Advertising Is Good For You

Kids. Can't return 'em. Might as well feed em.

Most FSIs (free standing inserts in newspapers) suck. Rarely do they look as though they were done by professional creative people. This is a happy exception.

Tropicana ad, featuring Waldo

Advertising Agency: DDB, London

Source: Ads of the World

This week's most fascinating Tweet comes from porn star Jenna James

Source: smaknews

Advertising to parents and children

In the 1960s, when I was a kid, it was still legal for advertisers to target children directly. Most toy commercials ended with the voiceover suggesting something like, "Ask mom and dad to buy you one."

Some think advertising today surreptitiously targets kids. Well, it kind of does.

I once worked on some ads selling children's books based on Disney characters. The ads were most definitely targeting parents. However, we made sure that the look of the ads would appeal to children.

The thinking was, parents who were impressed with the ads would likely show them to their toddlers and ask, "Honey, would you like these books?" Making sure Junior loved what he saw was certainly one of our objectives.

I didn't consider that unethical in the least. What do you think?

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The following Play-Doh ads are obviously targeting parents and their grownup sense of humor. Some parents will never-the-less find them inappropriate. And although they cracked me up, I would agree.

Source: Jezebel

A brand name that could only come from someone who's never changed a baby

Moms control 85% of household spending

Source: Media Post

What to do if your baby isn't cute enough

Introducing Baby Bangs.

 

If your baby girl's appearance doesn't live up to your expectations, her physical shortcomings needn't ruin your dream of having the perfect baby. Order her some Baby Bangs and start displaying her in public without worry.

   

The Baby Bangs website even includes directions on how to set the Baby Bangs hairpiece with hair spray. However tempted you may be to use glue or rubber cement instead, don't; it could cause permanent harm to the Baby Bangs.

The Potty Dance -- just as annoying and indispensable as Barney

In Sunday's Boston Globe circular, I discovered the existence of the Potty Dance. So, off to Pull-ups.com I went.

I was expecting a video as appealing as a poopy diaper. Sure enough, the video made both my eyes and ears hurt.

  

I have to give Pull-ups a lot of credit, though. The music, lyrics and casting of the video are exactly what kids of potty-training age love to watch. And if that results in a few minutes of uninterrupted me-time for their parents, they'll love it, too.

Watch the Potty Dance at Pull-ups.com.

J.B., consumer groups are blaming products like ours for causing the childhood obesity epidemic. What should we do?

Promoting family fun at a Swedish ski resort

Click images to enlarge.

Advertising Agency: Spenat, Karlstad, Sweden

Source: Ads of the World

Ralph Lauren celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Or is he celebrating Obama's inauguration? I'm not sure.

This ad made me groan when I saw it in yesterday's New York Times. Like so much of Ralph Lauren's advertising, it seems to be trying too hard. Here's another example of what I mean.

No one draws snotty-nosed kids better than Mad Magazine's Mort Drucker

CLICK HERE to see more of Mort Drucker's work.

Pro-breastfeeding ad campaign

"Breastfeeding stimulates the development of your child's brain."

Source: Scary Ideas