Tuesday, December 4, 2012

A Holiday Advertisement Review

The holiday season seems to go by in slow motion; snow lazily plummets to the earth, lights twinkle softly in the evening, and the aroma of holiday treats languidly drift along the chilly breezes. It's a great feeling to kick back and relax during the holidays, but more preparation goes into the cozy season than people tend to realize. Advertising companies work very hard to make the perfect Christmas commercial; the sought after commercial that will make you jump out of your seat to buy that last minute Christmas gift. The sales and advertising companies behind Christmas commercials are part of an ever evolving industry; gift ideas change year to year, and it is advertising companies responsibility to keep up with the changes. This years Christmas commercials were interesting to watch because they utilized very separate advertising strategies.
 
Coca Cola is a classic company that is very recognizable. One of their commercials this year was a bit of a collaboration of ideas; they incorporated an old school string puppet Santa with modern day background music. They tried to give a classic Christmas feel a modern twist, and I'm not sure that I liked the result. The giant puppet Santa was a neat idea, it reminded me a lot of the 1950's Rudolph the Reindeer movies from ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas. I did not like, however, how the giant Santa trodded around passing out tiny cokes. The vintage looking puppet, who is a giant, didn't mesh well with the modern day city surroundings; which resulted in a creepy commercial. Compared to their classic polar bear commercials, I think Coca Cola's new puppet commercial wasn't up to far with the normal standards. Their combination of old & new wasn't executed very well.

 
L.L. Bean had a commercial this year that was very refreshing to see. The "waiting up for Santa" theme that they chose was very cute, and the product they advertised was oddly appropriate. Headlamps aren't much of a hot commodity these days, but the children wearing the headlamps to spot Santa in the chimney was a fun idea! It is a mild commercial that had a low key advertisement, they didn't push their products too hard. L.L. Bean has a very classy was of making their reliable items demonstrate their usefulness and look very appealing. Their advertisement was relateble, therefore it was effective. 

 

 My favorite commercial of 2012 is in fact a commercial that is not just from this year. Every year, Hershey's Kisses have the same Christmas bell commercial. People love it because it marks the beginning of the holiday season every year. This is a risk on Hershey's part, as many advertisements are innovative, flashy, and new. New commercials can be eye catching and sell a lot of products. By using the same commercial every year, Hershey's risks being out done by competition. That being said, I feel that they are respected for going with a tradition. By sticking with the old, Hershey's has a widely recognizable commercial that people look forward to seeing.







-Rachel Koch

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