Every now and then when I listen to the radio, I hear ads. You might remember ads… they’re trying to sell things. One particular series of ads that just gets on my nerves is a series for NBC.
The radio ads feature 3 or 4 people in their mid- to late-20s (undoubtedly refered to as “young” and “hip” in the marketing plan) talking about those great NBC shows. There’s just one problem with the ads: no one actually talks like these people. For instance, when NBC moved My Name is Earl and The Office to Thursday night (heralded by NBC as the coming of the savior of your choice), the radio ad included one of the people saying:
“Yeah… uh…um… it’s like Must See TV is back!”
To which another person said, “Yes, Must See TV! It is back!” Come on. The people then talked about the shows (“Steve Carell… he is funny.“) and were just trying to be like my best buds a little too much.
But the kicker came when I heard one promoting this week’s Saturday Night Live. This was the first new episode since The Chronicles of Narnia Rap swept the web. But that was almost a month ago. So what did the commercial focus on? You got it.
The whole thing was about the rap, how funny it was (“It’s the funniest thing that they’ve done in years!” was even said – sounds familiar…) and “Chronic – what?” was said about 30 times. And listen, it was funny. Last month. But now it’s over. And to have a radio ad talking about that now sums up just how clueless NBC’s marketing department is.
And they said “Four Kings” was “hilarious”, too.
Posted in Television, Movies, and Music
Mike April 26, 2007, 5:00 pm
those are the worst ads ever. I hate them and the people who are in them.