[thelist] Ads: Obnoxious works? (Was: ads with soundtracks...)

Moe Rubenzahl moe at maxim-ic.com
Thu Jun 28 18:02:01 CDT 2001


>>I suggest that it's difficult to read technical material when there's that
>>kind of stuff going on. I'm no marketing specialist, but my whole life
>>I've disbelieved that annoying people earns business.

>The very fact that you mentioned the product name, Intel, is proof that the
>ad got your attention.  So, I guess it worked.  :)  Though you may be right,
>effective ads are not usually subtle for a reason.

Sadly -- obnoxious usually works. "Don't squeeze the Charmin!"

The history of advertising is that we ignore ads and the purveyors 
escalate to regain our attention. Think of bus ads -- they wrap the 
whole bus in colored vinyl now. Eventually, that will become passe 
and you will see something more obnoxious.

On the web, the worst has yet to be seen. Recent development: 
Shoshkeles which sounds like something served at a bar mitzvah but is 
really a Flash animation that emerges from the page:

   http://www.unitedvirtualities.com/shoshkeles.htm

More on clamoring ads: See the seminal work Permission Marketing, 
Seth Godin. First chapters free and worth the download if you are in 
internet marketing in any way.




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