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A RADIO COMMERCIAL THAT IS 100% BAD

Labor Day is a national holiday in the U.S.

The holiday was created to celebrate and promote labor unions, but for a long time it’s simply been “that holiday that comes right before school starts” or “that holiday that comes at the end of summer, in early September.”

People might anticipate the end of summer or the beginning of a new school year or new sports season. But no one eagerly counts down the days to the Labor Day holiday itself.

Children don’t await its arrival with giddy excitement.

Family scrapbooks feature few if any photographs from Labor Days past.

No one excitedly or impatiently waits for Labor Day.

So what possible reason could this Lowe’s Home Improvement radio commercial have for beginning as this one does?


The rest of the advertising copy really doesn’t matter, because no one listens past that inane opening line.

But do they really expect listeners’ heads to nod in agreement upon being told, “A long weekend is the perfect time to upgrade your home”?

1.  There isn’t a person on this planet who’s been thinking, “Labor Day weekend is coming up! Thank goodness! That’ll be a perfect time to upgrade my home!”

2.  If people haven’t planned to use this long weekend to upgrade their homes, hearing this commercial during the long weekend isn’t going to do much good.

3.  The spot you just heard aired on Monday…the last day of the 3-day weekend. The people responsible for this campaign were too lazy or too dumb to change out the spot on the last day. So we hear Lowe’s urging us to take advantage of this “long weekend” when the long weekend is almost over.

I can’t find anything about this radio commercial that has any merit. Certainly not this idiotic declaration:

“The seasons are changing, so there’s no better time to give your home a fresh look.”

Why are times of seasonal change especially conducive to home improvement? And why are they implying that it’s less desirable to spruce up your home when the seasons aren’t changing?

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  • Roger W. Hartsook September 2, 2014, 10:01 am

    You are correct as usual. One part that bothers me a lot is the lazy attitude toward trying to get by on one piece of copy. It’s ridiculous that any copy in this topic should run on the day in question.

  • Roger W. Hartsook September 2, 2014, 10:05 am

    You are correct as usual. One part that bothers me a lot is the lazy attitude toward trying to get by on one piece of copy. It’s ridiculous that any copy in this topic should run on the day in question.

  • Brian Lane September 2, 2014, 12:30 pm

    Here’s the frightening part. Big wig ad agencies and corporate conglomerates are coming up with this mindless chatter…and it’s accepted. No one seems to be no interested in someone who has the ability to communicate effectively these days…

  • George Feola September 2, 2014, 6:19 am

    Dan…..Timely piece. I was just thinking about this very topic on Saturday. It was triggered by an insert for a major paint brand. Even if I was painting this weekend, decision on brand would have been in advance of the weekend. Good piece.

  • Kevin September 2, 2014, 8:01 am

    “…too lazy or too dumb to change out the spot…” Why is that so common from small market car dealerships to national campaigns? Heck, I even see it on network TV!
    Recently I noticed a furniture company changed a spot with copy write music (Bobby McFerrin) for a generic sound-alike sound track after a day or two. But somehow they missed a station that played the offender for a week. (If only there was some way to electronically distribute commercials to broadcasting outlets without driving across town every day…)
    Got a blog-post about the inability or reluctance to tailor ad campaigns, Dan?

  • Anonymous September 2, 2014, 12:34 pm

    Call your local radio station. Ask to speak to the copywriter. Good luck finding one.

  • SHEL BYNUM September 3, 2014, 8:20 am

    Might I add another possible scenario? The ad agency brings in compelling action inducing copy ideas, only to have them repeatedly shot down by corporate because they don’t sound like what they are used to hearing. ‘Ad-speak’ is what a lot of company leaders are comfortable with and they do business with those who give them what they want. After a while, do you continue to push the envelope…or produce ‘schlock’ because that’s what the customer wants? I’m sure many agencies are more concerned about their own survival versus whether their clients best interests are served. It’s tough to turn down revenue on based on a principle the client rejects in the first place.

  • Nick Summers September 3, 2014, 10:35 am

    Could be that a print guy was assigned to write a radio commercial and was in panic mode. “Oh my gawd, how am I ever going to fill up 30 seconds?? (sigh) Hmm, I’ll start with ‘Labor Day is here at last…'”

  • Tom Johnson September 4, 2014, 11:02 am

    Scary that this sort of ad runs nationwide on more stations than one can imagine. I’m putting these sorts of ads on barter accounts and hear them play on satellite music providers all the time. Screams laziness