BUSINESS 101
Select two business ads ( have a picture of each add on the doc)
•
o Choose an advertisement that exemplifies effective advertising.
o Choose an advertisement that you believe fails in its execution or goals.
• Ensure both ads are accessible in their original form to share with your submission (Can be a
picture, link, etc.).
• Message me about which ads your using so I can approve as we can't use ads that have already
been talked about in our class
• For both ads, provide a detailed analysis including:
•
• Description: Product or service, advertising medium, target audience.
• Content and Strategic Analysis: Creativity, messaging, target audience alignment, and
differentiation.
• Impacts Evaluation: Effectiveness of the ad, what works/what doesn’t, and why. What makes one
ad good and the other bad, and why.
• Broader Implications: How do these ads reflect broader trends in advertising? What can other
advertisers learn from the successes and mistakes showcased?
Answer
Advertising plays a crucial role in shaping consumer perceptions and influencing
purchasing decisions. Its effectiveness hinges on a brand's ability to connect with audiences
meaningfully and appropriately. While some advertisements effectively capture the
consumer's attention through comedy and creativity, others go wrong in appealing to
emotions such as sensitivity. The contrasting outcomes of McDonald's "Dead Dad"
advertisement and Old Spice's "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign highlight
the importance of aligning messaging with audience expectations. Mcdonald's intended to
trigger an emotional response through the advertisement by using grief, but it only backfired
due to poor execution and was immediately pulled off. The humorous and quick succession
, of the Old Spice commercial caused primary results and revived an old brand. Effective
advertising requires a careful balance between emotional appeal and consumer sensitivity, as
seen in the failure of McDonald's "Dead Dad" ad and the success of Old Spice's humorous
campaign, demonstrating that ethical storytelling, audience awareness, and creative execution
are key to shaping brand perception and engagement.
Description
The McDonald's "Dead Dad" advertisement from 2017 targeted families and
emotional consumers through television, featuring a boy struggling to connect with memories
of his deceased father, ultimately finding commonality through a Filet-O-Fish sandwich
(Roderick). The campaign was carried out poorly by associating the brand with grief and
bereavement in an offer inaptly placed close to Father's Day. It was a slap on the head that
prompted over 100 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority, widely criticized on
social media platforms and criticized by bereavement charities. Alcoholism exposes that
McDonald's had at some point pulled down the advert and later offered an apology, implying
that even well-established brands can ineptly estimate emotional sense in advertisement and
end up with an embarrassment and a failure of the campaign.
In contrast, the 2010 Old Spice "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" television
commercial achieved remarkable success by targeting women (the primary purchasers of
men's body wash) and men through clever humor and aspirational messaging. The single-
shot, fast-paced commercial was thus filled with surreal transitions, quick-witted one-liners,
and even humorous taglines to make the average seeming mud product into a must-have item
and quite an entertaining show (Old Spice). It changed people's perception from the
traditional way of perceiving Old Spice to a more youthful product, and hence, the demand
for the product was boosted, and it became a product that went viral. It garnered this success
by identifying what people liked and the appropriate ways of using humor and making
entertaining, viral videos that avoided offense and manipulation of emotions.
Content and Strategic Analysis
The McDonald's "Dead Dad" advertisement demonstrates significant misalignment in
its creative execution and strategic messaging. While attempting to showcase McDonald's
Select two business ads ( have a picture of each add on the doc)
•
o Choose an advertisement that exemplifies effective advertising.
o Choose an advertisement that you believe fails in its execution or goals.
• Ensure both ads are accessible in their original form to share with your submission (Can be a
picture, link, etc.).
• Message me about which ads your using so I can approve as we can't use ads that have already
been talked about in our class
• For both ads, provide a detailed analysis including:
•
• Description: Product or service, advertising medium, target audience.
• Content and Strategic Analysis: Creativity, messaging, target audience alignment, and
differentiation.
• Impacts Evaluation: Effectiveness of the ad, what works/what doesn’t, and why. What makes one
ad good and the other bad, and why.
• Broader Implications: How do these ads reflect broader trends in advertising? What can other
advertisers learn from the successes and mistakes showcased?
Answer
Advertising plays a crucial role in shaping consumer perceptions and influencing
purchasing decisions. Its effectiveness hinges on a brand's ability to connect with audiences
meaningfully and appropriately. While some advertisements effectively capture the
consumer's attention through comedy and creativity, others go wrong in appealing to
emotions such as sensitivity. The contrasting outcomes of McDonald's "Dead Dad"
advertisement and Old Spice's "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign highlight
the importance of aligning messaging with audience expectations. Mcdonald's intended to
trigger an emotional response through the advertisement by using grief, but it only backfired
due to poor execution and was immediately pulled off. The humorous and quick succession
, of the Old Spice commercial caused primary results and revived an old brand. Effective
advertising requires a careful balance between emotional appeal and consumer sensitivity, as
seen in the failure of McDonald's "Dead Dad" ad and the success of Old Spice's humorous
campaign, demonstrating that ethical storytelling, audience awareness, and creative execution
are key to shaping brand perception and engagement.
Description
The McDonald's "Dead Dad" advertisement from 2017 targeted families and
emotional consumers through television, featuring a boy struggling to connect with memories
of his deceased father, ultimately finding commonality through a Filet-O-Fish sandwich
(Roderick). The campaign was carried out poorly by associating the brand with grief and
bereavement in an offer inaptly placed close to Father's Day. It was a slap on the head that
prompted over 100 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority, widely criticized on
social media platforms and criticized by bereavement charities. Alcoholism exposes that
McDonald's had at some point pulled down the advert and later offered an apology, implying
that even well-established brands can ineptly estimate emotional sense in advertisement and
end up with an embarrassment and a failure of the campaign.
In contrast, the 2010 Old Spice "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" television
commercial achieved remarkable success by targeting women (the primary purchasers of
men's body wash) and men through clever humor and aspirational messaging. The single-
shot, fast-paced commercial was thus filled with surreal transitions, quick-witted one-liners,
and even humorous taglines to make the average seeming mud product into a must-have item
and quite an entertaining show (Old Spice). It changed people's perception from the
traditional way of perceiving Old Spice to a more youthful product, and hence, the demand
for the product was boosted, and it became a product that went viral. It garnered this success
by identifying what people liked and the appropriate ways of using humor and making
entertaining, viral videos that avoided offense and manipulation of emotions.
Content and Strategic Analysis
The McDonald's "Dead Dad" advertisement demonstrates significant misalignment in
its creative execution and strategic messaging. While attempting to showcase McDonald's
