Notice the not-so-subtle difference? Honestly, it surprises me that the first spot made it past focus groups. Or even to focus groups. No one at Huggies questioned the copy? I am surprised moms enjoyed a spot in which blatantly says only moms change diapers. True or not, that is not very 2010 family. Maybe it’s true, moms love a talking baby.
So, if there is A/B testing going on. Consider the first one a fail. I wonder where all the overly sensitive, pissed-off-at-motrin moms are on this one.
But, what do I know? I have no kids and avoid changing diapers.
There is no arguing that today consumers have a lot of choices, that consumers want products that are relevant and make their life easier/better/faster, and that we are on a boring and lazy trend of having to overtly tell consumers our products are for them–by over-using ‘U’
Last October I wrote a post comparing two uses of the implying ‘You’ – one overtly wrong, one right. Yahoo vs. Bissel [SPOILER: Bissel wins]
If they did, they would have moved on from this campaign long ago. So why are brands latching onto the letter ‘U’ at an unfortunate speed? Yes, it is better than ‘i’ but not that much better. Below are a few examples of brands using ‘You’ or ‘U’ and my thoughts on how bad it really is. My scale ranges from: ‘Lazy, with potential’ to ‘Out of touch’
1. Yahoo! = Bad and Out of Touch. Here is the video again and read my previous blog for the full run down
2. Bali Comfort-U = Not terrible, not as Lazy. At least the U is referenced as the actual shape of the product. But the double entendre and copy in the ads places a lot of emphasis on the ‘you’ of ‘U’. Not to mention they used ‘U’ in the product name. However, I don’t hate it. They get one point back for realizing U-comfort sounded terrible, but Comfort-U is only marginally better. [side note: update the video on your site. your facebook video is a final cut, your site video should not be the agency rough cut]
3. Hasbro U-Build Games = Lazy and insulting to moms. While not out with a full campaign yet, Hasbro felt the need to call their new games that players can construct ‘u-build’ versions. I may have hated this less if they went with ‘You Build’. However, from the looks of it, you aren’t ‘building’- you don’t build a puzzle, you put it together.
4. TMobile HTC = fine, but could be better. Reasons they fail. #1 using aspirational, rich ‘celebrities’ paired with ‘YOU’. We get it with the use of a range of ‘celebrities’ that we can customize our HTC phone. And I do not believe for one second that phil jackson or whoopi own or know how to use a smart phone. #2 using ‘You’ to sell MyTouch. too many pronouns. 101 campaign stuff, if you must go down this path- use ‘real’ people if you are trying to convey ‘you’ or have celebrities point out and talk to the you’s.
The second one is much better than the first. Using ‘you’ in a more relatable (and much cheaper) way.
I wonder if Jesse James will make the next ad.
5. U tampons by Kotex= Awesome ads, lazy product name. I give the ads 1000000000 thumbs up. they are funny and relevant. They make me believe, as a consumer, that it is a brand that understands I don’t wear white suits, i don’t dance on day three and i don’t need to see the blue liquid. And then, it happened. The name of the product is U. That is lazy to me. If the brief talks about humanizing things and the insight is tampon commercials are out of touch, it is lazy to name a product U and worse to use neon colors in a splatter formation. But, you win this game because the ads are great.
Any I missed?
Remember, it’s true: every time a brand relies on ‘U’ an angel loses its wings.
i try not be a chronic mashable reposter, and i am torn because it’s a red sox thing [at least it is anti-yankees] but man… this kid is cute.
this is just one of many scenarios that brands, events, people, etc. are capitalizing on the 15 minutes of someone else. I am not sure if this is a good practice or a desperate one. in this case, i think it is both- and i like it.
i’ve put companies in timeout before-one’s that don’t deserved to be banned, they just lost their way. and really, i don’t have a long enough attention span to have anything be ‘forever’- it’s usually because they do something that annoys me right now. and if it annoys me to the point of a timeout, it probably annoys a lot of people.
usually the timeout is reserved for brands that use car horns, sirens and hacking coughs in radio ads, are insanely hypocritical or think way too highly of themselves [or way too low of their customers] – wendy’s redeemed herself
today, a new brand is in a timeout. i’m talking to you, Staples. you’re on notice.
and after watching this, i reckon i won’t be alone in this punishment.
today… two ads confused and irked me today for different reasons. we will start with the most confusing and move to the irked.
1. i clicked on banner today [i do that from time to time] thinking it may be a joke [i like jokes]. it was for a book written by jennifer love hewitt. you can see why i thought it was an early april fool’s day joke. it wasn’t.
i hope she ends up in rehab with tiger and jesse soon. to end this.
2. Staying so true to your campaign that you do unpleasing things to the eyes is wrong. Geico, you are wrong.
I get it, we all get. cavemen. funny. what is not funny- ape hairy arms and dirty finger nails that take up 40% of the screen. No one is focusing on your glove box app… they are focusing on gross, gross hands. hand models exist for a reason.
the world according to schmogel. 
