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“That ad was one of the most famous ad campaigns of the last 15 years.”
Remember Nissan’s G.I. Joe, Ken, and Barbie TV ad? The one where Barbie ditches Ken and drives off with G.I. Joe in a hot red card with Van Halen’s “Girl You Really Got Me” thrumming through the TV?
What was that hot red car, by the way?
Ha! Bet you didn’t even remember it was Nissan ’til I told you, did you? But don’t worry, I only knew because I did the research for this post. I always thought it was Altima or Toyota.
Here’s the video to refresh your memory . . .
But if you hear the ad agency tell it, this constituted “one of the most famous ad campaigns of the last 15 years.” Well, an ad agency is making the claim so treat it the way Reagan treated Gorbachev’s claims about disarmament, “Trust, but verify.”
“That ad was one of the most famous ad campaigns of the last 15 years.”
Oh yeah? Well, I’m a direct response marketer so let’s take a look at the numbers, shall we? But before we do, let’s look a bit more at the buzz during that time, shall we?
And just for the record, I loved the ad then, and still do to this day. But it never made me want to buy a . . . what car was that again? Oh yeah, a Nissan.
The advertising industry and the media that reports on the advertising industry went nuts. The Wall Street Journal called it “the greatest ad ever ran.” Magazines collectively anointed it “Ad Of The Year.”
The ad’s creative directors were on Oprah (of all places!), discussing how brilliant they were. And there was going to be a TV series about these three dolls and even more targeted ads — in general, doing that ‘flushing money down the toilet’ maneuver that ad agencies like to call “extending the brand.”
And to put the maraschino cherry on top of all this, one of the creative directors crowing and preening about his success on Oprah — well, he was inducted into the advertising Hall of Fame for his ‘crowning success.’
Un. Freakin’. Believable. As the great Trickster Bunny said, “The noive!”
But wait, it gets better . . . when they inducted this guy into the Hall of Fame they played the Van Halen song from the soundtrack . . . and get this, the audience gave him a standing ovation.
Now keep in mind, this was the ad agency. This was not the client, Nissan. Ahhh, the client. Did we forget about the client in all this hoopla? Where were they while the agency’s creative director was tripping his way to the land of Oz?
Since this post is running long, I’ll reveal that tomorrow.
Like what you read? Then click here to buy me a coffee.
By Walter |
Topics: Client Top Secret, Marketing Mishaps, Pro Analysis |
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