Making Hospital Commercials Memorable

What commercials stick out the most in your memory? Maybe it’s “Keep your hands off my Doritos!” Maybe it’s the Geico cavemen spots. What makes them memorable? That’s easy — they’re funny.

Now, when’s the last time you told a friend, “Oh, man, you should see this hospital commercial!” Exactly. Healthcare-related ads are typically very subdued: a panoramic view of a hospital floor, smiling doctors and nurses, high-tech equipment, etc. A soothing voice assures you that, as a patient, you’ll receive the best care possible. Ho-hum.

Is there another way to get that message across? Read the rest of this entry »

Environmentally friendly & really loud!

You may have seen the latest campaign promoting the new compostable bag from Sun Chips. I myself started a compost bin last year, which literally cut our landfill contributions in half — not to mention the effect it had on my new garden. As an avid tree hugger I applaud this effort by our Frito-Lay friends, but their new package needs a warning label.

The problem lies in the bag itself. It produces by far the highest level of ear-piercing decibels in the history of chip bags. Quite frankly this crinkly cacophony has to be completely screwing with Frito-Lay’s main target audience — the late-night snacker. And yeah, I’m one of ’em. And there’s a technique to late-night snacking — a very challenging technique. I mean, you’re already dealing with a chip — come on, even the word “chip” sounds loud and crunchy. And you’ve always had to deal with the crinkle of the bag. Some bags are worse than others, am I right? And when you’re down to just crumbs, you wind up cutting the top half off with a scissors, ’cause that’s a lot of bag to work through. Really, it’s a losing battle that’s just going to drive your wife crazy. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes you have to get mean.

If your communications department has been enlisted to shore up compliance with hand hygiene requirements (pre- and post-patient contact), take a lesson from Denver Health. As reported in the February 2009 issue of the Journal of Communication in Healthcare, Colorado’s primary “safety net” institution tried humor, incentives, prizes — but nothing worked until they got mean. They put a button on the home page of their intranet so employees could report offenders anonymously. Communication professionals are taught to rely on positive messaging to initiate change. But the Denver example shows that sometimes you have to slap a few hands to get them washed.

Give yourself a Mad Men makeover!

Didn’t work at a Madison Ave agency in the early ’60s? Tired of dirty looks for drinking in the office at 11 a.m.? Now at least your Facebook icon can live the life, thanks to AMC’s MadMenYourself.

Suit or skirt? Martini or whiskey on the rocks? Cigar or cigarette?

Too much fun. Unlike ElfYourself, SimpsonizeMe and FaceYourManga, you don’t actually upload an image — one less hurdle, which is good. Oh, and (somewhat) easily Facebooked, Tweeted, Dugged and StumbleUponed.

PS - We couldn't help but get in on the action. Try it for yourself.

The bi-plane cake for St. Joseph's Children's Hospital

A recent episode of TLC’s The Cake Boss (“Bi-Plane, Bridezilla & Busting Buddy”) featured our client, St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital. The reality show follows Buddy Valastro, the master baker of Carlo’s City Hall Bake Shop in Hoboken, NJ, as he and his team create amazing cakes and pastries.

During this episode, Buddy created a completely edible version of the St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital bi-plane logo and unveiled the cake at the hospital’s annual Cooking for Kids event. Although we were fortunate enough to be in attendance at the event, it was great to see how Buddy and his team created the cake and debated how to bring the logo to life. But what was most rewarding was watching the work that the AB&C team did come to life on TV. Our team updated the Children’s Hospital logo last year and also designed the posters that were visible at the end of the episode when the cake was brought to the event. But the real highlight of the show was when “bridezilla” destroyed her wedding cake and insisted on a new one for the next day!

Using sex to sell Hardee's

Sex. Duh.

And it was proven yet again with the latest ad from the fast food chain Hardee’s. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should definitely check it out. It features Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi...umm...enjoying one of Hardee’s new hamburgers.

I’m sure this phenomenon is not news to any of you. If it is, I’m sorry. Either way, Karlene Lukovitz, a writer for MediaPost Publications, wrote a good article about the new commercial and it’s worth a quick read.

Now, how can we make tobacco cessation and highway safety sexy? Think, people!

The Whopper Sacrifice

Did you hear about Burger King’s recent “Whopper Sacrifice” Facebook promotion? The promotion attempted to get Facebook users to “sacrifice” ten friends in exchange for a coupon for a free Whopper.

Facebook didn’t like the promotion and Burger King had to take it down after one week, but only after 234,000 friendships had ended.

Here’s what happened. Burger King launched the “Whopper Sacrifice” micro-site, where Facebook users could install the Whopper Sacrifice Application. The application allowed you to delete 10 friends in exchange for a coupon for a free Whopper. According to statistics, over 89,000 Facebook members added the application. To add an interesting twist, the friend’s profile photo was set on fire through animation once you chose to delete him or her.

Are we seeing a brand-new way to use Facebook? Will others try similar stunts?

The reality of cruises

Think of any Caribbean cruise TV commercial you’ve ever seen. Most likely you’d envision endless “beautiful people” cavorting in sky-deck swimming pools, working out in floating fitness centers and toasting each other in seagoing gourmet restaurants. After spending a vacation day aboard a well-advertised cruise line ship, I’m here to tell you: Nothing could be further from reality. During the last week of February, I attended a wedding aboard a colossal pleasure craft that sat docked in the Port of Tampa, which gave me a few fleeting hours to drink in the surroundings. The ship was about to set sail and wedding guests were granted temporary access to witness the ceremony. Read the rest of this entry »

The E*Trade Baby

During the month of March, most of America’s sports-minded souls have found themselves “on the road to The Final Four.” I heard that CBS-TV broadcast 96 hours of college basketball action in one weekend alone.

And, if you’re part of an NCAA office pool, you’ve probably spent a lot of those 96 hours glued to your TV. That’s because gambling helps the sports world go ‘round. Read the rest of this entry »

Next time you have a few free moments, check out Stuff White People Like. It's a blog where this guy gently mocks, well, the random stuff white people like.

It makes me laugh out loud, but what can I say, I'm that girl with the hummus and gluten free crackers.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com

I suggest heading straight over to the "Full List of Stuff White People Like" at the top to peruse all of his posts. Some of my faves include Self Aware Hip Hop References, Difficult Breakups, Expensive Sandwiches and Not Having a TV.

Ya gotta admit, it's pretty on target...