Wednesday, May 03, 2006

As opposed to, what? Trade pelts for them?

(click image)
Male consumer, do you have 90 dollars of cash or credit readily available? Then march into your local Penguin retailer, pick up a pair of these shoes in your size, walk up to the cash register, complete a financial transaction with the salesperson, and you will have then concluded a marketing cycle begun by this advertisement.

14 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Do they come with a giant inflatable penguin? I'd rather have the rat.

11:56 AM  
Blogger EVIL DISCUSSOR said...

Nice rant, Ranter.

As opposed to coming up with an line, sounds like the creatives just took the little blurb under the "Who are we talking to?" section of the brief, and used it as a headline.

Why bother with puns and witticisms when the headline is right there in the target demographics?

Actually, I kind of respect the ad's pure honesty, brazen target targeting, unbridled laziness, and obvious lack of ambition.

12:19 PM  
Blogger EVIL DISCUSSOR said...

This just opened up a whole new world of obviously target-baiting advertising. It’s so easy. Here’s my next ad:

He's involved, not introverted.
He regularly goes out to dance or for dinner.
-and he demands excellent safety and performance from his car.

12:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Considering the style and period this ad is meant to evoke, the headline seems fairly appropriate. What's the problem with it? Look at ads in Playboy even up until the mid 80s and this type of prose is prevalent throughout (yes, I read it for the ads). Whether or not the target can afford the luxury that style harkens to a time when it didn't matter. Just like these days, but without drop shadows and inner bevels.

12:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

the language touches on the pre-Bernbach era when ads were so bad you wonder how people could be so fucked up back then.

12:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

evil, one more for your ad:

He blogs, but isn't preachy.

1:50 PM  
Blogger Transformer said...

Why, yes, I do have excess disposable income and enjoy the irony of dressing like Bing Crosby!

Finally, an ad that speaks to me!

2:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chalk it up to a rare form of dyslexia, but when I look at this ad I see:

He's unsure of himself and buys clothes to serve as his identity-by-proxy.

He needs ads to tell him what he wants

...and he has about 100 bucks remaining on his Visa card before it's maxed out.

2:43 PM  
Blogger David said...

I think by "he can afford to pay for it," they mean sex.

3:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't think this ad's heuristic disallows bartering with rat pelts.

3:15 PM  
Blogger copyranter said...

Please excuse Mr. Cosumerist.com's use of smartypants words like "heuristic." He's a "writer."

3:30 PM  
Blogger TheTart said...

LOL. Clearly this kinda guy is ready to plunk down his cash-ola 4 a Sea World pal, odd? Strange duck. ; )

Then he what, jumps into his Lotus? That is doin nuthin 4 me. No free sex or high dollar stuff 4 that guy, ever!

Smooch,
The Tart

7:17 PM  
Blogger Scamp said...

"He knows what he wants"

Extremely ugly shoes.

6:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think they look like upscale bowling shoes... if there even IS such a thing?

6:42 AM  

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