Posted on February 3, 2014 at 2:06 pm
Surprise guest appearances? Check! Funny? Check! Self-deprecating? Check! Making a key point about the brand? Check!! (And that’s the one most of these ads overlook.) Well played, Radio Shack. And looking good, 80’s icons!
Posted on January 12, 2014 at 6:07 pm
The 90-year-old lovebirds Morty and Lee are adorable, but this new couple, the Rukavinas, is even more heartwarming. Zack Rukavina is from South Dakota. He lost part of his arm to cancer. If he looks familiar, you may have seen him as a veteran in an episode of Switched at Birth. He has also appeared on Damages, Parenthood, Client List and others. He even proposed to his wife Afi on television.
Posted on June 13, 2012 at 3:55 pm
Industry publication Broadcasting & Cable reports that representatives of the advocacy group Children Now met with a top aide to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and other FCC staffers last week “to press the commission to take a stand against imbedded advertising and product placement in children’s programming.”
In addition to asking them to explicitly ban interactive kids advertising, they also said the FCC should “carefully review whether broadcast licensees and cable operators are complying with the requirements of the Children’s Television Act (CTA)” in terms of commercial limits (cable) and educational programming (broadcast TV).
The FCC tentatively concluded back in 2004 that children’s TV shows should not have interactive links to advertising unless parents have opted into such interactivity.
At the time, the commission said it would be premature to make that tentative conclusion into a rule because there was not much direct connectivity between TV and the ‘net.
Children Now argues that with programming being offered on multiple platforms, it is time for the FCC to get ahead of the curve — the group concedes that it is “not aware” of any commercial interactivity in any kids programming. But they argue it is just a matter of time given burgeoning interactivity elsewhere. “In the absence of clear and enforceable restrictions, children’s programmers are likely to start using many of the interactive marketing techniques now being used in programs intended for teen or general audiences,” they told the commission.
They point out, for instance, that Nickelodeon has a Dora the Explorer Facebook page, even though Facebook users have to be over 12. Facebook is currently exploring ways to open the site officially to kids, with their parents’ permission.
Children Now also wants the commission to clarify that FCC ad policies apply to video on demand and prohibit product placement in kids shows.
You can support this initiative by emailing the FCC chairman at: Julius.Genachowski@fcc.gov
Posted on October 7, 2011 at 3:42 pm
I try to maintain a sense of humor about ads, but I really do not like the new series of commercials for Tide with people explaining how they get their clothes dirty. I know they are intended to be funny but I find them annoying and the one with the “girly” mom complaining about her cargo-pants-wearing daughter really bugged me. So I was very pleased to see a very thoughtful commentary on the Tide ad from Lauren R. of Representing America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LTRbWsGOI&feature=player_embeddedTide may be making fun of this stereotypical perfectionist housewife. The elaborately decorated living room, the pink cardigan, sensible haircut; it all fits. Is this commercial trying to present satire? If so, I don’t think that they were obvious enough about doing so.
The satire presented is also sexist in its own way. The mother is portrayed as uptight, reserved, and repressed to the point of (maybe?) being humorous….Either way you look at it, this ad is probably sending the wrong message.
Who are they making fun of here? The little girl in the cargo pants who likes to get dirty or the mother who wants her to wear pink? Either way, it is definitely sending the wrong message.
Posted on February 27, 2010 at 8:00 am
TV.com has a quiz to see if you can identify celebrity voices in commercials. And if you have not taken the one I posted earlier from Slate, give that a try, too.
