Humor Her

The new blog is up and running. Check out the inaugural post if you've got nothing better to do.

Humor Her chronicles the life of a socially awkward twenty-something as she falls up stairs, embarrasses strangers, and tries to make sense of a sometimes confusing, always humorous world. And hopefully it's kind of funny. Hopefully.

Friends, family, people I do not know but am still grateful to for reading this,

I'm thinking about starting a new blog. A humor blog, kind of like Hyperbole and a Half or The Bloggess (but probably not half as hilarious--not to dissuade you from reading). In the past few years, I've realized that the things I do/the things that happen to me are sometimes kind of crazy. In a good way. And I love writing, but I don't always love writing about my opinions or about pop culture. What I really enjoy is story-telling. And I'm hoping this blog will give be a fun creative outlet. I plan to post here from time to time, mostly about my adventures in advertising. Those are crazy stories of their own. But while I'm working on a name and a few start-up posts, please enjoy this video. It's an awesome stunt for the Walking Dead.

I'll let you know when the new site is up and running.

Check, check.

I’m now two weeks in to my so-far incredible full-time internship. I felt extremely lucky to have something lined up right out of school, and I’m working hard to learn and absorb as much as I can. That’s why I’ve decided to do a kind of blog post “checkpoint”. Reflect on the things I think I’m doing well and what I can do to step up my game. I love the work I’ve been given so far, I admire the people I work with, and I want to be a permanent part of this community. No better way to do that than to work hard and take stock of how I can prove myself.

What I’m doing well:

1.     Taking time to observe the agency life: Good work goes a long way, but it’s not the only thing that gets you a job. You have to be a good fit for the environment you’re working in. In taking time to observe the people I work with, I noticed that they walk around, chat, and have fun. They love what they do and it shows. They take their work seriously, but they know that good works comes from happy people.

2.     Getting stuff done: You work efficiently, you get things done. And that makes other people happy. It also makes you dependable.

3.     Volunteering: I’ve been given this advice, and I’d give it to anyone who asked. Do not wait for someone to give you work. Ask people if they have anything you can work on. Be self-motivated.

What I can do better:

1.     Socialize: Something I always struggle with, especially when I’m surrounded by new people. It’s in my nature to kind of shy away from conversing with people at length. It’s the deadly combination of being both very introverted and socially awkward. But I really like everyone I work with. They’re funny, they’re nice, and they’re accepting. Nothing to be afraid of there. I just need to be fearless and put myself out on the front-line.

2.     Slow down: Efficiency is important, but I’ve noticed that I sometimes treat writing assignments like I treated school assignments. Get it done, do it well, and give it back. But when I give myself more time, I have the chance to explore more paths, and I end up with more (and better) options.

3.     Offer help to the account team: When I don’t have a lot of writing assignments, I can always ask account people if they need my help. I think it’s important to prove yourself to everyone you work with, not just necessarily the people you answer to.

I’m so happy to have a job I love so much right of school. I’m laughing every day, writing every day, and feeling fulfilled and excited about what my future holds. What more could I ask for?

Other than a kitten for my new apartment . . .  

Let's Pretend I Never Told You This

Jenny Lawson’s memoir Let’s Pretend This Never Happened has inspired me to write this blog post. Lawson’s memoir is full of hilarious, bizarre stories from her childhood and adulthood. Hilarious in an I’m glad that never happened to me way, bizarre in a falling into animal carcasses, setting ovens on fire way. Lawson prefaces the book by saying that whenever she starts in about her childhood, people act like they understand: “Oh yeah, my family was totally crazy.” Not this crazy, people. Not this crazy.

I’ve decided to reminisce about some of my favorite (euphemism for “worst”) memories. I may not have enough harrowing stories to fill a book, but I certainly have enough to write a blog post.

I was a suicidal baby. What a terrible life it was. Being spoon-fed my Cheerios, having someone else wipe my derrière, playing with my stuffed goat William all day. I can hardly stand talking about it now. So you’ll understand why I decided to end my life one night when my mother set my car seat and me on the kitchen counter. An opportunity had presented itself, and I rocked my way off the edge and splat onto the floor. Split my chin wide open. And I have the scar to prove it.

I was the only child kleptomaniac at my preschool. "I was a child kleptomaniac" is probably sufficient on its own, but what the hell. When you get over the shock factor, hopefully you’ll realize how awesome this makes me. I had a system: watch patiently and listen intently to all my friends during show-and-tell, take mental notes of the coolest toys, then sneak into the backpack room during recess and search out the goods. I got away with it for probably a good year before the “I won it at school” thing stopped working on my parents. Then I started stealing cat ears from Kohl’s . . . but that’s behind me now. 

I kicked my sister down the stairs. Don’t worry, she lived. And she totally deserved it. She CUT the ear of my favorite stuffed animal. Clover the bunny screamed in pain and I came to her rescue. And then I avenged her.

I could go on indefinitely, but I think I’ll stop there for the night. The pleasant memories just make me too giddy before bed.

Bonus: CHILDHOOD PICTURE TIME!

With the little sister I pushed down the stairs.

My relationship with my grandma hasn't changed much.

The moment I stopped being patriotic.

I'm glad I can share my awkwardly personal stories with you, internet, and I hope you can relate. I'm not saying I would wish childhood kleptomania on anyone; I just hope you can relate to the bizarre sequence of events that is growing up. What a fun, scary, and painful time. 

Dramatic Groundhogs are Dramatic.

It’s not just about what you say. It’s about how you say it. We learned this in childhood the day someone pushed our sass button for the first time. Now we all know there’s a big difference between saying, “Yes, Dad, I will get you a glass of milk,” and “Yeah, I’ll get you a glass of milk. Want me to wipe the drool off your mouth too?” 

Enough about my childhood.

Sometimes the best way to convey a serious message is with a serious tone. I’m not talking the Sarah Mclachlan, rip your heart out, crying puppies commercials. I’m talking about ads that tackle marketing problems with some well-written spots. And they don’t always have to make you cry. They don't even have to make you laugh. They have to make you think.

Here are some of my favorite dramatic spots.

“Mr. W” is one of my favorite spots. Period. It’s amusing, but not in a laugh-out-loud way. And it surprises at the end. The French accent doesn’t hurt.

This AmEx commercial with Kate Winslet is nicely written. It’s creative, but it makes sense. It also makes me want to watch Eternal Sunshine.

Google’s “Parisian Love.” Ooh la la. C’est très romantique, non? And it’s all about the Google potential.

Dirt Devil “The Exorcist.” This spot is nails. It’s like watching a real horror movie. And it’s about the product benefit all the way.

And, of course, the ad that has influenced every cool Ok Go music video you’ve watched. Honda’s “The Cog.”

When done right, a dramatic spot can work really well for a brand or a product. You just have to make sure to draw attention with great writing and execution when there’s not a singing bunny to bring those eyes to the screen.  

A Little Crazy Means A Lot of Fun

Consumers have done and seen it all. If you don’t stand out in today’s market, you simply get ignored. That’s not a nice feeling. So where do marketers turn to in order to reach their consumers? Many times, nontraditional marketing is the answer. Nontraditional marketing catches the consumer on the move rather than asking consumers to seek out advertisements in magazines or on television. It breaks through the clutter because it’s unexpected. And it has the potential to be amazing. It can make people smile, make them think, make them laugh, and make them purchase.

Here are a few of my favorite creative nontraditional tactics.

Coca Cola’s Happiness Machine has been making the rounds for a while now. Coke’s idea was to make people happy through the use of a vending machine. Here, you can only get a Coke from the Friendship Machine if you have a friend to help you out. Ingenious! Shows just how much consumers love Coke.

T-Mobile filmed this musical flash mob at the Heathrow, London airport. I’ll be honest, I might punch someone if they started singing that close to my face, but these people really seem to enjoy it. The guy around the 2:00 mark is by far my favorite. His face kills me. And if you skim the comments you’ll notice comments like “I’m changing to T-Mobile now.” 

Volkswagen’s Fun Theory has created a lot of wonderful nontraditional tactics. These piano stairs brighten everyone’s day and tie the VW name back to fun.

Sony’s “Foam City” is one of my all-time favorite commercials. Yes, this nontraditional tactic is technically “traditional,” but only because they filmed it and turned it into something the whole nation could experience. Can you imagine living on this street? I’m pretty sure this would be the best day of my life. And it makes perfect sense for the product. Images like no other. The rest in the series are great too.

My favorite thing about nontraditional advertising is that creativity has no limit. You can sing to people, flood their street with foam, make them climb on each other’s shoulders and make a piano out of a subway staircase. Sounds like every creative’s dream to me.

Next week I’m going to give you a look at some of my favorite dramatic ads. 

Favorite Odd Spots

Today, we’re going to talk about a trend I rather like in Advertising. It’s something the Japanese have been good at for years, but Americans have just recently started to warm up to it. What is it? Oddvertising, my friends. Skittles practically dominates this niche, and for good reason. I’m a believer in the good ol’ “solid strategy + exceptional execution = good ad” formula, but there’s a lot to be said for an ad that manages to add a little odd into the mix. It makes ads more memorable, more entertaining, and usually, funnier. Oddvertising speaks to the weirdo within all of us. Have a look at a few of my favorite odd spots.

First up, Tide’s “Talking Stain.” It manages to get the point across (stains are distracting) in a very strange, funny way. Doesn’t hurt that the stain is kinda cute too. Wouldn’t mind carrying him around in my pocket.

Next, Doritos “Mouse Trap.” Totally unexpected. Almost scary enough to give you nightmares. Definitely weird enough to make you remember it. Let’s be happy we don’t live in a world where this actually happens.

Now, the marvelous Skittles “Singing Bunny.” Actually, this is one of my favorite spots of all time. It’s one of those commercials where no matter what you were doing or who you were talking to, your eyes were fixed to the TV, your jaw gone slack, when you heard this little bunny singing.

Really, I could post any Skittles ad from the last decade, but here’s one that’s undeniably inventive. Creepy? You bet. But it gets people engaged and it gets them talking. Also, there’s a cat involved. And that can never hurt. Here’s Skittles “Touch: Cat.”

And finally, I gave a brief mention to Japanese ads at the beginning of the post. If you’ve never had the pleasure of stumbling upon one of these beauties, I suggest you spend some time on YouTube.

Granted, I can’t understand what they’re saying. But . . . do I really need to? I agree with the top-rated comment. If I saw that coming down my street, I’d run. Fast.

Look for next week’s post on some of my favorite guerrilla tactics. 

Commercials That Make Me Laugh

Laughter is one of the most effective marketing tools available to us. We know it as human beings-- There's nothing like a good laugh. Here are a few of my favorite funny commercials.

First up, Orbit Gum's "Lint Licker." You know you've made a great commercial when you hear people quoting your ad.

Next, BGH Air Conditioner's "Dads in Briefs." You take a truth that's relevant to your product and turn it into a horrifyingly hilarious ad. Personally, I like the shot with the dog the best.

Bet you remember this one: The CitiBank "Identity Theft" series. Why no banks thought of this before, I'll never know. But they're kicking themselves now.

And to top it all off, I had to include "Teenage Girl" from Allstate Insurance. These commercials get me every time.

Anyone else have some favorite funny commercials? There are so many out there that just fall short. Humor is hard to get right. You have to know who you're talking to. But if you do it right, there's a good chance your audience will be googling your ad five years after it runs.

Be on the lookout for next week's post on my favorite oddvertising commercials.

My Thoughts on the 2012 NSAC Competition

Note: I realize this post is excessively long, but I encourage everyone who’s interested in AdTeam/Advertising/NSAC/my life (hi, friends) to read on.

The National Student Advertising Competition is an annual competition for college students in the advertising industry. Each year, a big-name brand sponsors the competition and challenges students to create an integrated advertising campaign to help grow their brand. Past sponsors have included JCPenney, State Farm, Coca-Cola, and AOL. This year’s sponsor was the Japanese carmaker Nissan. Nissan asked students from around the nation to create a campaign to help build top-of-mind awareness among African American, Hispanic, and Chinese millennials (ages 18-29). This competition is the most real-to-life experience an advertising student can gain during their college career (apart from internships). They have to dig in to research, find that key insight, and turn that insight into a big idea. Each team creates a 32-page plans book including research highlights, campaign objectives, creative executions, promotions and sponsorships, social media strategies, and a media plan. The teams then have to present their campaign to a panel of judges at the regional competition. Teams who win their district continue on to the national competition, where sixteen teams present their ideas in hopes of taking home the winning title.

I’ve competed at NSAC for the last two years, and I can say there’s no experience quite like it. It’s made me a better person, and it’s definitely made me a better marketer. Along with experience of applying what you’ve learned during school to create a campaign, you also get to learn about the tides of the industry. You feel the pride in coming up with a great idea, the anxiety of presenting it, and in many cases you feel the sting of the client’s rejection. Think Hunger Games: There can only be one winner.

This year, Drury’s team found a one-of-a-kind insight. You know, the ones that are so simple and undeniable that you can’t believe someone hasn’t realized it before. Like Dove’s “real beauty comes in all shapes and sizes”. This bit of research grew into a solid, wonderfully creative campaign. It made sense. And we knew it would make sense to the audience. Most of the time in the ad world, you come to a client with two ideas: One that you know they’ll be comfortable with and one that you know will push them outside their comfort zone. Usually, you know the latter is the right choice to help grow their brand, and usually, they pick the former. Well, our team didn’t want to ignore this insight. We decided it was worth it to take the risk, to show Nissan something they wouldn’t be completely comfortable with, because we knew that this insight and this idea would do what they asked: increase top-of-mind awareness and grow their brand.

That’s why we were so surprised when we started watching the District 9 presentations. The majority of schools competing decided to continue with Nissan’s current Innovation for All campaign. It was like watching the same idea over, and over, and over again. If Nissan came to us with a problem, why would they want us to solve it with the same campaign they’ve been running—the campaign that obviously hasn’t helped them (and is the reason they sponsored this competition to begin with)? And the hardest part was that these were the teams that won the competition.

I believe that it is our job as marketers to present the client with new ideas—with ideas that will break through the clutter with relevant messaging. Ideas that will resonate with the target and create goodwill toward the company. It’s not our job to be people pleasers. It’s our job to find out what’s real to the audience, what means something to them, what’s something that hasn’t been tapped into or talked about, and it’s our job to help our clients.

There are good clients and bad clients. Good clients love their brand and will do everything they can to help it grow. Bad clients just want more money, faster. But that’s not the way the world works. People don’t buy cars on a snap decision. There is not a commercial in the world that could convince someone to buy a car after one viewing. Buying a car is an emotional process. You either have to convince the audience that you have something different to offer or that you, as a company, are different. And you’re not going to do either by claiming that touch-start technology, headroom, and color customization are “innovative features”.

Rejection stings, but it’s a feeling that everyone in the advertising industry should get used to. There will come a day when you’ll have a great idea, an idea you believe in, and an idea that makes sense from every angle you look at it. And that idea is going to be ignored by the client because it isn’t what they want to hear. When that happens, you have to remember that you did your job and you did what was right. And if you can look back and think, “I wouldn’t change a thing,” you smile at yourself and be proud for standing up for the right idea.

NSAC is an incredible experience, and one that’s invaluable to advertising graduates, no matter the outcome. It teaches you the importance of novel research, the rarity of a big idea, and how to handle the ups and downs of the ad world.

So to Nissan and NSAC 2012, I say:

I wouldn’t change a thing.

Please listen to the words you're singing.

Have you ever really listened to what it is you’re singing along to? You’d be amazed at the words coming out of your mouth. This blog post is a tribute to some of the lamest lyrics ever written. Kudos to those who wrote them. Leave a comment if you recognize one or can think of some others.

“I just see the dougie when everybody clubbing, and I hate skinny jeans cuz the burner keep rubbin!”

“Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack.”

“Yeah! It’s a party in the U.S.A.”

“Sometimes we sit around, just the two of us on a park bench. Sometimes we swim around, like two dolphins in the oceans of our hearts.”

“Dad took off when you were four years old. There was a good man named Paul Revere. I feel much better baby when you’re near.”

“I want a brand new house on an episode of Cribs. And a bathroom I can play baseball in. And a king size tub big enough for ten . . . plus me.”

“I don’t want to see a ghost; it’s the sight that I fear most. I’d rather have a piece of toast--watch the evening news.”

“What you gonna do with all that junk--all that junk inside that trunk? I’ma get, get, get, get you drunk, get you love drunk off my hump.”

“Coast to Coast. L.A. to Chicago.”

“In an mmm bop they’re not there. Until you lose your hair. No, but you don’t care.”

“He was a boy. She was a girl. Can I make it any more obvious?”

“There’s no limitations on imagination. Imaginate.”

“I’m just a cheeseburger in paradise.”

“Yesterday was Thursday, today is Friday. We so excited; we gonna have a ball today. Tomorrow is Saturday, and Sunday comes afterwards.”

“I’m blue. Da ba dee da ba die.”

“Magnets--how do they work?”

“La la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la la la la laaa, do do do do do do, ahhhhhh.”

“Cause I’d get a thousand hugs from ten thousand lightning bugs as they tried to teach me how to dance the foxtrot above my head, a sock hop beneath my bed.”

“How did our eyes get so red and what the hell is on Joey’s head?”

“I threw up in the closet and I don’t care.”

“My lip-gloss is cool. My lip-gloss be poppin’.”

“How come every time you come around, my London, London Bridge wanna go down like London, London, London?”

I can’t even punctuate these. Are musicians getting lazy, or are people just more interested in catchy hooks than they are compelling words? I, Cecily Robertson, lover of words, do hereby give you, the reader, permission to punch anyone involved with the creation of these song lyrics. Let’s hope you have the chance someday.

Am I Ugly?

This is the title of a new trend in the social world. Pre-teen girls have taken to uploading videos of themselves with the purpose of getting one question answered: Am I ugly? Most of the hype is taking place on YouTube, the social scene that’s probably most notorious for bullying. These girls are seeing the good, the bad, and everything in between with comments ranging from “You are a beautiful girl. Do not let anyone tell you different.” to “Yes, you are. Now go kill yourself.”

Video from the "Am I Ugly" trend on YouTube.

It’s not fair to say these societal pressures didn’t exist twenty years ago. Twenty years ago, girls were still looking at fashion magazines and feeling a sense of inadequacy. But the question “Am I ugly?” was directed internally. In figuring out who they are and defining themselves, pre-teens often look to their peers for approval. So it makes sense that with the development of social networks, young girls would turn to their social networks for approval. And they listen to anyone who answers them.

I won’t say the old cliché “beauty comes from within.” Psychical beauty is a highly subjective idea. But I will say that I believe the beauty that matters more is internal beauty. And asking a sea of strangers whether you’re beautiful will subject you to a needless strain of criticism from people you don’t know—and consequently, a low self-esteem.  

This trend is unnerving, but I see no quick solution. Should YouTube remove the videos? Should YouTube hold its users accountable for cyber bullying?

Society isn’t kind to pre-teen girls. I think it’s up to the older sisters, the mothers and fathers, and the true friends of the world to help these young girls see their potential. Do you see another solution?