Today’s Commercials: Stoned Actors and Burned Out Creatives

Let’s take a curmudgeonly look at some recent commercials with a critical eye towards the actors and the ‘creatives’ behind them.

First off…Why do so many actors in commercials today behave like they’re on drugs?

It seems that in almost every commercial I see lately, the actors are very sedated…almost completely out of touch with reality.

Here is an example:

What the heck are these diner employees smoking? WAKE UP PEOPLE. Even the diner patron is pretty sleepy looking. What do these behaviors contribute to the spot?
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Another one that bothers me a bit is the new one from Verizon, You have probably seen it:

Dad: So this *pours a huge jar of sprinkles on his ice cream* represents the millions of people that we can call with our family plan?

Verizon guy: Yes.

Clerk: Do you want whipped cream with that?

Both the Dad and the kid at the counter seem like they are on all kinds of behavior altering substances. It’s not believable and it’s not related to the product - it’s just an attention grab. The earlier Verizon ads featured normal people meeting wacky characters in the ‘dead zones.’ Now everyone is crazy and the ad has almost zero relevance because of it.
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And more, this time from Chunky Soup:

Besides being a brutal rip-off of the SNL skit McGruber, this ad has absolutely NOTHING to do with soup.  Are you telling me this guy is sober? Who relates to/connects with this ad?
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These few ads are illustrative of a very disturbing trend in advertising these days. There is no longer any attempt to truly connect with the audience. These brands - Verizon, Campbell’s, Prilosec - are not the types of brands you associate with this kind of irreverent humor. Why are they straying so far off message and attempting to entertain rather than connect?

Here’s what I want:

I want commercials to stop trying so hard. We are remembering the zany antics of your ads, NOT your products. I understand the need to tell a story and make your spot stand out, but you can do it with a sense of normalcy that we can actually relate to and connect with…can’t you?

I want to see the research that led the Campbell’s people to make that extreme kayaking ad…Really. Please show it to me. What? You smoked the research? ALL of it? Is that even possible?

I want commercial actors to get some energy. I know that many companies view their customers as hordes of mindless drones, but they don’t need to portray us that way in their ads.

I want to bring sincerity back. A commercial does not need to be over the top to be effective. When is the last time you saw people in a commercial acting anything like people in reality? Let’s come back down to Earth and take a break from the Twilight Zone.

I want originality. Don’t just take an existing concept and modify it, think of something new. That’s why we call the people that makes ads ‘creatives’ and not ‘modifiers.’

‘Sex sells’ was the mantra of advertising in the 90s. For this decade it’s been stupidity, cruelty, pain and altered reality. Those things don’t sell me, they just make me lean towards the competition.