I have to say, that I can't say enough about the CW Network. They just keep pumping out my favorite shows. Not just a show that gets me to chuckle and laugh at the scripted laughs (you know, when the shows have a laugh track to cue you to the correct times to laugh?), but a show that pulls on every string of emotion that I have without needing to cue me into it.

I remember years ago in high school, my first "show" was Smallville. The original network wasn't the CW but rather the WB. But who would have thought it, the same network that had the Wayans Brothers (a good comedy, but still) would try their take at a Superman show. So I felt I had to give it a look, that maybe it's failure would equal a good laugh. What I, and I'd have to imagine many other people, would not have known is that Smallville, is going on its 9th season and closing in on reaching that 200 episode mark that not many shows survive for.

Smallville wasn't simply some Superman show, they took angles, interesting angles, and analyzed them further. For instance, Superman is highly strong; strong enough to stop a moving train correct? Heck in the most recent Superman movie, he gets shot in the eye, crushes the bullet with his pupil, then in case that wasn't epic enough for you he lifts up a continent and then tosses it into space outside of Earth's orbit. We know he's that strong; but no one when watching the movie ever truly asks the question; "if he's that strong, then what about him giving a handshake to someone, or a high five. Couldn't he kill that person?" No wait, you're reading my blog, you're a very intuitive person already. So then how about the angle that Smallville asks about. If he's so strong and needs to have enough control to keep from kill everyone he knows when interacting with them, then what about when he's having sex? (don't worry, this blog will try and remain PG 13). At a time when so many people lose control, could he lose control for just a split second.. and then kill the person that he loves? How could having such issues affect his relationship with the girl he's intimate with? Heck not putting the toilet down is enough to end some relationships. That's an example of the types of interesting perspectives that I like to gain from my shows. And the CW does not cease to bring new, fresh, and different shows to the screen (I say this with ignoring the rebooted versions of Melrose Place and 90210, okay, maybe I'm a hypocrite.. but let me finish the compliment to CW first).

So finally we get to the point of this blog entry. Life Unexpected is my new favorite show. Its just so interesting. I first thought that when the commercial tagline played where it said, "It's Juno meets the Gilmore Girls" that it was complete bogus. Heck even for the first maybe 2-3 episodes, I thought that it was an interesting show, but not exactly Juno (One of my favorite movies) nor Gilmore Girls (a show I used to love to watch), but after this week, I'm confident and happy to say, Advertising doesn't always lie. This is a legitimate show, worthy of being MY show.


Just in case any of you have plans on catching the show, I won't do any spoilers, I'll just present the basic plot summary. "Fifteen year-old Lux has spent her life going from foster family to foster family. She has finally decided to become an emancipated minor. During her journey through the legal maze, Lux finds her biological father, 30-something Nate "Baze" Bazile, who lives above a bar and is astonished to learn he has a daughter. Lux learns that her mother is Cate Cassidy, a star on local radio, along with her boyfriend, Ryan Thomas. A judge decides to grant temporary custody of Lux to Baze and Cate instead of emancipating her." So what happens when all of these interesting perspectives on life clash? That's what you have to join me in finding out. Ladies and gentleman get your popcorn ready because this series looks like it will only get better and better... I just hope it doesn't hand on long enough to kill its "IT" factor, like some great shows have done *cough* One Tree Hill*cough* *cough* And well there it is, my final fantasy... until next time.... then again, scratch that, here's the trailer for the show, watch it and take up this show with me. Let this be your final fantasy (and mine)... that is until... well, you get the point.



So, I'm sure by now many of you have seen the newest Old Spice commercial "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" and if you haven't then you kind of just missed that huge video above this sentence and you might want to just give up at life... Okay maybe that's mean. I apologize, but anyways moving on... Now what makes this commercial blog worthy is that not only was it hilarious (we've seen that before, think Bud Light); not only was it brand effective (and not just some funny ad); but the firm that made the ad and is in charge of the account, Wieden+Kennedy, was actually forward thinking enough to create an entire campaign around this concept.

Other than the two "I'm on a horse" commercials, they've create a promo that I've seen not only on their website's front page (the video takes a few seconds to start) but also as a banner ad on Youtube. The promo, in addition to being pretty funny, offers us not only the ability to check out "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" but also a service called "My Perpetual Love". The service is supposed to be "guaranteed" to impress your woman; it has you fill out both your name & email and your lover's name & email and then sends ridiculous "sweet nothings" to her (by old spice) from your email. This online service all the while is just one more way to keep Old Spice relevant and top of mind to its customers. An example of one of those sweet nothings is, "I like you so much that just thinking about you makes my heart beat at a dangerously high rate that endangers my life."

Now I'd like to spotlight not just the creativity of this campaign, but also it's media planners and buyers. You literally can't escape this commercial; either from the old spice campaign itself, from the media coverage of it, or from your friends/people you know who love this ad and push it at every opportunity they get (that'd be me). Now the last two reasons are both unexpected touch points. But Wieden+Kennedy has been brilliant in reaching potential customers via their media planning and buying; they first bought space for the NBA All Star weekend (12.4 million total viewers), then continued buying space for the Winter Olympics (which at least 167 million Americans have already seen and has continued to average at least 20 million viewers a night), and then they pair that buying with spots bought on networks that cover the Olympics (such as ESPN). Not only have they had a huge television presence but they've also purchased banner ads on youtube, facebook, and who knows how many other websites. One would have a strong case for arguing that the media planners and buyers made the campaign even more than the creative people who made the hilariously funny commercial.

Wieden+Kennedy in my opinion executed the best integrated marketing campaign that I've seen. I doubt that Old Spice will be able to consistently execute their campaigns on a level consistent with this, but what I do know is that for at least the near future I will be smelling like Jet Fighters and punching instead of butterflies and salt taffy. And that's my final fantasy, until next time... I'm on a horse.


As the title alludes to, I changed my mind. In my last post I mentioned that I missed my one week grace period to jump into the superbowl commercial talk... but hey, people missed their grace periods all the time... I think. Matter of fact, being the last one into the game might just make this post more relevant then all 5000 weblogs, podcasts, and articles that came out the day after the Superbowl. So here we are, my thoughts on the Superbowl Ads of 2010.

My Top 5 Favorite Ads (While Watching Game):

1. "Stranded" Bud light Lost Parody

"Here We Go." I'm not sure about the slogan but this commercial WAS and still is absolutely hilarious! I mean you have a shot of everyone on the island completely depressed and then when presented with the choice to get off the island or to stay and party with Bud light, they constantly choose to party. And the look on the girl's face all the while, just makes the commercial that much more sweet.

2. Doritos, Casket: Guy Gets Dieing Wish

This one was better the first time around but is still pretty funny. The girl is crying her eyes out while the "dead" guy's two buddies explain the situation. I love how its DEFINITELY not serious but yet I can almost picture some guy being crazy enough to do something so stupid.

3. Audi A3 TDI Green Police

I love how this commercial doesn't take the product its introducing too seriously. The product is ECO friendly, but yet it makes fun of the whole movement of everybody going green in a sort of 80s movie theme type of fashion.

4. Doritos, House Rules: "Keep your hands off my momma and keep your hands off of my Doritos"

The commercial definitely has an amateur look to it, but this has to get laughs. I mean, the guy checking out the woman only to have some little kid putting him in his place is just too funny.

5. Coca Cola, "Hard Times" Simpsons Ad

I was never a fan of the Simpsons show, but I love this ad. It has that Slice of Life concept going for it where Coke is there to save the day and it just makes you feel happy to see everyone having a good time and lifting each other up.

Most Effective Superbowl Ads of 2010:

1. Google: Parisian Love

So if you don't get why this ad was the most effective ad than you're an idiot and don't deserve talking to... okay, maybe that's a bit harsh. But comeone, just think for a second, the whole ad has the brand "google" just sitting there in the background, name me another commercial where you've seen the brand logo staring you in the face the WHOLE one minute ad? Count the brand display in each of the following effective ads (other than Coke) and you'll see Snickers has 6 of a possible 30 seconds, Doritos with 6-7 out of 30, Cars.com had only 4 seconds out of a possible minute, and Denny's at 7 seconds of a possible 30. So to expose your target audience to your brand for a WHOLE minute after paying the same thing that everyone else paid, all the while telling a cute story that is uniquely Google... is about as perfect effectiveness as any brand can hope to have.

2. Coca Cola, "Hard Times" Simpsons Ad

This commercial is effective for three reasons; the first is fear, the economic crisis causes us to have a certain level of fear that what's happened to Barnes is a realistic possibility for happening to ourselves; secondly, Barnes is rich enough for the vast majority of Americans to separate themselves from him and to even point the finger in blaming him for his own troubles; and lastly Coke brings it all together, a man who loses his entire fortune can still be happy when given a Coke and some love. When everything is gone, there's always Coke; that's the underlying message. Not only that but just like Google Coke shows their brand logo for just over half of the one minute ad and in a Superbowl where there was no Pepsi, that's huge.

3. Snickers, “Playing football like Betty White”

I may not have found this to be most entertaining but there is already a facebook group for playing football like Betty White. This is also likely to become a small phenomenon amongst sports players. "Playing _____ like Betty White" has started to catch on amongst many different groups already and beyond that whenever you think of doing anything like Betty White, whose there to get that Brand Impression? You guessed it, Snickers is there to get that Betty White impression.

4. Doritos, House Rules: "Keep your hands off my momma and keep your hands off of my Doritos"

Much like the Betty White and Snickers mention. The above quote is catching on and becoming a sort of mini-pop phenomenon. Keep your hands off my momma and keep your hands off my Doritos. Who gets that brand impression? You guessed right again, Doritos, that's who. The only downside to this one is that unlike playing "football/basketball/baseball/etc" like Betty White, keep your hands off of (blank) can extend to any other product and get lost in the shuffle of its own phenomenon, thus giving it less legs.

5. A) Cars. com, Timothy Richmond: With Knowledge Comes Confidence

Just like the David Abernathy ad before it, the ad takes this modern day hero and basically says even this guy uses Cars.com to find the courage to buy a car. The underyling message of course being that the rest of us, most of us not ourselves being heroes, would then definitely be able to use Cars.com to increase our purchasing knowledge and therefore confidence when buying a car. The story style is unique and even without it finishing, it keys you to the fact that its a cars.com ad.

B) Denny’s Free Gland slam. Screaming Chickens

I had to include Denny's also because at the end of the day, they were unique in presenting their message about free grand-slam meals. But more than that, they also increased brand relevance. The free grand-slam is just the promotion but even if the majority of people forget about the free grand-slam that happened on Tuesday, Denny's is high enough in their subconscious that when discussing possible places to eat our for breakfast, Denny's gets the business over other competitors.

Biggest Winners:
1. Danica Patrick-
I may not ever know what GoDaddy is, but I'll never complain about getting a chance to see Danica Patrick on TV. Not only does she maintain and increase her own brand relevance, but she gets PAID by a company to do so.

2. Google-
Not only does Google pay about 3 cents per eyeball, but they had a highly effective ad that in 60 seconds just about destroyed Bing's whole ad campaign against google.

3. The Tebow Family-
So basically Tebow and his mom were having a good time on TV in front of a hundred million people.

4. Meagan Fox-
So if we didn't already know it, Meagan Fox is a national sex symbol whose hotness can cause guys to lose their mind. So... when's her next movie again?

5. Doritos-
So Anheuser Busch paid millions of dollars to not only buy the Superbowl spots, but to have top Ad talent make top commercials. Doritos paid for the slots but had amateurs make commercials for them, paying 25,000 to the top 6 best ideas. There are incentives that if reached could earn the top participant up to two million in bonuses, but A LOT of things would have to fall in place for that to happen (which they didn't). So they ended up getting great commercials, all that were very recognizable and well liked, for a good bargain price.

6. Charles Barkley-
Who cares if he looked a bit stiff in the commercial, the fact remains that as a bad actor, Barkley continues to find work as a recognizable pitchman, and once again gets paid to increase his brand relevance. Whether you hate him or love him, it makes no difference when he's continuing to get paid.

Biggest Losers:
1. Toyota-
You're already having HUGE issues with having to recall over 5 million cars and now in case there were SOME people out there that didn't know anything about the issues, you just communicated to them "Our cars (Toyota) suck and unless you want car troubles then you best avoid Toyota for at least the near future... however long that may be." Before the Superbowl Commercial I KNEW of the issue, but I didn't think it was as HUGE an issue as it is, not only does the commercial make me less likely to buy a Toyota now, but also in the future because who knows when they'll decide to cut back on price by cutting back on say... the effectiveness of their airbag units. Who needs airbags anyways?

2. Ford-
So basically Ford's big idea was to have their spokesman interview people at a gas station about how great ford is? Audi took the same "green" concept and made it exciting and made the product a hero. The Ford ads just had the cars lounging around at a gas station... how exciting. That's definitely a waste of money. They had at least 3 spots that I remember off hand and two spots were the same exact pointless commercial. I'd be furious if I were a Ford Stockholder after that waste of cash.

3. 2010 Census (Government)-
What were they trying to communicate exactly? Not only did they waste money, but whose money were they wasting again? Tax payers? Now you have people thinking (like me) that this was 2.8 million dollars could have went to the school system... do they realize how much scholarships could have been given out for 2.8 million?

4. Dodge-
Dodge just succeeded in offending woman with this ad. Not only that, does the woman buy the car? Because if she doesn't then why are the men in this story putting up with these woman they obviously don't like if they didn't treat them to the car? I don't get it and it seemed a little offensive.

5. GoDaddy-
Year in and year out, I never find out what GoDaddy "is" or "does" from viewing their commercials. All they do is tell you that there are hot girls in their ads that want to be a GoDaddy girl like Danicka Patrick. I hear something about Domain names. They essentially spend millions of dollars year after year to simply tell me about how hot Danicka Patrick is and that's not good business.

6. Joe Montana-
I just don't get why an athlete in their right mind would be allow his name to be mentioned in an ad for Sketchers Shape Ups. Joe Montana was a football player, one of the best quarterbacks of all times. Sketchers is what many look at as a kiddy brand, this just isn't a match made in heaven... at all. I feel like he's ruining his football legacy with an ad like this.

Worst Ever?

Posted by BMWilson comments (0)

So, I successfully missed my one week window to discuss the Superbowl ads, which sort of sucks because I had my top 10, bottom 10, biggest winner, and biggest loser all chosen... but procrastination got in the way. So since that's old news by now, how about that NBA Dunk Contest?


I should let it be known that I'm a big NBA fan, not that it matters, because ANYONE could see how horrible that display was. Let's look at the facts, there was only ONE dunk that scored a 50 in the whole contest (and another dunk that was worthy of a 50) and there were TWO dunks that scored below 40 points that weren't misses... I don't believe I've ever seen a worse dunk contest, no I haven't seen a worse dunk contest. Looking at the players, it was clear that they didn't want to be there or that they were just happy to be there. You didn't see on anyones face that they WANTED to win, that this event was something that they dreamed of being in.. and that's a problem.

Should the dunk contest be scratched, then? I'm not sure that the NBA CAN scratch the event, its probably more iconic of All-Star weekend than even the All-Star game. Ask me who won the 2000 All-Star MVP award and I'd tell you who cares, now ask me who won the 2000 Dunk Contest and I could tell you that not only did Vince Carter win it, but that he had 3 dunks that were 50s. Hell, I could tell you the 3 dunks were the 360 windmill slam, the bounce pass by T-Mac that Carter caught in the air, put it between his legs to then slam it in, and of course his sticking his arm in the rim slam. So I don't think the dunk contest can nor should be scratched.

So then what needs to be done to fix the event? Well it's obvious, getting athletic freaks in the contest who WANT to be there and that will take it seriously. Paul Pierce campaigned for the NBA to include him in the 3 point contest and (even though I dislike anything Celtic) Pierce won the contest. He was pumped up the whole way. The season before last, Rudy Gay wanted to be in the dunk contest and to get the fans involved (even having fans send in their own youtube videos of them dunking of which he'd perform one of their dunks) and while he didn't have the athleticism, he at least WANTED to be there and was TRYING. The dunk contest used to be a forum where you'd see a highly talented player just as he was breaking through into the NBA ranks, a guy with something to prove and could be legitimized by the dunk contest. Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Steve Francis, T-Mac... the list is long. But now, not so much.

My solution? Why not bring in some of the All-Star snubs to the game? Josh Smith was a former competitor and winner in the dunk contest and getting snubbed would likely fire him up to take his anger out on the rim. Andre Igoudala is another player that while not quite on All-Star level is a highly athletic player that has proven creativity in his 2006 Dunk Contest challenge, he'd have another opportunity to beat Nate Robinson. Or how about bringing in a player who loves the limelight, like a Michael Beasley? Insert those three names, eliminate Gerald Wallace and Shanon Brown (even though as a Laker fan, it pains me to say that) and I think we have a dunk contest that the fans could properly enjoy. Not only does inserting such players make fans more happy, but it causes a young guy like DeMar DeRozan to get more excited and to step up his game also. So there you have it, that's my final fantasy... until next time.

In t-minus 15 hours, it will have arrived. Greater than any other known force to our television sets (and for that matter computers); yes, that once a year event that inlocks just over 2 of every 5 eyeballs in the US. The Superbowl (the 44th edition) is nearly here. We have two teams; the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints going head to head for all the marbles... but is this the battle that the vast majority of Americans are tuning in to watch is the question?

I have no doubt that America loves its football, but to what extent? Are there more people that watch the Superbowl for the commercials themselves (and in some cases the commercials only) as opposed to the drama entrapped within the actual game? I'm sure we all know (or are ourselves) people who watch the Superbowl only so that afterwards we can discuss the commercials that we enjoyed with friends at our leisure (or some while they're working, but hey, its not like anything bad ever happened when working a construction job and not paying complete attention, right?)

Finding an answer to the above question perhaps isn't the key however. The key, I suppose is the question itself. What does that mean for the Pinnacle of American football, has it become just like Christmas and Valentines Day, completely commercialized? Sure there is always the notion of Christ in Christmas, St. Valentine in Valentines Day, and American Football in the Superbowl... It's ALMOST sad to say (I'm an advertising major so I'm not too sad to say it...), but whether the Colts win (come on Peyton Manning!) or the Saints win (I dislike Reggie Bush), the big winner is in the Ads that spark word of mouth and bought products; that's my final fantasy... until next time.

As the dunk slammed into the hoop, it happened; the lights went out, the fireworks exploded, the confetti rained down onto the arena, the galaxy aligned, and our solar system illuminated under the greatness. Kobe Bryant scored point 25,208 and officially passed the logo and all other Lakers on the Lakers’ all time scoring list. For those not in the know, the logo is Jerry West aka Mr. Clutch, he has the distinction to be the only player in NBA history to ever be named the Finals MVP on the losing team because he was that great a scorer especially in the final moments. So to reiterate, Kobe "The Black Mamba" Bryant just surmounted all former greats atop the Lakers scoring list.



So now that Kobe is the top scorer in Laker history, where does he rank on the list of of one of the most successful franchises in all of sports? Kobe has numerous accomplishments to his resume; 4 championship rings, finals MVP, NBA MVP, youngest to reach 25,000 points scored, baptizing Dwight Howard (see video above), and his greatest individual achievement of 81 points (second most all time only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 points) to name a few. So let's meet Kobe’s main competition shall we?


First up, we’ll start with Kobe’s long time partner in crime, Shaquille O’Neal. Surely Shaq was a beast and it’s a bit hard to say at this point that Kobe is the better player overall, but Shaq only donned the uniform for eight years as opposed to the 12 that Kobe currently checks in at. #24 (Kobe) also has made the all defensive team 7 times to Shaqs 0 times. Next we have Kareem Abdul Jabar, another big man. Kareem has many accomplishments on his resume; it definitely trumps that of Kobe’s. But as a Laker, their accomplishments are much more comparable and when looking at the higher level of competition that Kobe has had to face in this era along with his wider skill range and higher level of excitability, Kobe surpasses the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar… because let’s face it, L.A. is all about the flash and that’s just something that even the greatest of big men, can’t compare to the elite guards at displaying.

Our trip through Lakers’ greatness takes us back to Jerry West. I won’t beat around the bush here. Kobe is a better Laker than West. West hasn’t the career accomplishments nor the statistical success to beat Kobe in any argument. Furthermore just as Kobe has to take the blame for being a part of the reason for that Championship Lakers team disbanding, so should Jerry West take blame in his Lakers team losing 8 times in the NBA Finals.

The last and final contender to Kobe as the greatest Lakers ever is Magic, Earvin Johnson. Earvin came into the league as a beast, leading the Lakers to a finals win and attaining Finals MVP, as a rookie. Magic went onto win 4 more championships, 2 more Finals MVPs, and 3 NBA MVP awards. His stats are also pretty sick after averaging over 19 points, 11 assists and 7 rebounds for his career. So Magic is definitely highly formidable.

Surely a heavyweight battle between Kobe and Magic for the #1 spot on the Lakers all time list, but even my bias for Kobe allows me to realize that the answer is simple and my Final Fantasy FINALLY has reached its endgame. Magic Johnson revolutionized the way the NBA was played probably more than any other player and was the architect of Showtime. LA loves a show, they love their blockbusters… and no player, not even Kobe, has ever been able to give them more of that then Magic Johnson. And if that isn’t enough to convince the Kobe fangirls and fanboys bigger than I of this order then factor in the fact that Magic was essentially kicked out of the NBA by his peers while in his prime for fear of them contracting HIV from him, and what you realize is that what Magic could have accomplished likely would have been much more. Sorry Kobe you’re only #2 on my list and that’s my Final Fantasy… until next time.

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I'm a 20 year old college student majoring in Advertising and minoring in business. I welcome all visitors to my blog/s. I also hope that the insights you find here will be of some value, interest, or applicability to your life. Now that you've met me, how about we get to the blog...

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So in case any of you are wondering what this blog entails. I wanted to have this blog focus on "entertainment content." Commercials, movies, sports, it all works to fill up the tv screen or newspaper page and now... it works to fill up this blog's page on your computer screen. I hope you enjoy! If you don't, well that's okay. And if you hate it, well maybe you just suck at life... Okay, I apologize, that's pretty mean. But anyways read a few posts and let me know what you think. Feedback is always appreciated!

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