July 2, 2025 • 32 mins
René and Shawn walk through a few marketing campaigns and how they use different techniques to get your attention.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome to another Curveball production, Studio B.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Today Studio ish B.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Yeah, Studio ish B. Studio A is available, but a
little chili downstairs. So we decided to stay up here
at Studio B. And before we get but before we
get started with today's podcast, because we are all about
the research, we're all about making sure we're factual, Renee
(00:39):
has to offer up a correction from last week's podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
An editorial correction.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Last week on the podcast, you may or may not
remember that we talked about a commercial where a grandmother
was catfishing people on a dating website and her young
grandson came over and she was talking about about how
she used this photo of her in this bikini, which
was not a photo of her at all, and how
(01:05):
people were sending her gift cards and how great it was.
And I could not remember the advertiser, and I said,
I think it may have been Samsung. Well, fortunately for
our listeners, I've seen the commercial a few more times
since last week.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Fortunately for you as well. It's a good commercial.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
It isn't really well I mean, but we'll come to
that later. Is it a good commercial? I couldn't remember
who the advertisers.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Correct, but boy, I'm kind of an idiot because they
gave me so many clues. The advertiser was Mattress Firm,
and here's the delio. The song they play throughout the
commercial is Lionel Richie's All Night Long, which I'm not
going to sing for you because I can't carry.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
A tune in a bucket me either.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Okay, well you can actually sing, but anyway, at the
end of the commercial, the grandmother says something about, yeah,
she's going to sleep all night long, and then she
says because Granny sleeps hot, which makes it even cringier, right,
but super funny commercial. We can argue about whether or
(02:09):
not it's a good idea to be encouraging catfishing and
why we all think it's funny when it's a you know,
an eighty year old woman as opposed to you know,
forty year old man. Nonetheless, I think it was funny,
and that is my correction. So the Genius Advertising Award
goes to Mattress Firm, not.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Saying sung, but but you brought up you brought up
an excellent point that you couldn't remember who was the
sponsor for the ad.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I know, but I think that's because I just I
got lost in the story of it all right, which
is part of it. I mean, it was a good
enough ad that I look for it now and I
get excited if I see it. But after watching the
ad once upon recall, I couldn't remember the advertiser. But
I do think their marketing department did a good job.
I mean they had the whole all night long thing.
(02:58):
I mean they had the whole energy about sleeping and stuff.
I just got caught up in identity fraud.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Fair enough well. And the mattress firm one, they have
a number of ads out there and their main tagline
is how do you sleep at night? And then the
person will say I sleep, and then loud of richies
all night long on the mattress for a mattress, and
they'll do like one of them is a guy double
(03:27):
dipping a chip into some dipka and his buddy is
he's doing it. His buddy comes up to when he
looks at him, it's just with this look of disdain,
how do you sleep at night? Right? And he looks
at him, and I sleep.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
So I think I've given you that very look for
that very reason.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
There's no doubt. Well, when I triple dip double dipping,
you're now you're okay.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
I've put him on notice. When it's just him and
I eating, double dipping's fine, it's practically the same plate. Okay,
But I have put him on notice. At family functions,
there is no double dipping.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
I don't understand the whole No double dip.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Why would you want someone else's saliva?
Speaker 1 (04:02):
And it's not well it's not I don't double no,
it's not like never mind, but but but again, but
they so they have now started to create this this
this image, this advertising image that they have for their commercials.
So now you start to watch them and go, okay, now,
what's the funny one going to be? For this one?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
I believe in the bi Shan we call that a
campaign thank you their brand?
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Yeah, go ahead, part of their brand.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Well, we can deep dive into this, but we were
going to keep this surface level today.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Remember, well there is that because Renee is the marketing
genius of the production podcast and yeah, so we so
so we were having conversations about about advertisement and the
the way companies go about their advertisements and how they
(04:58):
do they need does their brand? Do you automatically understand
or recognize the brand based on the ad, and there
are a number of them out there. The insurance industry
is huge for that. I mean, you can recognize a
progressive ad, a Geico ad, a State Farm ad.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
I mean, to some degree, the commercials have become a
bit of entertainment, those progressive ads where they have the
whole shtick is, you know, like don't become your parents
or whatever. I mean, it really has nothing to do
with insurance, but I think we can all identify with
I mean, I would love to become like my parents,
but hi, mom, my dad. But those commercials of you know,
(05:39):
I don't know, getting involved in decisions that other people
are making, unsolicited advice at home depot, all those types
of things.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Correct. And the problem that I have with those particular
progressive ads is that it's geared toward guys. I've seen
you many times be that person that just goes, well,
can I just help you with this? Or Hey, how
about if I just go do this?
Speaker 3 (06:04):
And I'm admittedly I helped someone so well at Target
once they thought I was an employee, correct, and I
didn't have the heart to tell her that I wasn't.
And it was a grandmother looking for a particular hair conditioner,
and I actually walked her to the aisle and helped
her find it. And then she was carrying on about
what a what a great employee I was, and I
(06:25):
just took it and walked away and said thank.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
You and again, and she does this all never person
and you're just willing to help out.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
And I happen to know all of the target planograms.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Okay, go take a left, buy the kids, and then
got it. But so so your your insurance companies have
those types of ads where they don't really yeah, they
give you your if you bundle, I mean, then you
get this, but they're not. But that's really about all
it is.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
And so when you progressive, the bundlers.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Uh well they bund all state bundles. They all bundle.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Oh yeah, all state bundles.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Okay, so we let's just go bundles.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
So let's just stay in the in the insurance world
for a minute, because on our walk the other night,
we got talking about it and we were trying to remember,
you know, the various jingles and whatnot in the propaganda,
and what we came up with for insurance companies is
often it is just what is most memorable because and
(07:28):
we're gonna come back to liberty liverty in a minute,
but so many of these things, it's just like they
just want you to remember them so that you'll include
them in your search, right, right, because if you're looking
at State Farm or All State or Farmers, right, it's
easy to get those mixed up. But thanks to like
the discount double check with State Farm, you know, we
(07:50):
remember that that might be when we want to check out.
But then my nephew brought up a really good point.
Well he kind of went off, but made some valid
points about the insurance industry that somebody didn't. You say,
State Farm signed Kitlin Clark to like a ten million
dollar contract, and he was like, that's ridiculous. We're going
to spend ten million dollars. Or State Farm spent ten
(08:12):
million dollars. They should be using that money to lower
their rates for their insurance policyholders. And you and I
actually don't see eye to eye on this one. And
I say, hey, you know, if they want to invest
in their marketing by investing in an A list spokesperson,
(08:32):
sometimes you have to spend money to make money. I
promise you that the marketing team is being held to
some sort of ROI analytics on this, and somebody is
making the gamble, if you will, to nod back to
last week's podcast, but taking a gamble that this is
going to pay off for them because people might like
(08:53):
Kitlin Clark and therefore they might want to check out
the insurance company she aligns with. I mean, I almost
drop State Farm when they grabbed Aaron Rodgers quite frankly.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Well, but here's and I guess in my side of
it is more on the if. If they're going to
be spending all that money just to get new people,
how is that helping me as an existing customer when
my rates keep going up so that they can spend
more money so that they can get more people, Because
the more people they get that that is their return.
(09:25):
They get people to sign up. But at the same
time my rates go up.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Yeah, but it isn't just about getting new people. It's
about it's about maintaining yours.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
I know, That's what I'm saying. Why what they should
do is say come out with an AD and say, hey,
you know what, we were going to get a high
price spokesperson there, but we didn't. We gave you the
money and stuff.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
You know, a couple of advertisers have done that over
the years and trying to think who they were. But yeah,
I mean that's certainly a play, right, like we're not
gonna waste our advertising dollars, you know, paying a spokesperson,
And honestly a lot of that came into play with
not a paid spokesperson. Remember a disclaimer on a lot
of Uh for some reason, we're talking TV commercials a
(10:09):
lot because well, we do watch ion.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
And we'll get it. We will get into the pharmaceuticals.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Right, Oh my goodness, that whole channel is nothing but pharmaceuticals.
But that does bring me to one of our conversations too, well,
back to the liberty liberty Like on principle, I will
never consider liberty liberty Okay, I don't know why. It's
an EMU, right.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Well, that's one of that's one of the things they have, yes.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Yeah, and then the guy with the glasses and the
liberty biberty and the baby and yeah, no, that does
nothing for me.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I want my insurance professional to be able to spell.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
You'd rather but you'd rather you'd rather go with mayhem
and to go that route.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
My parents really like the Mayhem commercial course, and I
think they still So here's the other thing with insurance.
I think with the increased use of the Internet, which
obviously isn't going anywhere, people do shop insurance more than
they ever did. Insurance industry used to be you get
somebody and you you know, you get their car insurance,
(11:12):
and then they buy a home, and then they buy
a cabin and then oh, by the way, you need
life insurance.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
I'm a victim. I'm a victim of that, like.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Because I'm lazy and I don't want to go shop
my insurance. So my agent has all of my policies,
and I think about twice a year, I should probably
shop this and see if I'm getting the best rates.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
But so many people because it is a hassle. Once
they get you, they have you for a long time typically,
and it.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Is and it is a hassle. Then if you go
out online and you go to I want to get
an insurance quote, then you have fifteen people calling you.
That's true, and it's a it's a pain.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
What about Geico, I mean, like, honestly, I kind of
want to be with Geico just because he's cute.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Well, yes, and they have. Again they it's you recognize
those ads and so you immediately know who they are.
Now that is actually the way they go about their
business on the insurance side. You know, they're they're about,
you know a lot about about bundling and they will
kind of get into the rates a little bit and
(12:16):
how much you can save, but they're more about do
you recognize the ads that they have and thank you.
See again, she's the marketing genius. I'm not which I.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Think, sure, we're the term genius.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
I don't think so. I think it's very appropriate.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Pretty sure this is marketing one on one that's.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Appropriate the But then you then you turn to the
wireless telecom industry. Sure, and and you had mentioned that back,
you know, ten years ago, all their ads were really
whether it's Verizon eighteen tier or whatnot, about coverage and
who's got the best coverage. Well now they all use
(12:57):
the same but for a one hundred square mile honk
of Nebraska. Pretty much everybody has.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
I've been to that, Yes, square mile, it's.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
A dark it's the Berbrida Triangle of the telecom world.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
But there's a little spot in Maple Grove, Minnesota too, okay,
fair they.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
But they're more if you look at their ads across
the board, it's almost all about pricing. Who's got the
best here's here's the pricing that.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
We are the latest technology or the best deal on
the latest and greatest phone. Correct, I mean, and it's
like we'll give you this free.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
But rebate yeah, and say that we're you bring in
your phone and you'll get a free one if you
buy a line, or you do this, or you upgrade
to this or you do this. So those a whole
bunch of disclaimers, but they are more about the the
how they can compare against each other with their with
their rates that they have not as much uh, there's
(13:56):
it's not as much humor and you recognize the the
the particular ad. It's more they just they go a
different route.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Well, the other thing that we're really not we'll save
this for another podcast. But the other change or shift
with advertising away from say television commercials and even radio
spots would be the onslaught of social media influencers and
how many millions of dollars of sales these influencers drive
(14:28):
and some of them aren't even famous, right, like to
begin with, so it's I mean, eventually they get paid
and you know all that kind of stuff. And if
you want to know more about that, we could do
a whole podcast on social media influencers. But this idea
that people aren't just watching your broadcast television anymore. They're
streaming services. You can opt out of ads with radio stations.
(14:50):
And I mean, I'm a card carrying member of the
you know, broadcast society. I did radio, but no, it's
like now you've got all these streaming services. You can
stream radio stations from India if you want. And then
there's podcasts, which you may have recognized that we do
have ads on our podcast now do we started that
(15:10):
a year ago?
Speaker 1 (15:10):
And I and just see, you know, a side note
for everybody out there, they do try to force ads
in the middle of our podcasts, but we get rid
of those because we think they're annoying this and so
we got rid of anyway. But again that's just one
of the they. To your point, there are just so
many ways to get ads out there and for people
(15:32):
to consume those, and they have to now be you know,
ten to fifteen second spots right so that they're they're
quick they get to what they need to be the
before I forget. As we're researching, prepping for this particular podcast,
I did run across one advertisement what would you call
(15:55):
the Pizza Hut one just a.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
It was just an interesting factoid, an.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Interesting factoid anyway, So we're going about this, I just
happened to run across the fact that Pizza Hut was
the first cut per the first pizza place ever to
deliver a pizza to space.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
I think that that was. It was one of those
like interesting fact things that you read.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
And I thought right away, well, we didn't hear anything
about it, but I'm guess because like they couldn't do
Domino's thirty minute guarantee that we became so accustomed to.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Well did you say? It was like back in.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Two two thousand and one, So it was before all
this other stuff. So and I didn't hear about it either.
But it was a six inch salami pizza that was
put aboard a shuttle that we went out to the
Russian space station and they paid the Russian space the
(16:55):
ras Cosmos, okay, paid them one million dollars to have
them ship a pizza up to space. And it was
a salami pizza and they had got video of the
Russian cosmonaut who sat there and ate the pizza and
gave it two thumbs up.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
I would like so many questions. What's a twenty percent tip?
Speaker 2 (17:15):
I shouldn't.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Well, it would be two hundred thousand dollars on a
million dollar pizza. I'd be a heck of a delivery
driver tip, that would be.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
I gotta figure that was a pretty good Is that
right man?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Because you know what I mean? Yes, sir, wouldn't it be?
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (17:30):
So that and then the idea that you mentioned, because
I was like, who orders a salami pizza? Well, apparently
they found out that salami was had was more shelf
stable pepperoni, and then they had to add some extra
seasonings or.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Something to it, extra seasonings to make it palatable once
it got there. But I had not heard of this. Yeah,
be either you would you would have thuned. But then again,
maybe maybe it was all done for Russia advertisement and
we didn't get any of it.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
I don't know, Well maybe, yeah, two thousand and two.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
It was just a great campaign ad campaign. Wouldn't be
a campaign to be a stunt publicity stony.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
It would be a yes, there that's what it is.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
But you know, in general, there are you know, when
when you're thinking about commercials regardless, right, there's things. There
are things about any sort of advertisement that need to
hit right in order for anything to be successful. And
I think more and more, and this is going to
segue into our conversation about highway signs, so bear with me.
I'm going to take the long we're taking the scenic
(18:33):
group to get there, Okay, Sean. But you have to
have a clear objective, all right, And so many commercials,
more often than not, you'll see and this happens during
the Super Bowl too, where people get so creative and
they're so into their creativity that we don't know what
they're talking about. Now, it works if it's so creative
(18:54):
and they pop that QR code up there or something,
and they drive you someplace else to learn about what
it is, although you're going to miss a good chunk
of the population that's too lazy to pick up their
phone and do it, or maybe doesn't know how. But
there always has to be a clear objective. Is it
about brand awareness? Is it a top of the mind
thing you just want to make sure, Like we were
(19:15):
talking about in the insurance industry, that people don't forget
about you, or are you trying to drive sales or
is there a specific event that you need people to
show up at. And you really, with both radio and advertising,
you really have about five seconds to get people's attention,
especially when people are holding a phone in their lap. Yes,
so they're watching TV, you got about five seconds before
(19:37):
they look down at their phone and you know, open
a social media app. So typically you're going to try
to key in on some sort of emotion, whether it's empathy,
whether it's humor. I mean, I'm a big fan obviously
the granny sleeps hot or whatever. I like humor well,
and ones that make me cry or like, okay, I
didn't need that in my evening, right, But all.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
The ads, and you're getting a ton of ads these
days that are are a lot more risque in how
they go about their business.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Yeah, And a lot of a lot of double on tondra.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
A lot of that, and a lot of not even
double on tundra, a lot of just spray here it'll
be better, yeah, and things that back in the day
you didn't quite get as much of, but now all
over the place.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
And even like the quality the production quality of like
locally produced commercials has come quite a long way since
back in the day where you just have like a
flat screen in the background, like a blue background, and
they'd pop your logo up and then like I don't know,
the owner talks to you about it about why there's
I mean, some of them were so painful, right, and
(20:44):
you wonder, like how.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
What was the ROI on that? Because running TV spots.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
And that's where we we'd mentioned this before with Ryan
Ryan Reynolds and his Mint his Mint ads for Mint Wireless,
and he would do that. He would go on with
just a green screen because he didn't have he didn't
have a budget, didn't have an advertising budget. So this
is what we're going to do with this, and that'd
be something funny on him anyway.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
But no matter what, for any advertising, whether it's you know,
direct mail, which I'm obviously a very big fan of
social media, targeting any of these other platforms, the big thing,
your biggest hurdle is reaching the right people at the
right time and solving whatever problem. You really want people
to be the hero in their own story, so you
don't want to tell them you're going to solve all
(21:31):
their problems. You're going to position it so that you know,
you're the you're the wife, and the husband is going
to come home from work, but you're going to enlist
the help of this company so that the guy doesn't
have to work all weekend, you know, fixing the plumbing
or I mean, okay, that was a really sexist, very
very sexist analogy.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
But sometimes sitting at home doing nothing, watch plumbing yourself.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Hey, I fixed the toilet once.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Oh see, and I was so excited I put it
on social media. Yes, but I mean it's all about
reaching the right people at the right time with the
right call to action. Also, so it's kind of like,
you know, car dealers do this all the time. They'll
send postcards in the mail about cars they have specials on. Well,
if you're not looking for a car, you're probably gonna
(22:16):
just throw that in the trash or change the channel.
But if you know your car is like my old
c X nine was, and it became a rattle rattle, thunderclatter, boom,
boom boom, don't worry called the car x man. Because
sometimes your memory recall never ever ends, even if it's
a commercial from like nineteen eighty right, but but some
of those commercials, like they're just a part of our
(22:38):
culture now, right, I don't even know if car X
exists anymore, it does, does it?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
How sad they don't have the they don't have the good.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Commercials, They don't have the budget for it anymore.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
What did they spend They must have shot their a
whole lot on those commercials and then now.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Yeah, now they don't.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yes, but we've kind of beat this.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
But here's here's my segue. Okay, so we start talking
about memorable things, and commercials have to be memorable. You
have to be able to remember who the heck you're
supposed to call, what the call to action was, Right,
So we got talking about these highway signs and if
you're in the state of Minnesota, we've got digital highway
signs randomly that'll say things like, you know, accident ahead,
(23:18):
accident ahead, or don't forget to click buckle up, things
like that. Well, the Minnesota MINDOT, Minnesota Department of Transportation,
much like many other states, started to get a little
bit more jovial, a little bit more human in their
signs to get people to actually read them. And I
(23:39):
don't think we've talked about this on the podcast. But
back in January of twenty twenty four, the fans came
down and said, eh, eh, nope, you guys need to
quit doing this. You need to have clear, concise signs
that are basically warning signs for traffic changes and movement
in a particular area.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Because they did because they didn't want people getting into
accidents as they're reading the signs, going wow, well that
was funny, right, not paying attention to the road.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
And some of them are hilarious, right, there's now some
of them again, like with advertising, are a little bit
too cute, and you're like, wait, what do they mean?
And if you don't know, you don't know, right, But
the state of Minnesota came out and basically said, yeah,
we got the same message from the FEDS as everybody
else did.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
We're not changing our signs. And I was like, and
mind you, this is like pre election. Okay, so this
had nothing to do. I'm not getting political here, No,
I'm not.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
I just think that's important and when the climate we're
in right now, I think it's important to say that.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
They just said, no, we're going to stick with the humor.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
They are being a little bit more mindful to not
make it so cutesy that people can't figure it out.
And like I mentioned to you, when we have such
a diverse culture of different languages and and things like that,
you do have to be careful because the English language
is tricky period. So if you start making clever signs
(25:04):
and you know in a particular area, people might not
be able to get the joke, that could become dangerous. Right,
So it seems like it's they don't use these funny
signs for like immediate danger ahead, like accident ahead.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
They're not making the light of anything like that.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
You know, it's like, oh, better one up there. Somebody
was looking at their phone. Now they're dead, you know
what I mean. I don't mean to make jokes like that,
but this is more you know, general awareness things about
not looking at your phone, about buckling up, about drinking
and driving, those types of messages that are just good
top of mind awareness messages. And I'm actually kind of
(25:40):
proud of the state because I really do enjoy a
little bit humor on my highway. When I'm sitting in
a traffic jam, I'm like, oh, I bet that person
had a good time coming up with that little sign.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
The one, the one that I saw just recently, uh
driving on I can't remember where it was. It really
doesn't matter, but I looked up and there it was
on there. It said something to the fact of your
father called he wants you to check your tire pressure.
Things like that that are good. It's it's funny, but again,
(26:10):
they can't be too long you're sitting there staring at them.
That one, that particular one doesn't really I don't think
it qualifies for an actual, uh an actual call to action,
if you will. There's they do. They do some more
funny things around seat belts, around looking for motorcycles, but
(26:35):
there's they are, but they're in they're humorous and they're
meant to be so that you kind of you enjoyed
versus saying hey, buckle up, which they do have, but
or the you'll click at or ticket thing.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
I didn't think of that one the other day, you know.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
And and even on like social media, like I follow
the National Park Service, they have some really funny like
just general awareness things about like encountering them, and they
make jokes about what you should.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
And shouldn't do.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
And I mean, but there's definitely the people in that department,
have a great sense of humor.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
There are a number of those Wendy's if you follow
Wendy's on X which I don't, or a Facebook which
I don't, but I've heard about there. There they have
their people do a great job with ad campaigns.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
They actually have gotten into a little bit of I
don't know if it's good publicity or bad publicity because
of they got a little risque.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Yes lately they but but they don't apologize for it.
The best that's the best part about it is people
I can't believe they said this about this and they're like, yeah,
we did.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
Yeah, they're I mean, they're TikTok influencers and posts that
are driving people to Wendy's pages, like are you kidding me?
And I mean, I don't know about you, but I
don't decide where I'm getting my hamburger based.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
On a commercial.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
I'm probably deciding based on what's closest.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
That is correct. The but again to your but what
we're seeing is you brought up. You know, you got
to be careful because there's so many different cultures and
languages out there and how you go about what you say.
There are the good advertisers now are not really I'm
not going to say worried about that part of it.
(28:20):
They're basically saying, look, we're going to get our message
out the best way we can. And you know what
if you're if there's somebody gets offended by it or
doesn't like it, well, you know what, that's one.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Out of It's a big risk.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
But if you you know, as as the kids say,
if you go viral, you know, if something you do
goes viral, look at Stanley water tumblers or coffee tumbler,
everybody was using it for water, or the hydroflask, or
are some of those items that have went viral.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
The Starbucks you know, limited edition colors.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Limited edition on it.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
I mean, people are lined up for these things. And
I mean, I guess what I'm thinking is, if I'm
ever going to retire, I'm gonna have to have an
idea that goes viral.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
And I just don't know if I'm great enough to
do it.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Well that's the problem. And what we come up with
really great ideas, but there's somebody else's ideas that we
just saw thinking to ourselves, well that'd be a great idea.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
I always joke about that with Pinterest, right, It's like,
I don't think between the Internet and Pinterest, which I
guess is on the internet, I don't know that anybody
could have an original idea anymore. I told you I
wanted to do a bathroom map for young moms so
that they could find like the cleanest public restroom, you know,
closest to them or whatever.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
And I thought this would be genius.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
Moms and dads alike could rate restrooms, you know, cleanliness
and you know whatever, all the different things that I
or somebody else might care about. And sure enough a
couple of toilet paper companies already have them.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Funny how that works, I know. So just pay attention
to advertisers and what you like and what you don't like,
and see what see what works for you or don't
advertising advertisements are a great way to get up and
go to the bathroom, get something to eat, whatever you
want to do or can you know what. You can't
even fast forward through ads anymore. If you're watching stuff
(30:12):
on demand and they have ads they want to let
you do that, you got to actually go through the
whole ad two minutes of ads or whatever they have.
Very annoying.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
I have been desensitized to a little bit of buffering,
I think is what you folks call it, because that
was my biggest frustration the first time you were streaming
something and I was like, what, just turn it on,
and I.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Was like, oh, we have to go to this app
and then I have.
Speaker 3 (30:38):
To tell it that I want to watch the show,
and I'm sorry, that isn't what your voice sounds like.
Well in the morning, and then you get to the
show and then it starts bringing it up, and you
might wait, like, I mean he has really high speed internet,
well a little less speed, saving a few shekels, but
and you're sitting there's this stupid circle goes, there's some
(31:01):
little starburst thing, and then finally, like a whole twelve
or fifteen seconds later, now your show can start. And
I did not understand that for the life of me
for years. And now I've been desensitized to it, and
I expect it.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
That is good.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Scrolling time, because yeah, well there's that because you're used
to going up to TV and just spinning the dial. Yeah,
and then get into the channel.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Well, I think we've finished this conversation. Our next conversation
is going to come to you from the north Woods
because we're heading into fourth of July weekend and we
are going to take some much needed time off. But
unfortunately for unfortunately for our listeners, they don't get a
break from us.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Well they do because if they're the fourth lands on
the weekend. So but the following Wednesday, be prepared for
another dock on the bay. Might even be another special
location that won't be coming from.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
This has been another Curveball production
Welcome to another Curveball production, Studio B.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Today Studio ish B.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Yeah, Studio ish B. Studio A is available, but a
little chili downstairs. So we decided to stay up here
at Studio B. And before we get but before we
get started with today's podcast, because we are all about
the research, we're all about making sure we're factual, Renee
(00:39):
has to offer up a correction from last week's podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
An editorial correction.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Last week on the podcast, you may or may not
remember that we talked about a commercial where a grandmother
was catfishing people on a dating website and her young
grandson came over and she was talking about about how
she used this photo of her in this bikini, which
was not a photo of her at all, and how
(01:05):
people were sending her gift cards and how great it was.
And I could not remember the advertiser, and I said,
I think it may have been Samsung. Well, fortunately for
our listeners, I've seen the commercial a few more times
since last week.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Fortunately for you as well. It's a good commercial.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
It isn't really well I mean, but we'll come to
that later. Is it a good commercial? I couldn't remember
who the advertisers.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Correct, but boy, I'm kind of an idiot because they
gave me so many clues. The advertiser was Mattress Firm,
and here's the delio. The song they play throughout the
commercial is Lionel Richie's All Night Long, which I'm not
going to sing for you because I can't carry.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
A tune in a bucket me either.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Okay, well you can actually sing, but anyway, at the
end of the commercial, the grandmother says something about, yeah,
she's going to sleep all night long, and then she
says because Granny sleeps hot, which makes it even cringier, right,
but super funny commercial. We can argue about whether or
(02:09):
not it's a good idea to be encouraging catfishing and
why we all think it's funny when it's a you know,
an eighty year old woman as opposed to you know,
forty year old man. Nonetheless, I think it was funny,
and that is my correction. So the Genius Advertising Award
goes to Mattress Firm, not.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Saying sung, but but you brought up you brought up
an excellent point that you couldn't remember who was the
sponsor for the ad.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I know, but I think that's because I just I
got lost in the story of it all right, which
is part of it. I mean, it was a good
enough ad that I look for it now and I
get excited if I see it. But after watching the
ad once upon recall, I couldn't remember the advertiser. But
I do think their marketing department did a good job.
I mean they had the whole all night long thing.
(02:58):
I mean they had the whole energy about sleeping and stuff.
I just got caught up in identity fraud.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Fair enough well. And the mattress firm one, they have
a number of ads out there and their main tagline
is how do you sleep at night? And then the
person will say I sleep, and then loud of richies
all night long on the mattress for a mattress, and
they'll do like one of them is a guy double
(03:27):
dipping a chip into some dipka and his buddy is
he's doing it. His buddy comes up to when he
looks at him, it's just with this look of disdain,
how do you sleep at night? Right? And he looks
at him, and I sleep.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
So I think I've given you that very look for
that very reason.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
There's no doubt. Well, when I triple dip double dipping,
you're now you're okay.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
I've put him on notice. When it's just him and
I eating, double dipping's fine, it's practically the same plate. Okay,
But I have put him on notice. At family functions,
there is no double dipping.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
I don't understand the whole No double dip.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Why would you want someone else's saliva?
Speaker 1 (04:02):
And it's not well it's not I don't double no,
it's not like never mind, but but but again, but
they so they have now started to create this this
this image, this advertising image that they have for their commercials.
So now you start to watch them and go, okay, now,
what's the funny one going to be? For this one?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
I believe in the bi Shan we call that a
campaign thank you their brand?
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Yeah, go ahead, part of their brand.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Well, we can deep dive into this, but we were
going to keep this surface level today.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Remember, well there is that because Renee is the marketing
genius of the production podcast and yeah, so we so
so we were having conversations about about advertisement and the
the way companies go about their advertisements and how they
(04:58):
do they need does their brand? Do you automatically understand
or recognize the brand based on the ad, and there
are a number of them out there. The insurance industry
is huge for that. I mean, you can recognize a
progressive ad, a Geico ad, a State Farm ad.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
I mean, to some degree, the commercials have become a
bit of entertainment, those progressive ads where they have the
whole shtick is, you know, like don't become your parents
or whatever. I mean, it really has nothing to do
with insurance, but I think we can all identify with
I mean, I would love to become like my parents,
but hi, mom, my dad. But those commercials of you know,
(05:39):
I don't know, getting involved in decisions that other people
are making, unsolicited advice at home depot, all those types
of things.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Correct. And the problem that I have with those particular
progressive ads is that it's geared toward guys. I've seen
you many times be that person that just goes, well,
can I just help you with this? Or Hey, how
about if I just go do this?
Speaker 3 (06:04):
And I'm admittedly I helped someone so well at Target
once they thought I was an employee, correct, and I
didn't have the heart to tell her that I wasn't.
And it was a grandmother looking for a particular hair conditioner,
and I actually walked her to the aisle and helped
her find it. And then she was carrying on about
what a what a great employee I was, and I
(06:25):
just took it and walked away and said thank.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
You and again, and she does this all never person
and you're just willing to help out.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
And I happen to know all of the target planograms.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Okay, go take a left, buy the kids, and then
got it. But so so your your insurance companies have
those types of ads where they don't really yeah, they
give you your if you bundle, I mean, then you
get this, but they're not. But that's really about all
it is.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
And so when you progressive, the bundlers.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Uh well they bund all state bundles. They all bundle.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Oh yeah, all state bundles.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Okay, so we let's just go bundles.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
So let's just stay in the in the insurance world
for a minute, because on our walk the other night,
we got talking about it and we were trying to remember,
you know, the various jingles and whatnot in the propaganda,
and what we came up with for insurance companies is
often it is just what is most memorable because and
(07:28):
we're gonna come back to liberty liverty in a minute,
but so many of these things, it's just like they
just want you to remember them so that you'll include
them in your search, right, right, because if you're looking
at State Farm or All State or Farmers, right, it's
easy to get those mixed up. But thanks to like
the discount double check with State Farm, you know, we
(07:50):
remember that that might be when we want to check out.
But then my nephew brought up a really good point.
Well he kind of went off, but made some valid
points about the insurance industry that somebody didn't. You say,
State Farm signed Kitlin Clark to like a ten million
dollar contract, and he was like, that's ridiculous. We're going
to spend ten million dollars. Or State Farm spent ten
(08:12):
million dollars. They should be using that money to lower
their rates for their insurance policyholders. And you and I
actually don't see eye to eye on this one. And
I say, hey, you know, if they want to invest
in their marketing by investing in an A list spokesperson,
(08:32):
sometimes you have to spend money to make money. I
promise you that the marketing team is being held to
some sort of ROI analytics on this, and somebody is
making the gamble, if you will, to nod back to
last week's podcast, but taking a gamble that this is
going to pay off for them because people might like
(08:53):
Kitlin Clark and therefore they might want to check out
the insurance company she aligns with. I mean, I almost
drop State Farm when they grabbed Aaron Rodgers quite frankly.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Well, but here's and I guess in my side of
it is more on the if. If they're going to
be spending all that money just to get new people,
how is that helping me as an existing customer when
my rates keep going up so that they can spend
more money so that they can get more people, Because
the more people they get that that is their return.
(09:25):
They get people to sign up. But at the same
time my rates go up.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Yeah, but it isn't just about getting new people. It's
about it's about maintaining yours.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
I know, That's what I'm saying. Why what they should
do is say come out with an AD and say, hey,
you know what, we were going to get a high
price spokesperson there, but we didn't. We gave you the
money and stuff.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
You know, a couple of advertisers have done that over
the years and trying to think who they were. But yeah,
I mean that's certainly a play, right, like we're not
gonna waste our advertising dollars, you know, paying a spokesperson,
And honestly a lot of that came into play with
not a paid spokesperson. Remember a disclaimer on a lot
of Uh for some reason, we're talking TV commercials a
(10:09):
lot because well, we do watch ion.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
And we'll get it. We will get into the pharmaceuticals.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Right, Oh my goodness, that whole channel is nothing but pharmaceuticals.
But that does bring me to one of our conversations too, well,
back to the liberty liberty Like on principle, I will
never consider liberty liberty Okay, I don't know why. It's
an EMU, right.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Well, that's one of that's one of the things they have, yes.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Yeah, and then the guy with the glasses and the
liberty biberty and the baby and yeah, no, that does
nothing for me.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I want my insurance professional to be able to spell.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
You'd rather but you'd rather you'd rather go with mayhem
and to go that route.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
My parents really like the Mayhem commercial course, and I
think they still So here's the other thing with insurance.
I think with the increased use of the Internet, which
obviously isn't going anywhere, people do shop insurance more than
they ever did. Insurance industry used to be you get
somebody and you you know, you get their car insurance,
(11:12):
and then they buy a home, and then they buy
a cabin and then oh, by the way, you need
life insurance.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
I'm a victim. I'm a victim of that, like.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Because I'm lazy and I don't want to go shop
my insurance. So my agent has all of my policies,
and I think about twice a year, I should probably
shop this and see if I'm getting the best rates.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
But so many people because it is a hassle. Once
they get you, they have you for a long time typically,
and it.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Is and it is a hassle. Then if you go
out online and you go to I want to get
an insurance quote, then you have fifteen people calling you.
That's true, and it's a it's a pain.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
What about Geico, I mean, like, honestly, I kind of
want to be with Geico just because he's cute.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Well, yes, and they have. Again they it's you recognize
those ads and so you immediately know who they are.
Now that is actually the way they go about their
business on the insurance side. You know, they're they're about,
you know a lot about about bundling and they will
kind of get into the rates a little bit and
(12:16):
how much you can save, but they're more about do
you recognize the ads that they have and thank you.
See again, she's the marketing genius. I'm not which I.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Think, sure, we're the term genius.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
I don't think so. I think it's very appropriate.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Pretty sure this is marketing one on one that's.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Appropriate the But then you then you turn to the
wireless telecom industry. Sure, and and you had mentioned that back,
you know, ten years ago, all their ads were really
whether it's Verizon eighteen tier or whatnot, about coverage and
who's got the best coverage. Well now they all use
(12:57):
the same but for a one hundred square mile honk
of Nebraska. Pretty much everybody has.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
I've been to that, Yes, square mile, it's.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
A dark it's the Berbrida Triangle of the telecom world.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
But there's a little spot in Maple Grove, Minnesota too, okay,
fair they.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
But they're more if you look at their ads across
the board, it's almost all about pricing. Who's got the
best here's here's the pricing that.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
We are the latest technology or the best deal on
the latest and greatest phone. Correct, I mean, and it's
like we'll give you this free.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
But rebate yeah, and say that we're you bring in
your phone and you'll get a free one if you
buy a line, or you do this, or you upgrade
to this or you do this. So those a whole
bunch of disclaimers, but they are more about the the
how they can compare against each other with their with
their rates that they have not as much uh, there's
(13:56):
it's not as much humor and you recognize the the
the particular ad. It's more they just they go a
different route.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Well, the other thing that we're really not we'll save
this for another podcast. But the other change or shift
with advertising away from say television commercials and even radio
spots would be the onslaught of social media influencers and
how many millions of dollars of sales these influencers drive
(14:28):
and some of them aren't even famous, right, like to
begin with, so it's I mean, eventually they get paid
and you know all that kind of stuff. And if
you want to know more about that, we could do
a whole podcast on social media influencers. But this idea
that people aren't just watching your broadcast television anymore. They're
streaming services. You can opt out of ads with radio stations.
(14:50):
And I mean, I'm a card carrying member of the
you know, broadcast society. I did radio, but no, it's
like now you've got all these streaming services. You can
stream radio stations from India if you want. And then
there's podcasts, which you may have recognized that we do
have ads on our podcast now do we started that
(15:10):
a year ago?
Speaker 1 (15:10):
And I and just see, you know, a side note
for everybody out there, they do try to force ads
in the middle of our podcasts, but we get rid
of those because we think they're annoying this and so
we got rid of anyway. But again that's just one
of the they. To your point, there are just so
many ways to get ads out there and for people
(15:32):
to consume those, and they have to now be you know,
ten to fifteen second spots right so that they're they're
quick they get to what they need to be the
before I forget. As we're researching, prepping for this particular podcast,
I did run across one advertisement what would you call
(15:55):
the Pizza Hut one just a.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
It was just an interesting factoid, an.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Interesting factoid anyway, So we're going about this, I just
happened to run across the fact that Pizza Hut was
the first cut per the first pizza place ever to
deliver a pizza to space.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
I think that that was. It was one of those
like interesting fact things that you read.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
And I thought right away, well, we didn't hear anything
about it, but I'm guess because like they couldn't do
Domino's thirty minute guarantee that we became so accustomed to.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Well did you say? It was like back in.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Two two thousand and one, So it was before all
this other stuff. So and I didn't hear about it either.
But it was a six inch salami pizza that was
put aboard a shuttle that we went out to the
Russian space station and they paid the Russian space the
(16:55):
ras Cosmos, okay, paid them one million dollars to have
them ship a pizza up to space. And it was
a salami pizza and they had got video of the
Russian cosmonaut who sat there and ate the pizza and
gave it two thumbs up.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
I would like so many questions. What's a twenty percent tip?
Speaker 2 (17:15):
I shouldn't.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Well, it would be two hundred thousand dollars on a
million dollar pizza. I'd be a heck of a delivery
driver tip, that would be.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
I gotta figure that was a pretty good Is that
right man?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Because you know what I mean? Yes, sir, wouldn't it be?
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (17:30):
So that and then the idea that you mentioned, because
I was like, who orders a salami pizza? Well, apparently
they found out that salami was had was more shelf
stable pepperoni, and then they had to add some extra
seasonings or.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Something to it, extra seasonings to make it palatable once
it got there. But I had not heard of this. Yeah,
be either you would you would have thuned. But then again,
maybe maybe it was all done for Russia advertisement and
we didn't get any of it.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
I don't know, Well maybe, yeah, two thousand and two.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
It was just a great campaign ad campaign. Wouldn't be
a campaign to be a stunt publicity stony.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
It would be a yes, there that's what it is.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
But you know, in general, there are you know, when
when you're thinking about commercials regardless, right, there's things. There
are things about any sort of advertisement that need to
hit right in order for anything to be successful. And
I think more and more, and this is going to
segue into our conversation about highway signs, so bear with me.
I'm going to take the long we're taking the scenic
(18:33):
group to get there, Okay, Sean. But you have to
have a clear objective, all right, And so many commercials,
more often than not, you'll see and this happens during
the Super Bowl too, where people get so creative and
they're so into their creativity that we don't know what
they're talking about. Now, it works if it's so creative
(18:54):
and they pop that QR code up there or something,
and they drive you someplace else to learn about what
it is, although you're going to miss a good chunk
of the population that's too lazy to pick up their
phone and do it, or maybe doesn't know how. But
there always has to be a clear objective. Is it
about brand awareness? Is it a top of the mind
thing you just want to make sure, Like we were
(19:15):
talking about in the insurance industry, that people don't forget
about you, or are you trying to drive sales or
is there a specific event that you need people to
show up at. And you really, with both radio and advertising,
you really have about five seconds to get people's attention,
especially when people are holding a phone in their lap. Yes,
so they're watching TV, you got about five seconds before
(19:37):
they look down at their phone and you know, open
a social media app. So typically you're going to try
to key in on some sort of emotion, whether it's empathy,
whether it's humor. I mean, I'm a big fan obviously
the granny sleeps hot or whatever. I like humor well,
and ones that make me cry or like, okay, I
didn't need that in my evening, right, But all.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
The ads, and you're getting a ton of ads these
days that are are a lot more risque in how
they go about their business.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Yeah, And a lot of a lot of double on tondra.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
A lot of that, and a lot of not even
double on tundra, a lot of just spray here it'll
be better, yeah, and things that back in the day
you didn't quite get as much of, but now all
over the place.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
And even like the quality the production quality of like
locally produced commercials has come quite a long way since
back in the day where you just have like a
flat screen in the background, like a blue background, and
they'd pop your logo up and then like I don't know,
the owner talks to you about it about why there's
I mean, some of them were so painful, right, and
(20:44):
you wonder, like how.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
What was the ROI on that? Because running TV spots.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
And that's where we we'd mentioned this before with Ryan
Ryan Reynolds and his Mint his Mint ads for Mint Wireless,
and he would do that. He would go on with
just a green screen because he didn't have he didn't
have a budget, didn't have an advertising budget. So this
is what we're going to do with this, and that'd
be something funny on him anyway.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
But no matter what, for any advertising, whether it's you know,
direct mail, which I'm obviously a very big fan of
social media, targeting any of these other platforms, the big thing,
your biggest hurdle is reaching the right people at the
right time and solving whatever problem. You really want people
to be the hero in their own story, so you
don't want to tell them you're going to solve all
(21:31):
their problems. You're going to position it so that you know,
you're the you're the wife, and the husband is going
to come home from work, but you're going to enlist
the help of this company so that the guy doesn't
have to work all weekend, you know, fixing the plumbing
or I mean, okay, that was a really sexist, very
very sexist analogy.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
But sometimes sitting at home doing nothing, watch plumbing yourself.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Hey, I fixed the toilet once.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Oh see, and I was so excited I put it
on social media. Yes, but I mean it's all about
reaching the right people at the right time with the
right call to action. Also, so it's kind of like,
you know, car dealers do this all the time. They'll
send postcards in the mail about cars they have specials on. Well,
if you're not looking for a car, you're probably gonna
(22:16):
just throw that in the trash or change the channel.
But if you know your car is like my old
c X nine was, and it became a rattle rattle, thunderclatter, boom,
boom boom, don't worry called the car x man. Because
sometimes your memory recall never ever ends, even if it's
a commercial from like nineteen eighty right, but but some
of those commercials, like they're just a part of our
(22:38):
culture now, right, I don't even know if car X
exists anymore, it does, does it?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
How sad they don't have the they don't have the good.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Commercials, They don't have the budget for it anymore.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
What did they spend They must have shot their a
whole lot on those commercials and then now.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Yeah, now they don't.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yes, but we've kind of beat this.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
But here's here's my segue. Okay, so we start talking
about memorable things, and commercials have to be memorable. You
have to be able to remember who the heck you're
supposed to call, what the call to action was, Right,
So we got talking about these highway signs and if
you're in the state of Minnesota, we've got digital highway
signs randomly that'll say things like, you know, accident ahead,
(23:18):
accident ahead, or don't forget to click buckle up, things
like that. Well, the Minnesota MINDOT, Minnesota Department of Transportation,
much like many other states, started to get a little
bit more jovial, a little bit more human in their
signs to get people to actually read them. And I
(23:39):
don't think we've talked about this on the podcast. But
back in January of twenty twenty four, the fans came
down and said, eh, eh, nope, you guys need to
quit doing this. You need to have clear, concise signs
that are basically warning signs for traffic changes and movement
in a particular area.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Because they did because they didn't want people getting into
accidents as they're reading the signs, going wow, well that
was funny, right, not paying attention to the road.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
And some of them are hilarious, right, there's now some
of them again, like with advertising, are a little bit
too cute, and you're like, wait, what do they mean?
And if you don't know, you don't know, right, But
the state of Minnesota came out and basically said, yeah,
we got the same message from the FEDS as everybody
else did.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
We're not changing our signs. And I was like, and
mind you, this is like pre election. Okay, so this
had nothing to do. I'm not getting political here, No,
I'm not.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
I just think that's important and when the climate we're
in right now, I think it's important to say that.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
They just said, no, we're going to stick with the humor.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
They are being a little bit more mindful to not
make it so cutesy that people can't figure it out.
And like I mentioned to you, when we have such
a diverse culture of different languages and and things like that,
you do have to be careful because the English language
is tricky period. So if you start making clever signs
(25:04):
and you know in a particular area, people might not
be able to get the joke, that could become dangerous. Right,
So it seems like it's they don't use these funny
signs for like immediate danger ahead, like accident ahead.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
They're not making the light of anything like that.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
You know, it's like, oh, better one up there. Somebody
was looking at their phone. Now they're dead, you know
what I mean. I don't mean to make jokes like that,
but this is more you know, general awareness things about
not looking at your phone, about buckling up, about drinking
and driving, those types of messages that are just good
top of mind awareness messages. And I'm actually kind of
(25:40):
proud of the state because I really do enjoy a
little bit humor on my highway. When I'm sitting in
a traffic jam, I'm like, oh, I bet that person
had a good time coming up with that little sign.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
The one, the one that I saw just recently, uh
driving on I can't remember where it was. It really
doesn't matter, but I looked up and there it was
on there. It said something to the fact of your
father called he wants you to check your tire pressure.
Things like that that are good. It's it's funny, but again,
(26:10):
they can't be too long you're sitting there staring at them.
That one, that particular one doesn't really I don't think
it qualifies for an actual, uh an actual call to action,
if you will. There's they do. They do some more
funny things around seat belts, around looking for motorcycles, but
(26:35):
there's they are, but they're in they're humorous and they're
meant to be so that you kind of you enjoyed
versus saying hey, buckle up, which they do have, but
or the you'll click at or ticket thing.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
I didn't think of that one the other day, you know.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
And and even on like social media, like I follow
the National Park Service, they have some really funny like
just general awareness things about like encountering them, and they
make jokes about what you should.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
And shouldn't do.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
And I mean, but there's definitely the people in that department,
have a great sense of humor.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
There are a number of those Wendy's if you follow
Wendy's on X which I don't, or a Facebook which
I don't, but I've heard about there. There they have
their people do a great job with ad campaigns.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
They actually have gotten into a little bit of I
don't know if it's good publicity or bad publicity because
of they got a little risque.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Yes lately they but but they don't apologize for it.
The best that's the best part about it is people
I can't believe they said this about this and they're like, yeah,
we did.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
Yeah, they're I mean, they're TikTok influencers and posts that
are driving people to Wendy's pages, like are you kidding me?
And I mean, I don't know about you, but I
don't decide where I'm getting my hamburger based.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
On a commercial.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
I'm probably deciding based on what's closest.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
That is correct. The but again to your but what
we're seeing is you brought up. You know, you got
to be careful because there's so many different cultures and
languages out there and how you go about what you say.
There are the good advertisers now are not really I'm
not going to say worried about that part of it.
(28:20):
They're basically saying, look, we're going to get our message
out the best way we can. And you know what
if you're if there's somebody gets offended by it or
doesn't like it, well, you know what, that's one.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Out of It's a big risk.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
But if you you know, as as the kids say,
if you go viral, you know, if something you do
goes viral, look at Stanley water tumblers or coffee tumbler,
everybody was using it for water, or the hydroflask, or
are some of those items that have went viral.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
The Starbucks you know, limited edition colors.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Limited edition on it.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
I mean, people are lined up for these things. And
I mean, I guess what I'm thinking is, if I'm
ever going to retire, I'm gonna have to have an
idea that goes viral.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
And I just don't know if I'm great enough to
do it.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Well that's the problem. And what we come up with
really great ideas, but there's somebody else's ideas that we
just saw thinking to ourselves, well that'd be a great idea.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
I always joke about that with Pinterest, right, It's like,
I don't think between the Internet and Pinterest, which I
guess is on the internet, I don't know that anybody
could have an original idea anymore. I told you I
wanted to do a bathroom map for young moms so
that they could find like the cleanest public restroom, you know,
closest to them or whatever.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
And I thought this would be genius.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
Moms and dads alike could rate restrooms, you know, cleanliness
and you know whatever, all the different things that I
or somebody else might care about. And sure enough a
couple of toilet paper companies already have them.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Funny how that works, I know. So just pay attention
to advertisers and what you like and what you don't like,
and see what see what works for you or don't
advertising advertisements are a great way to get up and
go to the bathroom, get something to eat, whatever you
want to do or can you know what. You can't
even fast forward through ads anymore. If you're watching stuff
(30:12):
on demand and they have ads they want to let
you do that, you got to actually go through the
whole ad two minutes of ads or whatever they have.
Very annoying.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
I have been desensitized to a little bit of buffering,
I think is what you folks call it, because that
was my biggest frustration the first time you were streaming
something and I was like, what, just turn it on,
and I.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Was like, oh, we have to go to this app
and then I have.
Speaker 3 (30:38):
To tell it that I want to watch the show,
and I'm sorry, that isn't what your voice sounds like.
Well in the morning, and then you get to the
show and then it starts bringing it up, and you
might wait, like, I mean he has really high speed internet,
well a little less speed, saving a few shekels, but
and you're sitting there's this stupid circle goes, there's some
(31:01):
little starburst thing, and then finally, like a whole twelve
or fifteen seconds later, now your show can start. And
I did not understand that for the life of me
for years. And now I've been desensitized to it, and
I expect it.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
That is good.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Scrolling time, because yeah, well there's that because you're used
to going up to TV and just spinning the dial. Yeah,
and then get into the channel.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Well, I think we've finished this conversation. Our next conversation
is going to come to you from the north Woods
because we're heading into fourth of July weekend and we
are going to take some much needed time off. But
unfortunately for unfortunately for our listeners, they don't get a
break from us.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Well they do because if they're the fourth lands on
the weekend. So but the following Wednesday, be prepared for
another dock on the bay. Might even be another special
location that won't be coming from.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
This has been another Curveball production
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