Have you seen the commercial with the guy in the toll booth? The guy takes a sly look back and forth, pulls out an Almond Joy candy bar, and palm trees suddenly fill the booth. It’s a well-executed ad, but why does the “unwrap paradise” theme not work for me?
One other thing I should mention: I like Mounds candy bars, the companion product in the ad. Maybe I’m just not motivated by the thought of plastic palm trees popping-up around my desk. Maybe it’s something else: That ad doesn’t really touch my senses – except that I do perceive the texture and scent of plastic palm branches when I see that ad.
Let’s try another one I’ve been seeing lately:
I like York Peppermint Patties too. Why does this ad make me hungry for them, when the other ad did nothing for me? For starters, it talked about a characteristic of the product (the “chill” of peppermint in your mouth). It also visually depicted that chill with a breeze in the woman’s hair.
Another difference between the two ads: The guy in the first ad struck me as snarky. The gal in the second ad struck me as simply enjoying what she was eating.
Bottom line: Here are the remains of the candy I bought this afternoon. Not only did the ad inspire me to buy the product, but it arguably helped me enjoy the product because I was reminded of the sensations depicted in the ad while I enjoyed the product itself.
Who knows, maybe it even planted a seed in my brain that will make me crave more of them next time I go shopping. That would be a very powerful feedback loop!
I like the comparisons of the two ads. First and foremost, I agree that the peppermint commercial get’s my attention more than the almond joy/mounds.
The girl’s eyes is the mechanism that draws you to that commercial.
That’s just my opinion.
Great post, thanks.
Javier
Thanks for the comment Javier. You caught something I didn’t: While I was being annoyed by the plastic palm trees, you were noticing the eyes. In real life, that’s what would catch my attention too.