Surfrider Foundation

The Surfrider Foundation protects the coastline through an activist network. They have done a vast amount of campaigns throughout the U.S. that protect beaches and the ocean. The #everydropcounts campaign asks people to save a shower on March 22, World Water Day. The page has some very cool data visualization: http://www.surfrider.org/every-drop-counts/. They are using a catchy hashtag to get Twitter talking.

Environmental Campaign: Connect4Climate

I think that giving control to students to create an ad campaign for an important organization is very cool to say the least; this is something Connect4Climated did with their iChange competition. The commercial is very clever, funny, and simple to understand.

https://youtu.be/8NtVC5qcVAU

The Guardian posted their Top 10 climate change campaigns in which this iChange campaign was featured.

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/nov/15/top-10-climate-change-campaigns

Consumer Behavior: Nike launches the Hypervenom boot

Nike launched the Hypervenom in 2014 and dropped the CTR360 boot concurrently. The Hypervenom was designed for "a new breed of attack"; it features new lightweight material that allows for more ball control—something that was lacking in the Mercurial Vapor as the ball often skid off the material when trying to control a pass. It was a successful launch because it was a similar version to the Vapor, which was Nike's best selling boot. The CTR360 was also a great boot for passing, control, and firing long range rockets at goal but not enough professional players wore it. The speed of play gets faster year after year so it makes sense for Nike to launch another speed boot. I've worn this boot, and it is super comfortable and lightweight.

Really cool ad for the boot

 

Neymar is the face of the boot.

Gender Stereotyping: Rose Petal Cottage

This is the perfect example of how the tv commercials influence gender stereotypes. The bright pastel colors, pop song with ridiculous lyrics, and home appliances are attempting to shape young girls into domesticated housewives. I think the jingle really gets embedded into the minds of the girls; it sounds fun and catchy but the kids don't realize that it's not okay.

Gender Stereotyping

Gender stereotyping is present in most ads; what a guy or girl should be. The truth is, not all women are housewives and not all men are masculine heterosexuals. In an analysis of gender in advertising by author and University of North Texas professor Steve Craig, Craig found that women are typically presented as “rewards” for men; the Gucci ad we saw in class is the perfect example of this—if you buy the cologne, you'll get the girl. Here's another one:

Racism in Television: The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory is one of the most popular shows on tv right now and it's one of my favorite shows. I noticed the show can be pretty racist at times, especially when the guys make fun of Raj. A lot of the jokes directed toward Raj in the show are regarding his Indian background. The show also makes fun of Howard Wolowitz, a Jewish engineer, pretty heavily. Also, the show makes fun of "trailer trash" Penny and her midwestern background.

Stereotypes

I think we see racists ads way too much. I don't understand why companies insist on using them—ethics aside; all of the stereotyping is tired, it's not funny or clever. In a recent interview with The Breakfast Club, Kanye West made some strong points about racism and exclusion in our society. West stated "The first thing we gotta do to stop racism is stop focusing on racism. And I understand that there's somebody going to work right now that has a white boss that's talking down to them because they black and I'm not trying to deny that. But I'm saying we understand that people is different races—saying white-skinned versus dark-skinned, It just slows down the conversation." Kanye also explained how we all know that older white men in power right now are most likely racist, BUT they're on their way out; it is up to the new generation to erase the racial boundaries. Advertisers do have an ethical responsibility, but I don't think it matters if they don't abide by it because the power is shifting from companies to consumers. Tyler the Creator's Mountain Dew commercial and Doritos "Add a little Mexican" commercials aren't even creative nor funny as they were intended to be. I think racial stereotyping in advertisement is on its way out, it says more about the advertisers and companies than it does about the racial stereotypes that they portray anyway.

3 Ads

Print ad: Heinz Ketchup

• Fresh sliced tomatoes make up the original ketchup bottle
• Tomatoes, packaging, and graphics are integrated
• The color red is part of Heinz
• Typography is friendly, sans serif bold













TV ad: Old Spice

• Desaturation - hipster feel - targets young people
• Explores stereotypical mom-son relationship, uses it in a humorous way
• For straight guys (guy likes girl in ad)
• Old Spice is trying to target younger consumers (high school or college males)








Outdoor ad: Santa Fe

• Clever placement near IKEA
• Uses IKEA to promote
• Everything is to the left so we see IKEA and the car from that angle
• Type says "Load that furniture in here"
• Targeting IKEA shoppers

Game of War Ad

I've been seeing a lot of this campaign with Kate Upton as the face of Game of War; the commercials are featured a lot on the FootyLight app, which is where I like to watch my soccer highlights. I thought it was pretty ridiculous at first but the commercials started to develop into something more interesting and Kate Upton's character was actually integrated into the game. Its interesting how mobile gaming is trying to break into pop culture. I think I'm one more commercial away from buying the game.

"People aren't stupid. Ad agencies are."

I really like Mortar's "humorous underdog" vibe and philosophy. It seems like they're a full service agency. It's a bit unclear who they are as a brand though; their website content can either be refreshingly funny or simply obnoxious. It seems they use a lot of neutral tones and desaturation to communicate their concept of simplicity.

Their identity design work for the San Francisco Aids Foundation is pretty strong:
http://mortaragency.com/what-weve-done/work/san-francisco-aids-foundation