollars flow out of DTV at the same rate they were invested.

Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Account Coordinator. His passion is writing. Reach out and touch him: www.linkedin.com or www.twitter.com.

“Well,” he said, ” at least the economy looks to be turning around.” I nearly spit up…luckily the cat was still asleep. What? Who was this guy? Ahh-just another analyst on late night TV. One of the ones that don’t make it to Evening News. Credible at times, totally off-kilter at others. Think “Ross Perot.” The economy is in such a state that when the market closes “up” at any point during the week, it’s breaking news. “We’re sorry to interrupt this program, but the Dow has just closed at it’s highest point this week, and the S&P shows signs of breaking even. Tune in to Channel 6 News tonight to hear about this exciting historic development.” 

Unfortunately, with the economy, or lack thereof, many advertisers have been forced to reduce their spending, which means only one thing: More Informercials.

But wait! There’s More! If you act now, you can catch the Discovery Channel’s reality show about infomercials!. It’s called Pitchmen, and stars none other than Bill Mays. I watched it for the longest half hour of my life the other night, and two weeks later saw the product that was featured on the reality show in an infomercial. In fact, I wonder if they run infomercials during the reality show about infomercials. It would make sense…but we would have to change the show type from reality to surreality. Pitchmen would not the sole surreality member; Date My Mom,  Rock of Love and  Shot at Love with Tila Tequila would fit in the category as well.

If you have not seen or heard about the benefits of a ShamWow or a Snuggy yet, stay up past 10 pm and you will.  These two spots are on so much that they should be put up for a People’s Choice Award.

You’ve probably heard this before, but let just in case: Everything seen on TV…even the news…is not the whole truht. Some things are fit for consumption, others are not.  Take ShamWow and Snuggy: First, the ShamWow is a damn sham(e);  if you’ve ever watched the spot, you’ll know what I mean. And in surreality, the spokesman for the ShamWow. 

It seems that the intrepid host for the magical cloth was jailed for punching out a hooker when she bit his tongue, causing it to bleed profusely.

As if that weren’t bad enough, the  Snuggy, according to The Consumerist, has been found to be guilty of coming apart in the wash!

But wait! There’s More!

Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Account Coordinator. His passion is writing. If you would like to get in touch with Jeff, please leave a reply or follow the links: www.linkedin.com or www.twitter.com.

Truth in advertising is, by some, considered an oxymoron. Like “deafening silence” or “clean coal.” Yet, each day commercials run that make outrageous claims, but nothing seems to be done about them. For instance, the ShamWow; the announcer pours a can of cola out on the table in a big pool. The camera cuts to the announcer as he asks, “Are you catching this camera-guy?” The scene cuts back to the table and half of the mess is mysteriously missing. 

The government agency in charge of false advertising is the Federal Trade Commission, and there are several pages on their website dedicated on spelling out what are, and are not, deceptive practices :

Under the Federal Trade Commission Act:

• Advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive;
• Advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims; and
• Advertisements cannot be unfair.

What makes an advertisement deceptive?

According to the FTC’s Deception Policy Statement, an ad is deceptive if it contains a statement – or omits information – that:

• Is likely to mislead consumers acting reasonably under the circumstances; and
• Is “material” – that is, important to a consumer’s decision to buy or use the product.

The FTC is also concerned with the roles that celebrity spokespeople play in selling products, and has instituted changes to “Tuides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” If a false claim is made by a celebrity, the FTC will hold the advertiser responsible for the misleading claim, but also expert and celebrity endorsers.

Additionally, celebs cannot state that they love bacon and have it everyday for breakfast when they’ve never eaten bacon, nor would consider it as food. The same is true for the “magical time” continuum on TV: there has to be a reasonable semblance to the the truth. If Joe’s Bleach states that a stain will be lifted in thirty minutes, the trials have to be relatively close to this timeframe (ie, it can’t take a day). Celebrities will also be liable for what they do not say; if a professional  baseball player shows up on a talk show and plugs a product, he has to state that he is a paid sponsor for the product. 

With the proliferation of commercials on TV, it’s apparent that the FTC cannot enforce these statutes; however, Kellogg’s Cereal recently settled out of court due to claims that Frosted Mini Wheats boosted a child’s attention span by 20 percent versus children that did not eat breakfast at all.

Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Coordinator. His passion is writing, contributing to BMA as well as freelancing. He’d love to hear from you: linkedin.com/in/jefflouis or twitter.com/jlo0312..

Mexico, offended by this Burger King Whopper spot (click on Read More), cites that the world community is given “a bad impression” of the country. The spot, which ran in Spain and Europe, has been pulled by Burger King Corporation, who obviously didn’t get it “Their Way.” Mexico believes the spot portrays Americans as superior to Mexicans, and took exception to, “The taste of Texas with a little spicy Mexican,”

The newspaper La Jornada ran a front-page story under the headline “Denigrating advertising,” and said the ads “show Mexicans as notably inferior to all Americans.”

But an editorial cartoon in another Mexican newspaper, Reforma, showed a short Mexican dressed in a wrestler’s mask holding a hamburger, with the caption “The only thing more insulting than deceptive ads are the ones that expose the truth.” Both professional wrestling and fast food are popular in Mexico.

Mexico, to no one’s surprise, has much to worry about these days. The Mexican government risks collapse at any moment, the country is flat broke, and her people are leaving in record numbers. Not to mention that there were 5612 murders in 2008 resutling from a violent drug war. The drugs in question are being shipped the United States, causing the Obama administration to pledge $700 Million to help Mexico fight the drug cartels.

So, it’s a good thing Mexico’s watching out for their REP; otherwise, we might get the wrong impression…

Jeff Louis is an professional Senior Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Coordinator. His passion is writing, contributing to BMA as well as freelancing. He’d love to hear from you: www.linkedin/in/jefflouis or on twitter @jlo0312.

Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB) secured DivX certification for ADB-3810TW IPTV set-top box (STB), another step towards the shift of TV experience into a premium multimedia entertainment event. ADB is a global leader in the design and manufacture of advanced STBs and has shipped over 11 million units across cable, satellite, IPTV, and terrestrial markets.

“The DivX Certified ADB-3810TW highlights our momentum within the set-top box market and illustrates our continued commitment to ensuring a seamless experience for high-quality digital video across a broad range of consumer electronic devices,” said Patrice Lagrange, Senior Vice President, Products, DivX, Inc. “Working with ADB contributes to our goal of meeting consumer demand for solutions that bring digital entertainment from the PC to the living room.”

(Source) Press

Advertising Agency: Euro RSCG São Paulo, Brazil
Creative Directors: Carlos Castelo, Rodrigo Corbari
Art Director: Rodrigo Corbari
Copywriter: Carlos Castelo
Aired: April 2008

Advertising Agency: Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, Australia
Executive Creative Director: James McGrath
Creative Director: Ant Keogh
Creative: Tom Martin, Julian Schreiber
Agency Producer: Karolina Bozajkovska
Director: Tom Kuntz
Production Company: MJZ/Walkabout Films
Producer: Lizzy Nash
Editor: Jack Hutchings

Advertising Agency :TBWA\YEHOSHUA Israel
CCO: Itai Herman
Creative Director: Edo Kariv
Art Director: Ziv Almong
Copywriter: Eliad Fridman
Accounts Supervisor:Erez Barkatz
Accounts Account Manager:Einat Dzigan
Aired: July 2008

Advertising Agency: DDB Canada, Vancouver, Canada
Chief Creative Officer: Alan Russell
Creative Director: Dean Lee
Art Director: Dan Strasser
Copywriter: Kevin Rathgeber
Graphic Designer: Brandon Thomas
Agency Producer: Sue Bell
Production Company: Curious Pictures
Director: Abe Spear
Line Producer: Viet Luu
Post-Production Co.: Curious Pictures
Editor: Sam Goetz
Audio House: Pirate Radio
Augio House Producer: Tom Emundson
Colour: Company 3
Aired: June 2008

Advertising Agency: Tribal DDB, Toronto, Canada
Creative Director: Dré Labre
Art Director: Frederik Samuel
Copywrter: Travis Sellar
Producer: Pat Elia
Account Manager: Andrew Kinnear
Production Company: Spy Films
Executive Producer: Carlo Trulli
Director: Trevor Cornish
Producer: Peter Oad
Post Production: Soho