Long Copy Ads

While I was looking for ads for La-z-boy, I found these very well done long copy ads done by a copywriter by the name of Erica Horstmeyer. My favorite are the ads that she did for the classifieds in the newspaper. The copy is attention grabbing and the stories are very funny to read and think about. Here's some of her work that I found to be really interesting.

I Christine Fitzsimons Challenge Thee...

To not love this ad. Probably one of my most favorite ads ever is for something that is not aimed at me. It is for Old Spice Swagger. I don't particularly like Old Spice (it's scents aren't the best) but I LOVE their commercials. I think that they are doing a good job of making this brand new again, since I always used to think Old Spice = my dad and my grandpa.

This Old Spice commercial features Brian Urlacher, who plays on the Chicago Bears Defense. I did not know who Urlacher was before this commercial, but soon learned more about him from my friends who became obsessed with him after this ad.

My friends and I talk about this ad all the time, including the numerous parts that we find the funniest. There are 5 things that make this a great ad, including the contrast in bodies, the loser being made fun of by a loser, the effect of being made fun of and the treatment of the product. The humor value is there right when it starts, since it features this stick like kid challenging a group to an "honor duel." He is stick thin, huge over sized glasses, and goofy hair. Once he says "I, Brian Urlacher..." you immediately get the joke that is "was" Brian Urlacher before he became the Brian Urlacher that we all know today. The literally difference is there: not cool Brian Urlacher, with his hair, glasses and stick thin to the Urlacher of today: Huge, intimidating, no hair, and no glasses. The kids who he is challenging aren't the ones that you would probably be hanging out with on a friday night, nor do they look like the ones

that are the top of the popularity chain. This loser (Urlacher) is being made fun by his own group.

Once the camera pans away from Urlacher hilariously crying, we see the present day Urlacher.

What really makes it for me in this ad is the way that he handles the product. In the majority of ads, ranging from personal testimonies of the ad to celebrity endorsements, the product is always held with care, as if it is a sacred object. Old Spice Swagger within this ad does not receive this same respect from Urlacher, but I think it completely works. The way he handles the product,( by picking it up and throwing off the cap, where it hits the back wall) makes it

seem like he does not care about the product at all, and is not doing it for the money, but doing it because he is still upset about how he was treated when he was younger. The way he treats the product is how he would like to treat those kids, by literally picking them up and throwing them against the wall. He then says "Whose laughing now? Haha, ME" I love the shot focuses on Urlacher after he says "ME," lingers for an extra second longer than it should, emphasizing how he is still pissed and upset over that incident. My friends and I have speculated that maybe one of the reasons that Brian Urlacher became a football player was because of this incident and that one of his life long goals is to really have the last laugh.

Edit, here is the print ad:

Is LOLchair amused?

While I am home today from classes, I saw this commercial for American Express. As soon as the first image appeared, I immediately smiled and was in love with the commercial and whoever came up with the concept for it. The ad is for American Express, and features "faces" out of different, everyday objects that we encounter in our day to day lives.

I have many reasons for LOVING this ad. One, I think it is very cute, different and original. American Express's ads usually feature celebrities or are about small businesses, but is completely different. It is unlike many of the other credit card commercials that show what you can buy with the card (this car! this necklace! this dress!) or what you can do with the card (sail around the world! etc). Instead, while it does show what you can buy with the card , it does it in a way that makes the objects more "human," by giving them emotions and expressions. These emoitions are able to connect to the point of the ad, by stating that if "something you bought with the card breaks, it can be repaired, replaced or your account credited." The "happy" faces of the objects then reflect what American Express can do to fix the broken objects.



Another reason why I love this ad is because I recognized a piece of internet culture within the ad. I'm not sure if American Express was aware of this connection, but something was definitely there. Here's a list of pictures of things with "faces," which many times represent different emoticons (such as :), :D, :0, etc)




There is even a flicker group called "Things with faces" and a website called thingswithfaces.net. Clearly, whoever came up with the ad for American Express was a fan of the "things with faces" idea. And so am I. And I hope LOLchair is too.