Maybe Not-So-Much a Winner?
By Katie Earley, Copywriter
Last week I posted some commercials I had enjoyed, including one for Louisville that mimicked erectile dysfunction ads. I thought it was hysterical and was proud that the my city was not afraid to use humor to market ourselves. Apparently though, many important city leaders disagree with me and the campaign is no longer running. The situation has even picked up national coverage, and this article includes some quotes from local leaders and videos of the other ads in the campaign.
Similar dilemmas happen in agencies all across the country. Edgy ideas are pushed aside for more conventional ideas that are safe. Tom Denari made an excellent point in Advertising Age this week that we get caught up in spectrum of “creative” and “strategic”, as if those two things can’t coexist. (Not to mention that those two words have come to mean everything and nothing.) The question should be, “Does the ad engage the potential customer?”
Do these Louisville ads engage the customer? Well, they seem to have engaged some of them, including me. They got attention, which is Step One.
