Exxon Didn't Say 'Hydrofracking' for a Reason

THIS
IS
ABOUT
HYDROFRACKING
... Don't let the fancy graphics, warm music, and inspirational copy fool you.

New Trend Among Car Commercials

If you've ever watched an episode of Mad Men, you know that one of the main tenets of building a successful campaign is to draw on people's positive emotions. So, when I started seeing car commercials featuring the latest accident protection technology by actually showing the accident/moments leading up to/after it, I was shocked. No longer are they just showing happy, absurdly attractive actors cruising down a car-less and pedestrain-less, utopian road. A lot of them have taken a chance that viewers will appreciate seeing the newest technology in action. It makes sense: what better way would there be to showcase the new accident-prevention features than showing them as they actually work? This recent Hyundai commercial, Innocean, USA, is a great example of how to execute that potentially upsetting storyline well.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have this commercial:

While I can appreciate the beauty and depth of this commercial (words not commonly associated with TV ads), it's just a tad too depressing for my taste. I don't need to be thinking about near death car accidents while I'm sitting at home with my own family, eating dinner and watching 'New Girl.' I need feel-good, interesting ads that make me go '... huh' and smile. It's all about association. What do you want your brand to be associated with? Nostalgia, or highway collisions? 

CARS KILL! But buy ours because it might not sometimes. 

*Subaru*

Adam Levine for Proactiv

When A-list celebrities endorse a brand, the general assumption is that they have some sort of connection to it. This assumption holds especially true for Adam Levine's work for Proactiv. Here is the extended version of the commercial:

Good commercial, positive message. Simple and to the point. He used to have confidence issues because of his acne, but Proactiv cleared that problem right up (pun intended). The issue is that a few months later (while the commercial was still airing), Levine was quoted about his high school days: 

Now, I'm a lot less confident. I was delusionally, unreasonably confident. I was a little jerk. I was really into myself. I'm not the same way that I was. I had this weird confidence that was bizarre - Fishwrapper

Now, I understand that not nearly as many people will see this quote as have the commercial, but it's out there: in print and in cyberspace. That kind of discrepancy is confusing and inconsistent. Wonder if he got any sort of slap on the wrist from his pals over at Proactive?