Occasionally, flawed advertising achieves goals in spite of the fact that it’s poorly executed in some form or fashion. But then there are the ads that inexplicably attain broad audiences yet fall short in every conceivable way.
There’s a TV spot we’ve seen dozens of times lately which shows a young couple in their yuppified home. The television set sputters and fails; the wife tells the husband that “it’s time to get a new TV.” Not a bad set-up, and you can already anticipate the great punch line that’s sure to follow.
But this is where the ad falls apart. The guy goes to a big box store and looks at a huge array of widescreens, flat screens, plasmas and everything else in HD Heaven. But the whole thing plays out in dull, listless black-and-white. As a viewer, you sit there watching, waiting for the big “reveal” when one of the huge TVs is in wondrous color, and the shopping dude is wowed by its magnificence.
But no. He checks his “account” balance on his cell phone, which apparently tells him which TV he can or cannot afford (apparently the point of the spot). And the commercial winds down, in black-and-white. And with no punch line. Unforgivable.
And here’s the worst thing about it: We can’t, even after marveling at this ad’s ineptitude dozens of times, remember what brand it’s advertising. Is it a bank? Is it VISA? We’re not sure! And that’s the ultimate failing of any advertisement. As previously discussed here with regard to the FreeCreditReport.com broadcast spots, even with multiple flaws, it’s impossible to walk away from those commercials without knowing what brand was being pimped.
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