Like taking candy from a baby: how Snickers played everybody
It occurred to me during a marketing meeting for the station this morning that the Snickers ad that's caused so much consternation was a brilliant piece of advertising for two reasons. First, it was the most memorable ad on Super Bowl Sunday -- and it also has had the longest after-game shelf life, generating tens of millions of dollars worth of free media for the brand due to the news stories, blog drama, protests and angst that it generated. And second, it succeeded in stealth, achieving its marketing goals without anybody noticing what the advertiser was up to.
Here's what I mean.
When Masterfoods' ad agency first conceived the ad, I understand they originally approached some gay rights advocates to ask them to view the ads and comment, but at the eleventh hour, they pulled back, and never showed the groups the ads. The company probably knew how they would be received. They also knew that the masses of men and women of all ages who watch the Super Bowl aren't Snickers' target market. Who is the target market? Young, mostly male candy eaters.
... and where can you reach millions of young, male candy eaters who probably don't catch a lot of prime time television?
And once the ads hit, and caused the expected uproar, both from gay advocates (who objected to the reaction of the male smoochers to their accidental kiss, and the NFL players whose cringy reactions were uploaded on a Snickers web-site) and from Family Research Council types, who objected to the ads because of the man-on-man smooching itself, Masterfoods promptly pulled them, issued a statement, and then failed to take the next logical step: demanding that the ads also be pulled from Youtube and other viral video sites.
Because I would speculate, getting the ads the buzz they needed to burn up the blogs, as well as those viral video sites, was precisely the point. Once the viral video success was achieved, the company no longer needed to run the ads, on television, or online.
It's either that, or M&M Mars is just damned lucky.
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dim done
done = request.form("done")
if done = "" then
done = "No"
%>
Tell a friend
<%
Else
if request.form("done") = "Yes" then
'sets variables
dim email, sendmail
email = request.form("email")
Set sendmail = Server.CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
'put the webmaster address here
sendmail.From = "webmaster@aspbasics.com"
'The mail is sent to the address entered in the previous page.
sendmail.To = email
'Enter the subject of your mail here
sendmail.Subject = "Check out this website"
'send a specific page or send a site url
dim url
'url = Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
url = "http://www.aspbasics.net"
'This is the content of the message.
sendmail.Body = "Site recommendation from a friend!" & _
vbCrlf & vbCrlf & "A friend has sent you this email and thought you would should check out this site." & _
vbCrlf & url & vbCrlf
'this sets mail priority.... 0=low 1=normal 2=high
sendmail.Importance = 1
sendmail.Send 'Send the email!
response.redirect Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
'Response.write ("Sent to ") & email
End if
End if
%>
"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788
