CUTE IS NOT ENOUGH.
Sure, there’s lots of good print ads out there. But there are too many that make neither a case for the product or service, nor a compelling offer, nor create an indelible brand impression. Instead, they seem to have been created by television copywriters who transfer to the print medium a common television advertising assumption: That viewers hate commercials, and the only way to get them to swallow a sales message is to sugarcoat it with entertainment value.
I’m not flatly saying that’s always wrong for television, although I could point to many sincere, straightforward, persuasive commercials like the current campaign by Allstate Auto Insurance. But it’s usually a costly disaster when this thinking is applied to the creation of print advertising.
The flip side of this is the new reality in advertising, which is that a print ad can simultaneously promote both the product and the Web site that provides further education and persuasion about the product. You get twice as much advertising value for your money.
This Tylenol ad doesn’t do either of these things. It makes a feeble sight gag
Network
