I Hate Commercials...

So anyone who knows me knows that I hate TV commercials. I have been known to mute the TV whenever commercials come on just because they are like sandpaper rubbing against my soul. The very purpose of commercials is to try to convince you to buy things that you often don't even need in the first place.

Now there are some commercials that are pretty funny. Take, for instance, that new Master Card spot with Peyton Manning. I love the humor in it.

Busboy: "You're going down, Manning."
Manning: "That's right, I am. Fourth floor. Gonna get a massage."

Hotel Maid: "Take a hike."
Manning: "You know, I think I will. The weather here is sweet!!"

This commercial always makes me laugh. But to me, the ultimate purpose of a commercial is to sell a product or service. And another benchmark of a good commercial is that you know what product or service is being marketed and you can associate the ad with the product.

This Manning commercial is funny, but I fail to grasp how it makes me want to use a Master Card. And I would not have associated Master Card with that commercial if it weren't for their slogan and logo at the end.

Which brings me to my rant for today...

What the heck is this???



I saw this commercial a couple of times during the BCS bowl games and could not for the life of me figure out what product they are advertising here. Can anyone guess just from watching this commercial what product or service is being advertised?

If you guessed Gatorade, you are right. In a new marketing campaign, Gatorade is remodeling their image for reasons that I don't quite understand. I watched this commercial about 10 times during the BCS and still had no idea what the heck this "G" was. The only way I found out was I happened across an article on the web that was talking about the commercial and this new Gatorade marketing campaign.

Now, I'm no marketing expert, but from a consumer standpoint, it is probably a good idea for advertisements to always inform the consumer of a few key points of information:

1) What is the product you are trying to sell?
2) Why would I want to buy it?

If I can't determine these two things in the first 10 seconds of a commercial, then you've lost me. So great job, Gatorade. You've lost me.

And just how did they get Jackie Robinson on there anyways?