Great Concept, Poor Execution

One time my roommate James and I were talking about restaurants that we like in Provo. I told him that I had never tried that place called Guru's down on Center Street, and I asked what he thought of it. His answer was simple: "Great concept, poor execution." I asked him what he meant, and he told me that the atmosphere was awesome and the menu enticing, but the actual taste of the good-looking food was not very good at all, or at least not good enough for him to pay so much money for it.
"Great concept, poor execution." I think his short answer was very well-worded. And then I realized---how many things are there in this world that have great intentions and represent novel ideas, but they are carried out poorly, and thus ruined. An example of this, in my opinion, is this ad:


I like the concept---kill your hunger! And the handle of the spoon is a sword (Get it? Haha 'cause it says to "kill your hunger," and there's a sword! And swords are typically used for killing. Haha it's funny...I don't think you get it). Anyways, despite this creative idea and the nice artwork to go along with it, something is wrong with this ad. I don't like how the product that is being advertised is presented as a random tiny object shoved down in the corner. To me it just doesn't fit in this picture. It seems out of place.
If it was me making this ad, I would keep the creative idea and the well-done artwork. However, I would include the yogurt brand in a different way than it is shown here. My top choice would probably be to do a panel layout. I would keep the same picture of the spoord (spoon-sword). Then to the right of it I would have another panel with a large "Danio by Danone" logo. I think this would do better to ensure that the brand sticks in the viewer's mind, and not just the clever ad. As it is now, I think there is much danger of the vampire effect (the ad being remembered, but not the product). Why is it that vampires are so prevalent in our society today?

Calculated Humor

I've decided that I'm not going to continue my blog the way that it has been thus far (I didn't get a very good score on my last blog post...oops). Maybe I ought to actually talk about things that at least somewhat relate to advertising. But I can do so while still being real....right? I hope so.

I saw this commercial a few weeks ago and found it really funny:

This question is mainly for the guys: Have you, like this kid, ever been in an uncomfortable position (maybe even literally) in an awkward encounter with a girl's parents? I'm not talking about anything like that, so don't go spilling your past transgressions. Just an awkward situation is what I mean. Well I know I have, and now when I look back on times like those, it's really funny to me. Humor can be an effective tool in advertising--it seems like most T.V. commercials try to inject some funnies into the mix of their advertising.

So I could've chosen any one of thousands of funny commercials, but the thing I find interesting about this one is that it takes such an obscure event and presents it in a way that makes it funny to people like myself because, as random as it is, we can relate to it. I think this is a unique way of keeping it real in advertising. It's not humor just for the sake of humor--that's not keeping it real. It's digging deep and coming up with things that people will genuinely appreciate because of experiences they may have had.

So that's my rant for the week. Maybe I'm reading way too much into this stupid commercial. But as an advertising student, that's what I'm supposed to do, right?

An Attempt to Keep It Real

A very necessary component of advertising is the ability to relate to the audience in a personal way. I haven’t studied advertising in much depth yet. But I have gathered, from the millions of advertisements that I have seen, that if you are able to speak to people in a way that they can recognize what you’re saying and relate to the point that you’re making, people will feel immediately comfortable with you and have a certain level of trust. Even if you’re speaking of something that they have never specifically experienced, the fact that you’re being so real and straightforward and conveying feelings to them, person to person, strikes them in such a way that they are interested and want to hear what you have to say. This, it seems to me, makes all the difference.

It is for this reason that I’m going to use this blog to simply talk about life. I’m not trying to sell anything, but maybe this blog can be the means for my developing this skill of speaking to people in a way that they can relate to me. I can tell that I’m doing a wonderful job of it so far. Not really. Ok, I’m starting…..NOW.

Current state of my life right now: I am in a corner of a love triangle. Weren’t expecting that, were you? In the other two corners stand my best friend of 10 years and an awesome girl that has had a huge impact on my life. I want to say that this is a weird situation and I’ve never been in it before, but I have. Same friend, different girl. Only this girl, more than any girl I’ve ever dated, makes me want to be a better person. We’ll see how it all turns out.

What else? I’m an undecided sophomore attending BYU, the school consisting of high school valedictorians from all over the nation and the world who are better than me in every way. I’m really grateful to be attending here (I have no idea how I got in), but at the same time I’m discouraged every time I try something and realize that there are a lot of people who have been working their whole lives at this one thing and are superior because they deserve to be. For example, I’ve always kind of liked to draw. I decided to take the Intro to Animation class to see how I liked it. Everyone in there had been studying drawing since they were five, were dishing out magnificent works of art in under 10 seconds, and were all competing to get into the Animation program. This is a microcosm of Brigham Young University.

Can you relate to any of this? Probably not all of you can. But hopefully all of you can see that I’m a real human being that has problems, emotions, a sense of humor, a slightly skewed perception of things, desires for good, and a lot of other stuff. If I’ve accomplished my purpose, then you’re at least slightly interested in what I’ve said and what I may say in the future. 

THAT Guy

Hi, this is my blog. I have to admit that I never thought I would have a blog. As far as I’m concerned, blogs are for LDS women who are bored at home and want everyone to know that they successfully turned a couple of 2 X 4s into a gorgeous nightstand, or that they learned an amazing new recipe for macaroni and chicken nuggets, or that their child just learned to say “I’m obnoxious!” and it’s just too CUTE to not be posted on the Internet.

Sexual prejudice aside, the time has come for me to start my own blog. Why, do you ask? Is it because I am so important that everyone I’ve ever met needs to constantly be updated on my goings-on? Is it because I had a sudden epiphany that I have a serious talent for writing and this is the beginning of a highly successful career in journalism? Is it because my life is not nearly busy enough and I want to contribute something meaningful and valuable to society so that I can have a greater sense of self-worth? NO.

Honestly, the creation of this blog is a task that was given to me as an assignment for my Comms 230 class at BYU. Now, I don’t want to be that guy who does something only because it is necessary for him to progress in school. On the other hand, I don’t want to be that guy who says, “Oh, if only you could love education and enjoy learning things instead of going through the motions and completing all the necessary tasks to graduate.” Neither of those guys are guys I want to be. I need a good healthy balance between being way too overly-excited and doing just enough to get by.

So, the adventure begins. As you might be able to tell, I’m already kinda having a good time with this.