The Epitome of Ridiculousness: JG Wentworth

28 Dec
2009
I don’t… get… this ad? What kind of brief was this? And the clients were… pleased with the results?

That said, the YouTube ad has over 700 comments, so clearly its doing its job of getting talked about. Not sure I agree with harukalioncourt who said:

This is one of the most creative commericals [sic] I have seen in the whole of my life!

One of the most creative commercials they’ve ever seen? Oh geez, my inner ad geek is CRYING BUCKETS right now. I think her poor little ad heart is broke too.

You want a good ad? Try this one on for size:

Editing, music, imagery, strong moments in history all pull together to help you reflect how long it has been. Follow that up with a strong statistic about the longevity of the brand and you have an ad that can create an emotive and logical response.

Or perhaps the “He Shoots, He Scores!” Coca Cola ad from the 2002 Olympics which Coca Cola is broadcasting again in anticipation of the 2010 Olympics. I did my best to find a video but all I could find was this mention on Advertolog. As a Canadian, that ad gets to me.

C’mon JG Wentworth. Pull yourself together and raise the bar, ok? I know I will thank you if you do. Repeatedly.

  • I'll tell you why I think it's a poor ad.

    After watching it, I have the urge to go see opera. Annuity assistance and settlements? Not so much. I think that it's a case of the medium (or is it method? I'm mixing my terms here) overwhelming the message.

    With that said, I like the ad; it isn't annoying or stupid. The problem is it's also not effective, IMO.


    The Toyota ad doesn't resonate with me. Even as a Toyota owner myself... maybe I just don't have the history with the brand to identify with, nor is durability a prime need in a car for me.

    I think it's possible though, that one could confuse their message as not necessarily being one of promoting the durability of their products, but saying how many good memories you might have had while owning one of their cars. Kind of a more personal connection like 'our customers keep coming back.' or something. That's not a bad message either, but it would have required a different tag line at the end. :)
  • So you think ad number one was a good product ad while I think what I like is ad number two is a good brand ad. They're slightly different beasts.

    But I do agree it assess and tells, yes. In a very hockey way though. In a way where I might not take the brand seriously, you know? Would I trust a company with MY money who likes to sing opera as a joke? Maybe not. Then again, I might not be the target audience. Yes, jingles work but I feel like jingles are so 1990. Can we do something new?

    I think the second does a great job of tying history: the last 20 years - with the brand: hey, Toyota was there for it all! Then again, I am admittedly a bleeding heart for emotional ads. Get me some good music, some history moments, some editing and I'm gung-ho about it.
  • n0wak
    I have to say that as an advertisement for a product, the first one works better. Sure, not exactly award material but it does two things: assesses your current situation to see if you are in need of their service (need cash now?); tells you what to do (call us, here's our number many times over so that you will remember it next time you think about needing money). It's a jingle, basically, and that is tried and true in the ad world (I know the number 967-11-11 better than the phone numbers for people I actually call).

    The second? Hey, here's some monumental music. HISTORY HAPPENED. Look at all our stock footage? PS. our cars are pretty good. That doesn't exactly have sticking power.
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