Super Bowl XLIX was a game full with questionable decisions. Seattle covering Gronk with a linebacker all night. New England not planting a guy on the goal line to deny touchdown just before halftime. Belichick not calling a timeout when Seattle had the ball at the 1 with 40 seconds left. Darrell Bevell deciding to throw the ball instead of giving it to a guy called Beast Mode. The list can go on and on.

Now if you’re like me, you took your only bathroom break of the night during Katy Perry’s performance so you wouldn’t miss any football or commercials. So I’m sure you must have also noticed some questionable decisions made by the folks in the ad business. Here are some things that had me scratching my head, followed by who I thought won the Brand Bowl.

Why were there so many sappy, sentimental ads? To me, the Super Bowl isn’t the right time for those.

Why do Sprint and Discover think goats are still a funny tactic? News flash, they’re old and overused.

Why did Jeep basically rip off Coke’s “America the Beautiful” spot from last year’s Super Bowl? It was a different execution but essentially the same idea. We want new and fresh.

Why would Bud attack the craft beer industry? That’s a fight I don’t think they’re going to win. Also, it's funny that Anheuser-Busch just purchased Seattle craft brewery Elysian within the last two weeks, and they actually made a Pecan Peach Pumpkin Amber in the past.

How is this guy not the worst pet owner ever? He’s constantly losing his dog. Time for a new story.

Why did Mercedes hype up The Tortoise and The Hare so much when it had such a predictable ending?

How come the NFL buried the “No More” PSA? It could’ve been very powerful if it ran during one of the quarters. If I had to guess, I’d say many people missed the quick :30 that ran at halftime.

Who at Loctite thought that was a wise use of $4.5 million? Seems like someone is sniffing too much glue.

Why did Mophie choose to run their :30 spot when the :60 was so much better?

Why didn’t Coke go classic? It didn’t feel like the brand at all.

And lastly, why did Nationwide kill a kid? Worst ad of the night by far.

Now let’s take a look at who I thought got it right.

T-Mobile

One of the coolest and funnest things about working in advertising is thinking of new ways to be innovative. This spot was super simple yet such a clever and innovative way to compare the innovations of the past with the innovations of the present and future. And the subtle humor at the end was funnier than most would think.

To my loyal blog followers, all 7 or so: You have permission to call me a slacker. 

But in all honesty, I've really been working quite hard. I was going strong with the "Chronicles of Unemployment," then that slipped through my fingertips, mostly because I got hired. 

I started as a junior copywriter at PJA advertising + marketing on March 31. Every day has brought forth new challenges and accomplishments, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I work with great people, am learning so much from some extremely talented creatives, and am doing everything I can to grow as a writer and thinker. 

Over the next few weeks, once I am all moved in and settled into my new apartment, I plan to get this blog back up and running again on a consistent basis. Until then, stay tuned and stay classy.

I think unemployment is decreasing my attention span. I never learned iMovie yesterday because I kept getting distracted by great TV spots rather than watching the tutorials. I also forgot to write a chronicle. I know this kind of stuff happens as you age, but for Pete's sake, I'm only 24.

Anyways, some of the commercials, like the ones below, were pretty inspirational. I guess you could say it was quasi-productive. Watching great creative always gets my creative adrenaline flowing. That can't be terrible, right?

Hopefully, I’ll get around to iMovie soon. Or better yet, a job.

#HireTodd

You know, world, today wasn’t that awful. It was actually quite productive compared to most jobless days.

I came across some new job openings that I promptly applied to.

I gained some new contacts, which at the very least will be able to provide some advice on how to jumpstart this career.

But the best thing of all was that I created a masterpiece of pure genius: turkey on a breakfast sandwich. While bacon, ham, and sausage are all fabulous, turkey, egg, and cheese has definitely stolen the morning spotlight. When Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks pick this up, I’m making sure I get some credit. 

If you can’t tell, even the simplest things are starting to seem extraordinary.

So, hopefully an opportunity will pop up soon. I’m not sure how much more Xbox I can play before I want to chuck the thing out the window in a boredom-induced rage.

Tomorrow’s task is teaching myself how to use iMovie so I can mock up some cool TV spot ideas I’ve been working on. Wish me luck.

#HireTodd 

I was standing in the shower. I was so brain dead from spending the morning trying to make my book better that I thought the water hitting my head was actually going to pierce my skull.

I’ve suffered through 54 days of unemployment, and I’m going crazy. Will the madness ever stop?

But then it hit me. And I don’t mean the water. Why not record my struggles of job hunting? Maybe I can make it sound interesting enough that someone will actually like reading it. Or maybe someone will just have pity on my poor soul.

So here goes nothing.

Days 1 – 53 of unemployment can be recapped with two simple words: it sucks.

I’ve sent hundreds of emails. I’ve made phone calls. I’ve done informational interviews

I’ve filled out numerous online applications, most of which require 2-5 years experience. How does one get experience in advertising when nobody is willing to give it to him?

Glassdoor thinks I am qualified to be a military police officer for the Army, and Monster.com thinks I can be a creative director at Mullen (I wish).

I’ve worked on several new ideas for my book, but they’re just on paper. Any rock star art director that would like to help me produce them would be great.

So hopefully day 54 will be the start of something good. It might capture the eye of a creative director looking for some fresh, new talent. And if it doesn’t work, at least I’ll have fun writing.

Tonight will consist of more creative brainstorming, homemade turkey burgers with a side of baby corn, and some college basketball. Let’s hope somebody really screwed up today and got fired, or that an agency won a huge account. The latter is probably best. But until that happens, we’ll just keep our eyes and ears open for jobs.

#HireTodd

As an avid sports fan and an advertising guy, Super Bowl Sunday is probably my favorite day of the year. I get to experience the best of both worlds, a great game between the top two football teams and the highest echelon of television commercials.

Unless you’re a Seattle Seahawks fan, the football aspect of Super Bowl XLVIII wasn’t too exciting. It was a blowout from the start and wasn’t very interesting. I’m assuming you hoped to find solace with some great advertising spots. And unfortunately, the commercials were just as much of a buzzkill as the game.

This has been a trend in recent years. The commercials on the past few Super Bowl Sundays have been disappointing to say the least. While there have been a couple bright spots like Chrysler’s "Halftime in America" and Dodge’s "Farmer," the overall quality of ads hasn’t lived up to the hype. And it’s quite a shame.

There is certain criterion that makes a Super Bowl ad great. It needs to be something totally original, unique, and display out-of-the-box thinking. It needs to inspire people and make them excited about the brand. And most importantly, a great Super Bowl ad needs to be something that everyone will always remember. Quite frankly, we did not get any great ads last night.

Now don’t get me wrong, not every spot last night was bad. I enjoyed spots from Wonderful Pistachios (see below), Heinz Ketchup, CarMax, and believe it or not, GoDaddy. But these ads were good for a snowy Monday afternoon in February, not for the greatness that is Super Bowl Sunday. Maybe I’m just a harsh critic, but most of the ads seemed to lack originality and were mundane and predictable.

So in the end, I would say there was no winner of the Brand Bowl because there wasn’t a truly great ad. Nothing blew me away, which is what I expect from every Super Bowl spot. If you held a gun to my head and forced me to pick a winner, I’d probably say Stephen Colbert stole the show with Wonderful Pistachios. It started out as a bust with Part 1, and then Part 2 came in to save the spot. Colbert was pretty funny and I loved seeing an eagle in a vest and tie. But in all honesty, the spots would’ve been more stellar if they aired last Sunday during the Grammy Awards.

Hopefully, we’ll see an improvement next year. Let’s pray the football game is more captivating and entertaining. And for advertising’s sake, let’s pray the spots are original, awe-striking, enthralling, and the best commercials we’ve ever seen in one night. If I have to put up with another Budweiser Clydesdale being sad about losing a friend, I might lose my mind.

Well Anheuser-Busch, you got me. When it comes to alcoholic beverages, sweet ones aren't my style. Not only do they eventually make my head hurt, but my teeth cringe at the massive amounts of sugar in them. So last week when you announced you were coming out with a hard cider, I kinda shrugged it off. 

It didn’t really faze me. I'm shocked you hadn't done so by now. The craft beer craze is taking the country by storm and is eventually going to kick your ass. Many of these breweries have ciders. And with the popularity of well-known ciders like Woodchuck, Magners and Angry Orchard, I'm puzzled this move took you so long. 

As I read on about your strategic yet super late to the party decision, there was something that really caught my eye. I generally like to try new alcohols based off of the name and packaging of the brand. If the brewers make a bottle cap, label, or name that can really get my attention, I'll go out of my way to give them my business. So when I discovered the name and logo for your cider, I was hooked. 

You call your cider Johnny Appleseed. Everybody who is anybody can find nostalgia in that. Honestly, who didn’t grow up reading books or watching cartoons about Johnny Appleseed? Everything about him screams American icon, from the pot on his head to his sack of apples on a stick. This is an amazing name for a hard cider.

And in terms of the logo, it trumps the name in cleverness. It consists of a letter “A” similar to the one in you’re AB-InBev logo. The crossing line extends out to mirror Johnny Appleseed’s famous stick and on the end of it is a sack of apples. Affixed on the sack is the letter “J.” Even without saying Johnny Appleseed on it, this logo hammers home Johnny Appleseed.

So next year, I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for Johnny Appleseed when I head to liquor stores. If it is on the sweet side, I can’t promise I’ll be a repeat customer. But with such a cool logo and name, I can guarantee that there will be a Johnny Appleseed cap in my collection.

I woke up last Monday to some buzz. No, I wasn’t still feeling the drinks from  the night before. And no, I didn’t have my hair buzzed in the middle of the night. There wasn’t a bug flying around the room. The buzz I woke up to was online, word-of-mouth marketing about one of my favorite clothing brands.

J. Crew was blowing up on social media. Talk of the new fall fashions was one of the hottest topics on Facebook and Twitter. Desperately in need of some new flannels and a sweater or two, I hit up the company’s website to check out the selections. Nothing. It was full of summer clothes.

Ok. The catalog must be coming in the mail today and hasn’t been put online yet, I thought.

Mail time rolls around. Bills, bills, and more bills.

I was quite perplexed. I recently opened up a J. Crew credit card and gave the company a large chunk of my non-existent paycheck for some new jeans. About 50% of my current wardrobe is from J. Crew. How come everyone was in the know about the new fall fashions, yet I was left out of the loop?

And then, I stumbled upon an article that contained all the information I needed. I was not neglected by the brand. J. Crew had an absolutely genius idea, and I just didn’t discover it. Everyone knows where women flock for tips and trends relating to recipes, DIY projects, weddings, and fashion. So the clothing brand went to an untapped area and turned it into a commercial goldmine. The J. Crew fall style guide was posted on their Pinterest page (unfortunately, only the women’s clothes).

The style guide was not being mailed out or posted on the company’s site until Tuesday. So only the brand’s 69,000 Pinterest followers were able to get a sneak peak. In an age where everything is becoming digital needed J. Crew to join the revolution. So it took Pinterest and turned it into a shopping mechanism, something no other brand had done before. Not only were you able to view the fall fashions, you could actually pre-order them through email or by phone (a little archaic, but we’ll take progress one step at a time).

This was also a very measureable tool for the company. It could see how much buzz they were getting on other sites and which fall fashions would be hits based off of the number of “repins” it got on Pinterest.

So I was not left out of the loop and neglected by one of my favorite brands. I was outsmarted by it. This groundbreaking idea pushes the way we shop further and further into the digital realm. I look forward seeing what other initiatives J. Crew takes in the future and hope to see some of the men’s clothes included.

Hey Hanes, some words of advice: simple surveys are still effective ways to conduct market research. But don’t be creepy and intrusive with your questions. And don’t give guys the opportunity to screw it all up.

This advice is directed at a new campaign that Hanes has launched. It’s asking women to share what color underwear they have on. Clearly, this is a stunt to determine what colors are more popular.

First, the company lures women to UndercoverColor.com and tells them what color undies are “currently trending.” Then, women choose their color and are told they can win a prize for sharing. Once, they’ve selected their color, they are re-directed to a page with a bunch of Pinterest-like images and poorly written tweets about that underwear color. To be entered to win the prize they have to actually post one of the tweets on their Twitter account with #undercovercolor.

For example, I chose orange. I received tweets pertaining to orange like “Like a sunset, it’s probably best if you don’t stare directly at my butt today.” Once I tweet it, I’ll be entered to win a bright and colorful necklace or earrings and a package of Hanes ComfortBlend undies.

Hanes failed with this. The results of the “incognito market research” are flawed. I know this because there is nothing preventing guys like me from skewing the data.

The company also probably isn’t getting a ton of shares on Twitter. The tweets are so corny, cheesy, and quite personal. I don’t know many classy women that would share their underwear color in such a way, especially only for a chance to win a simple package of Hanes. It’s not like these are diamond covered panties.

You kinda have to do social these days. It’s a great way to reach consumers. I can’t blame Hanes. They had the right idea. They tried. But I think they should try again (and with something good).

Last month, Instagram launched a new feature allowing users to post short videos rather than just pictures. But the newest promotion for the 2014 Lexus IS gives a whole new meaning to the term “Instagram video.”

The car company rallied up a group of 212 social media users and car enthusiasts and created a stop motion film using Instagram photos from the group. Each frame of the #LexusInstaFilm was a photo from a different user. 

Producers and directors planned out the exact position and angle that each shot needed to be taken from. Then each participant was given a number and instructed on when to snap the photo. They uploaded their photo with whatever creative editing they wanted, and the production team printed them out to make sure they were in the correct sequence. The shots were then edited together into an awesome stop motion film.

This is such a unique concept. Stop motion has been used in ads before, but Lexus is going above and beyond by using photos taken by consumers. Not to mention they are using a social media platform to gather these photos. It shows that there are no limits within the digital age in regards to where content is generated and how social media is used.

This concept embraced two important qualities: collaboration and engagement.

• People coming together and collaborating to create stuff is the basic nature of advertising. No great ads are ever done completely by one person. Lexus shows that a little teamwork and steadfastness can ultimately lead to something great.
• By using Instagram, Lexus engaged with a younger demographic. This group probably isn’t going to be able to afford a Lexus anytime soon, but this ad creates a buzz about the car company and could inspire these millennials to purchase a Lexus when they have the funds to do so.

I love that users were able to edit the shots however they wanted. Instagram has tons of neat filters that can really enhance pictures. And kudos to the guys who planned this all out to know exactly where each shot had to be taken from. It takes tons of skill to be able to shoot and edit a video like this and have it come out flawless. Based solely off of the great creativity, this concept has inspired me to considered Lexus in the future. Hopefully, a measly junior copywriter's salary will allow me to.