It’s with a heavy heart that I share this commercial with you.
I could critique this on a micro level, beginning with the opening line — which is inane and which tells us this is the story of the radio station being asked to create a commercial for the advertiser.
But the real disaster lies on the macro level: There is absolutely nothing good about this radio commercial…
…because it’s not a radio commercial. It’s a list of bullet points held up to a microphone.
What a depressing way to spend this holiday.
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Or, you could say that in honor of Labor Day and the idea that giving people who do work a day off, that absolutely no labor was spent on the creation of this advertisement…
You could say that…
or you could say ..no matter how many times you play this commercial ..it will not work !! Happy Labor Day !!
yet shopping lists often do work, so says my friend who was both a creative writer and now a producer at a local radio level.
I can also say Sears does a lot of national buys up here in Canada, doing shopping list spots on a regular basis. one would think a national advertiser would be smart enough to know what doesn’t and does work for them
For this JC penney spot though, the read is terrible. Sleepy and forgettable. To me, the casting was poor. You want a talent that commands attention without being too dominant.
I disagree that shopping lists work. If you play that ad for someone without comment, then ask him to name two of the bullet points — item and price, he won’t be able to do it, not if you offer him a hundred bucks. The only thing one gets from that ad is that Levis are on sale at Penneys’ stores and online, assuming that the first line doesn’t drive the listener’s mind elsewhere.
Penneys and similar stores have sales all the time. The question this ad does not answer — and it’s the only question the listener asks — is “So why should I go to Penney’s now instead of waiting for the next sale?” I listened to the ad twice, and I don’t remember if it said anything about these being lower prices than at other sales, which as a customer I wouldn’t believe anyway.
@Scott:
one would think a national advertiser would be smart enough to know what doesn’t and does work for them
Most national advertisers do not.
I hear so many on the air just like this one
What a mess – including one of my pet peeve redundancies, “currently happening.”
It sounds like this is a passive aggressive attempt at a commercial.
“We’re being paid to say something about this company, but we really don’t care…so here’s your shopping list, along with identifiers such as boys, mens, or not men (i.e. Misses). The End.”
This makes me sad on many levels.
Even if the writing and concept had some redeeming quality, the spot would still disappear in the media quagmire because of the voiceover. Every…single…national…spot now seems to be voiced by a bored 18-year-old smart-ass. Is that the only target audience or are creative directors so fearful of sounding different that this is the best they can do?
Maybe the ad agency was trying to empathize with the listeners…weary of ads. You know, like, hey it’s no big deal. Reverse psychology.
Another nail in broadcast radio’s coffin… as dull, mundane and generic as satellite radio usually is, at least there aren’t any dull, generic spots.
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