A good deal of my TV watching is at the gym. As I get my heart pumping into that aerobic zone on the elliptical machine or recumbent bike, I look at a long row of televisions playing three different stations, all with no sound. It is here that I am reminded that what is in the frame is so much more important than on the soundtrack. The visual primacy of film – that directors matter more than screenwriters – was a point hammered home when I studied film in college.
Of course, the same principle applies to television advertising, and now more than ever. If the clutter weren’t hard enough to break through, there’s the DVR problem. As more and more people are fast-forwarding through commercials, visually arresting images that encourage viewers to stop and rewind are critical.
But be careful what you wish for.
Yesterday I saw a spot (at the gym, no sound) for Chips Ahoy cookies. This was the polar opposite of a great spot I wrote about recently for Peppermint Patty. “Get the Sensation” took a short 15 seconds to communicate a singular sensation that elevated a simple candy bar to a level of ecstasy.
The spot tagged, “There’s a Lot of Joy in Chips Ahoy” (it rhymes!), was kid of scary. Mom opens a cabinet, where the cookies are stored well out of reach of the children, in the same manner she probably stores medications and other dangerous substances. Like starving puppies, left home alone in their crates all day, they start squirming and jumping up and down at the site of the magic kitchen cabinet opening up, revealing the treasured snack high above. After a bite, they lose control. Overcome with the joy in Chips Ahoy, they can’t stop dancing and moving.
This has got to be every parent’s worse nightmare. Hyperactive kids, looking at cookie like it’s their last meal, then rendered out of control by the ensuing sugar rush.
Is this what moms really want? Check it out here and see what you think.
