Welcome to the third in a series of critiques of award-winning radio commercials — those honored as “the best of the best” by the 2007 Radio Mercury Awards.
This spot was awarded $5,000 as a “General Category Winner.”
My Critique:
MONDAY RADIO COMMERCIAL SMACKDOWN: Is It Any Wonder Radio Advertising Is Held In Such Low Esteem?
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Geeeze… what the hell was that? have to agree on your critique here Dan! LOL
I believe they also ran this spot on television and the first time I watched it, I thought "Someone payed good money for that. What a shame."
I think the idea is brilliant, but the execution is more than bad. 1.) A 60Second-Spot is way too long. Talking about fast *pfffrr*. Make it 20 secs + a 10 sec. reminder. 2.) The Voice is dying while talking. 3) The synthesizer underneath already is dead. 4) The female voice actually sounds bored and fits more the bulimic calvin-klein-perfume-spots.
Award-winning? My *bleep*
Comcast has had a long and glorious history of running excessively stupid commercials.
I believe these commercials are highly effective for the idiots who think Comcast's service is worth the money they charge. When I had Comcast and when it wasn't down (which was just about every other day) it was the slowest internet service I've had since a 56k modem.
What a Program Director I worked with used to call a long run for a short slide…The setup is interminable
Pretty bad. They should stick with the humorous ones. The one with the guy going from announcer voice to high & squeaky "Dad" voice was memorable. I call my Father "Dadster" now. lolol
THAT won an award? P-U !
Wa? (Full words are saved for things that don't destroy intelligence)
I feel for ad agencies (I'm married to a long-time agency copywriter), and I love the Mercury Awards (got two), so everything I'm about to say I mean in the nicest possible way.
I admit it: halfway through, I was thinking, "Hey, I like this. Where's it going?"
Then, it got where it was going.
Wow.
It was going nowhere faster than a Comcast hi-speed internet connection.
It's also something of a, uh, "homage" to the brilliantly absurd existential monologues of Joe Frank–which might be why it got my attention in the first place.
Swing and a miss.
And if it won a Mercury Award, it means we have to recognize a couple of things. One, the Radio Mercury Awards recognize artistry over salesmanship. And two, Mercury judges have to wade through a lot of stuff much worse than this to get to the winners. (Been there. Done that. Love doing it. But it's work.) For awards that measure salesmanship, look to the Effies. There's an award competition to be reckoned with.
I remember this one, too. Got hooked at the beginning, started to fade when the copy turned silly (reminded me of the gradual deterioration of James Bond movies from early Connery to late Roger Moore, but that's another story), didn't care by the time it reached the end.
Could've been a damn good :15-second spot.
I think Blaine's insights are spot-on. (And I'll have to Google "Effies" – not familiar with them.)
This commercial is scandalously bad. Would have been great edited down to a .15 spot. It’s Comcastically Awful!