Effective Advertising

I've ranted about ineffective ads in the past. Twice, actually. The airwaves seem to be rank with commercials that make you want to throw a brick through your television screen.

To give credit where credit is due, I have to admit that there are a few ads out there that are actually well thought-out and do the job they're supposed to do - namely, to make me and the little money I have part company.

One such set of commercials are the "Mac vs. PC" ads. You know the ones, where a not-so-young (notice I didn't say 'older') guy in a suit introduces himself as the PC and a younger guy in casual clothes represents the Mac. Now, I'm not so sure that I've actually been won over by the arguments that Macs are better than PCs. I think I'm just afraid of turning out like the PC guy. I mean, he's been taking some pretty nasty beatings during these commercials. First, he had a really bad virus and was sneezing all over the Mac guy. Then he was split up into a bunch of pieces so that parts of him were in other boxes. In the latest commercial, poor Mr. PC has been yanked unceremoniously off the desk by someone tripping over his power cord. He's been confined to a wheelchair with at least one broken arm and a brace around his neck. Not to mention the fact that he comes across as a bit of a stiff, almost accountant-like in his demeanor. I'd much rather be like the cool, young Mac dude.

Another series of commercials that aren't effective so much as they are entertaining are the Bell Sympatico ads featuring the beavers. Talking beavers are always good for a chuckle (or maybe that's just a Canadian thing). But, does anyone else giggle at the thought of beavers living in an apartment with hardwood floors and wooden furniture? I don't know why, but this one gets me every time.

Technorati Tags: Advertising ; Television ; Computer ; Mac ; PC ; Sympatico ; Beavers

Ellen on Blogs

I was watching the Ellen show this morning. In her opening monologue, she was chatting about creating a 'life's list' - a list of things you want to accomplish or experience in your lifetime. One of the items she revealed to us today is that she is computer illiterate and so wants to learn more about computers. To that end, she's going to have a daily segment about computers.

Today's computer segment was about blogs. Ellen had only recently learned about blogs and was fascinated by them. She decided she'd start her own blog about her experiences on the show.

I always find it entertaining when people first hear the word 'blog' and learn what they're all about. The reactions are almost always amusing.

First of all, the word 'blog' in itself is comical. For those of you who don't know it, the word 'blog' is actually derived from the term 'web log'. Being in the super-sonic, high-speed age that we're in, we apparently don't have time for two syllables, so we've shortened the term to 'blog'. It's always fun, though, to hear people wrestle with the word for the first time. They try to roll it around their tongues like it's a foreign language - blloooggggg. I actually find, when it's said quickly, that it sounds a little like the noise my dog makes when I catch her chewing on something and make her spit it out.

And then they ask you to explain the purpose of a blog to them. The conversation goes something like this:

"Well, it's sort of like an on-line diary."

"But what do you write in it?"

"Whatever you want."

"But who reads it?"

"Whoever wants to."

"So ... you just write about anything you want?"

"Yup."

"What do you write about?"

"Well, today I wrote about a TV talk show I was watching where the host learned about blogs for the first time and I thought that was funny."

"And people want to read that?"

"Apparently."

"You're all nuts."

Absolutely. Of course, not everyone is babbling about nothing, like I am - the Seinfeld of blogs (or, the Seinblog, maybe). Some people blog about their hobbies, imparting their knowledge to the world through cyberspace. Some people blog for money; they blog about their businesses or about a specific topic and then have a bunch of related Google ads or affiliate links plastered up and down their sidebars. Secretly (or maybe not so secretly anymore), I do it to keep my friends and family in line. You see, ever since I started blogging, everyone has been afraid that I'll write about something they did or said, so they've all been on their best behaviour whenever I'm around. Works like a charm (insert evil cackle here).

Technorati Tags: Blogs ; Computers ; Ellen ; TV ; Web Log