Do not pity a shelter dog. Adopt one.

Posted on 16. Apr, 2010 by kchristieh in advertising, animals

Shelter dogs aren’t broken.
They’ve simply experienced more life.
If they were human, we would call them wise.
They would be the ones with tales to tell, stories to write.
Do not pity a shelter dog.
Adopt one.

Pedigree’s “Heroes” commercial, part of its Adoption Drive.

Best commercial I’ve ever seen.

The Super Bowl ad I liked the most

Posted on 08. Feb, 2010 by kchristieh in advertising

Here’s the Super Bowl ad I liked the most: Google’s “Parisian Love” ad. Is it because I became engaged in Paris, or because I rely on Google countless times a day? Peut-être tous les deux.

Or perhaps, it’s just because this awesome ad not only gets across the company’s message with grace and simplicity, but because it was so sweet that it even brought tears to my eyes.

You can see all the commercials on the CBS Website.

How does Tim Tebow offend and Danica Patrick doesn’t?

Posted on 07. Feb, 2010 by kchristieh in advertising, religion, things that bug me

For weeks, I’ve been hearing about how offensive was going to be. A coalition of women’s groups called on CBS not to run the ad.

When I finally saw the commercial, I was indeed stunned: I couldn’t believe the brouhaha was over this.

Here’s the script. What’s offensive about it?

Tim Tebow’s mother: “I call him my miracle baby. He almost didn’t make it into this world. I can remember so many times when I almost lost him. It was so hard. Well, he’s all grown up now, and I STILL worry about his health. You know, with all our family’s been through, we have to be tough!”
[Tim Tebow comes out of the side of the screen and tackles her.]
Mom: “Timmy! We’re trying to tell our story here.”
Tim: “Sorry about that, Mom! Do you still worry about me, Mom?”
Mom: “Well yeah! You’re not nearly as tough as I am!”
For the full Tebow story, go to FocusOnTheFamily.com.

Frankly, I could have filmed that commercial. My son was in neonatal for eight days after he was born, and I didn’t get to hold him until he was five days old. I still worry about him, especially when he plays football, and with good reason. He used to tackle me when he was two years old, and I’m glad he doesn’t anymore.

Where’s the feminist outrage over the GoDaddy commercial where Danica Patrick gets a massage from a woman who rips off her shirt to declare that she’d be a great GoDaddy girl (and if you see the internet version, dances like a skank)? Is this what “equal rights” means? Or how about the , where Kim Kardashian seduces a salad and winds up eating it in a bathtub? And speaking of bathtubs, how about the Motorola commercial where the woman takes a picture of herself and sends it over the internet, including to a young boy behind a closed door? So much for all the anti-sexting lectures we give our kids!

My husband and I have long disagreed about abortion: he’s pro-choice, and I’m pro-life. But even he’s stunned by the negative reaction to this ad. It’s sad when something this benign is slammed, even as people close their eyes to other offensive material playing all around them.

A few more notes:

Check out the Focus on the Family link. Tim Tebow’s parents talk about how they were advised to get an abortion because of medical problems. They chose not to, because they had faith that God had a plan for their baby. Later in the interview, when asked what she’d tell a young woman who’s pregnant and thinking of aborting her baby, Tim’s mother says,

“I would say that baby’s not a mistake, even though it might seem that way to her, and that God will enable her to do the right thing, and to give her the encouragement she needs, that there’s also help for her, and there’s help that she doesn’t even know about yet. There’s so many people, so many pregnancy crisis centers across the country just waiting to encourage someone in her position. And girls have those options. They have a choice.”

Isn’t it ironic that pro-choice people are complaining that someone is reminding people that they have a choice?

By the way, I’ve been switching accounts away from GoDaddy ever since I saw one of their offensive commercials a few years ago. These days, I choose Bluehost.com instead. They’ve got great customer service, and are good for not only regular websites but for Wordpress installations.

Why is Smirnoff targeting Facebook ads at 17-year-olds?

Posted on 02. Sep, 2009 by kchristieh in advertising, health, parenting, social networking, things that bug me

I was shocked yesterday when I passed by my 17-year-old daughter as she cruised Facebook and saw that she’d been targeted with the Smirnoff ad to the right. Facebook allows advertisers to target ads by age, location and many other variables, so why was it marketing liquor to someone under 21? As Facebook’s own state,

7. Inappropriate Targeting

Ads need to be targeted relevantly and appropriately. For example, a dating ad should be targeted to users over 18 who are listed as single.

The ad also showed up on my page, right below an ad to take courses at Biola. I think Smirnoff missed the boat on this one, and Facebook was asleep at the wheel. Or maybe they weren’t, and were just trying to make a buck. I complained, and hopefully they’ll be more prudent in the future. In the meantime, parents should unfortunately expect that ads such as this may show up on their kids’ pages, and should discuss with them why they’re inappropriate.

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While I’m on the topic of inappropriate ads, check out the ad on the right that showed up on Facebook today. How rude!

Do they actually think that a picture of a kid rudely sucking his spaghetti shows respect toward children unfortunate enough to have Type 2 diabetes? It’s hard enough to have that disease without having to deal with the stereotypes that this ad reinforces. I doubt they’ll get many clicks on this one.

The most creative job search technique I’ve ever seen

Posted on 26. Jul, 2009 by kchristieh in advertising, social networking, work

I’m not sure why Facebook thought the ad to the right might be relevant to me, but I love it. Sometimes creative application techniques bomb, but I think this one’s pretty good. I hope it works for him! Maybe he was wise in targeting me, since I’m winding up blogging about it.  :)

These are good days to be self-employed. At least when I go to work each day, I know I have a job.

There was a young driver who drove a red shoe

Posted on 11. May, 2009 by kchristieh in advertising

Given the choice between wearing bright red pumps and driving one up and down Brand Blvd. in Glendale on a Saturday afternoon, which would you choose?

I’d definitely go for the car.

Why my husband’s not banished to the doghouse

Posted on 09. Dec, 2008 by kchristieh in advertising, my life, videos

When I told my friend Deirdre that on our 20th anniversary, my husband and I got a cushy La-Z-Boy sectional sofa, she said she’d have to talk to my husband about this. I insisted that it was truly what I wanted, and to this day I love sitting on that couch. (although I’m usually at my computer!)

Here’s a funny video/ad about husbands who wind up in the doghouse because they don’t understand their wives’ desires:

I read one review of the video that called it sexist. They have a point. I found it funny anyway, because I’ve seen similar situations. But I’ve learned to make it easy for my husband and tell him what I want. It’s much easier that way. Or I just treat myself and take the pressure off him. We started going out over 23 years ago, and got married over 21 years ago…so I guess it works.

I wonder what the video would look like from the guy’s perspective? Perhaps he’d bring home 10 choices of diamonds, and none would be good enough. Personally, I’ve told my husband never to get me a diamond anything. My wedding ring is enough for me.

Trashy 90210 poster invades local mall

Posted on 14. Aug, 2008 by kchristieh in advertising, parenting, shopping, sports, things that bug me, tv

Can you imagine taking a 6-year-old to the mall and having to explain this banner to her?

I took these pictures at the food court of the Santa Anita Mall in Arcadia, CA today.

It’s bad enough that older kids (and adults) have to see it, but little eyes shouldn’t see this stuff. The more we see and hear things, the more normal they become, and I don’t think young children should be exposed to this. Some of my most frustrating moments as a parent have come when I’ve had to explain nudie billboards on the freeway or Viagra commercials to young kids.

I’ve tried to shield my kids from issues and vices that are way beyond their years, but it’s tough. The only way would be if we totally retreated from the outside world: no trips, computer, tv, radio, newspaper, magazines, or friends. That’s not the life I want for my kids, nor will it prepare them for living in the U.S. in the 21st century. But should they have to see this junk at such young ages? Should I???

Click here to see a great article from OpenSalon.com about the discrepancy between what the men wear vs. what the women wear in this summer’s Olympics. The title says it all: Olympic Wedgies all Around!!! The Pornification of Sports.

Irreverent “Hail Stanford, Hail” commercials

Posted on 17. Mar, 2008 by kchristieh in advertising, animals, education, videos

These irreverent yet innovative commercials actually appear to be real. They make me so proud. Click on each image to see the commercial on YouTube.

And on a different note, here’s another Stanford-related commercial. It’s for Sony HD, and revolves around “The Play” with Cal. I was there that day, so I didn’t need to rely upon any non-existent technologies to have the highest high and the lowest low of any sporting event in history.

Why I won’t subscribe to Fitness

Posted on 15. Jan, 2008 by kchristieh in advertising

“Love your body at any size?” That’s what the Fitness magazine mailer I received says…right next to the picture of the utterly thin model. If they really meant it, they’d dare to have a plus-size model.

(If I was Justin on Ugly Betty, I’d be able to tell you what size she is.)

Speaking of Ugly Betty, I liked their “normal” woman fashion show at the end. Nice!

I didn’t need any more magazines anyway. I already wonder how many trees are sacrificed for my voracious reading habits.