Wednesday, March 24, 2010

This is Stupid


This is really stupid. I mean really really stupid. Anytime an advertiser in response to criticism of a campaign slogan has to resort to explaining what they mean by that slogan, the campaign is doomed. As Forrest Gump used to say, "Stupid is as stupid does." This is really stupid. Let me know what you think.

9 comments:

mchenkels said...

Before I actually saw the campaign I saw this video, which makes the campaign a little more clear. However for a person who has never seen this before it can be very confusing and unclear and cause them to “tune out.” Ads in magazines, newspapers and other forms of communication only have a short time before the consumer moves on. Yes this campaign catches the reader’s eye with odd slogans but it’s so off that makes the possible consumer move on even faster. It is an interesting concept for a campaign but the fact that they need to make a video to explain what it all means just shows how it is failing. No matter how much you put something in the possible consumer’s face, if it doesn’t make sense to them it will never persuade them to look more into it or purchase the product.
If looking at the advertising hierarchy of effects, I think it is possible that they could not even make the first level of awareness. Even if they did achieve awareness the consumer would have to look into the product even more to become knowledgeable of it because the campaign seems to have nothing to do with the product. I think it would be wise for DIESEL to rethink this campaign.

aattanasio said...

I have to agree that with a campaign you are not supposed to have to explain yourself. The concept should be simple enough that the consumers can understand it and remember it with little effort. Another reason why I don't like this ad is that it is messy. What I mean my messy is that the words are moving too fast, and they change in weird ways. I had to stop watching after a while because my brain was starting to hurt trying to concentrate on what the words were saying. There was just too much going on. I also lost interest because the commercial required me to stay engaged by reading it I didn't want to anymore. It was too much work. I really think that DIESEL should stop this campaign and start over with something fresh that does not need explaining.

Megan Donovan said...

This is literally a very stupid commercial. I was not aware of the advertising campaign until I saw it in class, but if we had not discussed it, I don't think I would have gotten the "stupid" idea. If I saw an advertisement in a magazine that told me to "be stupid", I would have been very confused and wondered why I would want to be stupid? We are taught that it is right to be smart, not to be stupid. I suppose that is the concept the advertiser is trying to play off of, to make people think outside of the box, but it is not very effective. They did not create a lot of understanding of their ideology, leading to the necessity of this video, which is even harder to find. If I was not aware of the brand that I could have found online or in a magazine ad, I will certainly not search for a YouTube video that explains it. Especially since, as I was watching the video, I had no idea what it was trying to sell. The label, Diesel, popped up at the very end of the video, but because I do not know a lot about fashion, I did not even recognize that this ad campaign was for jeans. Perhaps "think out of the box" or "be creative" would have a better tagline than "Be Stupid". I think "stupid" is a good way to describe this advertising campaign.

Jocelyn said...

Even though this commercial makes it hard to tell the product that they are advertising for, I really think it was a brilliant way to go abotu advertising for the jeans campaign. The commercial really caught my attention and I treid to keep up with what all the words were saying as they flashed across the screen. At times, I even found myself agreeing with what they were saying and the theories they were using. It catered to the general population who dont always have these grand ideas and just lead normal everyday lives. I think Diesel was very successful with the art of this campaign in addition to the message(s) they were relaying to they consumers: that they could relate to them. If I had seen this commercial on tv, I would have DEFINITELY looked into buying a pair of these jeans, no doubt about it.

Dana Verona said...

As "stupid" as this commercial comes out to be, it is actually very successful. It immediately caught my attention and I was glued to watching it. I have not seen an out of the box advertisement like this. I did not want to take my eyes off the screen because I was interested in seeing what product was being advertised. If you think about it, people always flip channels and avoid advertisements at all costs. However, creating a commercial like this one, how can you not pay attention. No company that I am familiar with has ever done something like this. It is funny how in the society we live in today, advertisers have to use negative language to get our attention.

Meg OKeefe said...

I would have to agree that this commercial is downright "stupid". Within the first 15 seconds of it I was immediately bored with the repetitive nature of the advertisement. It communicates nothing whatsoever about the company DIESEL and really brings nothing to the table. Yes, it would seem out of the box, but it does not even hold my attention long enough to peak the slightest bit of interest. This lack of interest I feel is then accompanied by a sudden headache that comes on about half way through from the buzzing by and genuinely hard to read words. I feel that in one word, this campaign for DIESEL can be summarized as just that, STUPID!

Meg OKeefe said...

I would have to agree that this commercial is downright "stupid". Within the first 15 seconds of it I was immediately bored with the repetitive nature of the advertisement. It communicates nothing whatsoever about the company DIESEL and really brings nothing to the table. Yes, it would seem out of the box, but it does not even hold my attention long enough to peak the slightest bit of interest. This lack of interest I feel is then accompanied by a sudden headache that comes on about half way through from the buzzing by and genuinely hard to read words. I feel that in one word, this campaign for DIESEL can be summarized as just that, STUPID!

kmhorvath said...

I thought this commercial was actually very "stupid". The ad was unclear and did not do a good job establishing the brand as reputable or reliable. I find it hard to believe that anybody would want to participate in a brand that puts such an emphasis on "stupid". Although it is a fresh take on things (similar to what Dominos did), I personally don't think that this ad was very successful.

I'm Miz. said...

I agree with the idea that campaigns and advertisements should not have to be explained. However, if you've messed up and find that you need to explain yourself, I think this was a good way to go about it.

The commercial was visually stimulating and really caught my attention. Because the graphics and the song caught my attention, I was able to read the words that flashed on the screen and really think about them. I didn't want to turn away, partly to find out what the product being advertised was and partly because I didn't want to miss a word and get lost in translation.