Coast Makes You Feel Alive
May 13, 2008
I think I’m a closet marketer. I probably should have studied marketing instead of international law. I love to analyze product messaging. I think that’s part of the reason I love marketing agency web development like I do at McCann.
I am baffled by the Carl’s Jr. ads where you have to watch (and listen to) someone loudly and sloppily eating a hamburger with sauce and toppings falling off of it and stuff all over their face. Seriously, it’s disgusting. Certainly it meets one of marketing’s main goals – be memorable. But does it really influence people to DO something? The only thing it’s ever influenced me to do is change the channel, which I do EVERY time a Carl’s Jr. commercial comes on. Am I in the minority here? Seriously, what kind of ROI has Carl’s Jr. seen on those commercials?
But then there’s the all time classic commercials like Toyota – Oh what a feeling! and the Mean Joe Greene Coke commercial that I remember 25+ years later because of the feelings they invoked. As I showered this morning, I realized that I think about one of these classics probably every time I shower. It’s the old Coast soap commercial. In it, a bleary eyed, sleepy guy stumbles into the bathroom in the morning and gets in the shower. He turns the water on and the music starts, at a slow speed. He groggily picks up the soap, lifts it to his nose and smells it, and his eyes open wider –
Coast, the scent opens your eyes,
He starts to wash and the lather builds as does the volume and speed of the song –
Coast, lather and you realize,
The song is now cranking. Lather is flying everywhere. He’s shaking his hair under the shower water and smiling –
that Coast is the way to make you feel alive,
Suddenly, he’s done with the shower, dressed already, smiling, energetic, and attacking the day –
Coast, feel alive with Coast!
What a great commercial! I think it speaks to that universal desire to feel unconquerable and have endless energy and always feel great. And you could achieve all of this if you just had some Coast soap. I think of it every time I grab the soap in the shower. Does anyone else remember that commercial? It’s probably mid-80′s so you have to be a Gen-X’er at least to remember it. What about other commercials? Are there any memorable ones that anyone wants to contribute?
Posted in Random Musings
May 13th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
How about N-E-S-T-L-E-S…Nestles makes the very best…..Chocolate!
Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.
Where’s the beef?
These aren’t particularly inspiring or anything, but they do stick in your brain.
May 13th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
(this is david)
I faintly remember the Coast commercial–I keep mixing it in my head with the Zest fully clean jingle. I htink my favorite commercial that I can recall right now was a semi recent coke commercial–you have to admit coke’s brilliance- it was this black gal walking down the street singing a cool song and handing out glass coke bottles. I love it! I wish I could find it again…
May 14th, 2008 at 10:15 am
I only saw the greatest commercial EVER twice on TV, and I have looked for it ever since… it was for some technology company who specializes in little wireless gadgets and devices, I think. The commercial boasted that they were the company to fit the NASA astronauts on Apollo 11 with the equipment they took out with them onto the moon. So, the commercial shows this astronaut slowly emerging from the space ship with his headpiece he’s talking into, but it’s plugged into the space ship. He’s talking to Houston, and says, “One small step for man, one…” and at that point the cord reaches its full length, and yanks the astronaut backwards onto his back (somewhat slowly, as there is no gravity). Then it goes on to say something like, “this is what would have happened, had we not been there,” or something. SO FREAKING HILARIOUS!!!! Both times I saw it, it took me a couple minutes to compose myself because it made me laugh so hard. It was just so unexpected and very clever. I definitely wish I could find that commercial and share it, because I have NEVER laughed so hard in a commercial!
June 5th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
I always think of the McDonald’s commercial with the girl performing at the recital. As final incentive to encourage her to play her best, her dad promises her a trip to McDonald’s after the big event. Next thing you know, she’s playing her song “Fur Elise” and singing along in her head: “Oh how I wish I were already there, instead of here, playing this song. Oh I would have a big cho-co-late shake, a cheeseburger, and also woops, and also fries. And I would eat my fries myself, and not give any to my dumb brother!” To this day I cannot STAND to hear that song, thanks to McDonalds and their advertising campaign!