Equal Time

Apparently, according to my oldest daughter, I "went off" yesterday about commercials I hate. After all, the post was entitled, "Rant", so today I decided to give credit to the companies that are really creative in their advertising. These are the companies that actually make me rewind the TIVO or at the very least make me want to NOT fast forward through their ad. $449 Billion is spent on advertising every year in the US alone. If I was spending that much money, I would want to be assured that people were watching my ad. It's a huge industry, especially television advertising. Take the Superbowl, for example. In 2012, companies paid 3.5 million dollars for a 30 second spot to run during the granddaddy of all football games. Superbowl ads have become almost as popular as the game itself, and many non-sports enthusiasts will freely admit to watching the Superbowl just for the commercials. Advertising agencies know that this is the time to pull out their big guns, and boy, do they ever! However, commercials were not invented for the Superbowl. Advertising is a creative business, and the best minds have created some great ads and "catch phrases" I have grown up with and loved. So, just as much as I hated the commercials I mentioned yesterday, I love these just as much, if not more. Hallmark is a company that has always had great commercials. I often joke when I am describing how sensitive I am that I cry at a Hallmark commercial. In all fairness, who could resist crying at most of them? One that comes to mind is the little girl that gives her Piano Professor a birthday card or this one I found while searching YouTube.

If you can keep a dry eye watching this one, you're a better man than I. Who can forget the classic coke commercial where everyone is singing "I'd like to teach the world to sing," or the new Proctor and Gamble Olympic commercial saluting Moms.Commercials can definitely strike a chord with us, touch us, even make us cry. But they can also make us laugh. There are too many to count of the ones I love that I have watched over and over again because I enjoy them so much, but these two rank among my favorites! Both were made for the Superbowl. One is for careerbuilder.com and the other was made by Volkswagen. Both made me laugh, and obviously did their job of enticing me to watch and remember their product.Advertising is obviously filled with great minds. If only I could figure out how to weed out the bad ones.