CK One Shock -- Seriously, Calvin?

This new CK One commercial, promoting the new CK One Shock fragrance, is sure to catch your eye, but probably not in the way you had hoped. Calvin Cline's new campaign, targeting men and women mostly likely the age 18 years to 35 years, features several attractive, young, and half-naked men and women, dancing around an empty, laser-filled room, in front of an oddly placed camera. What's the message here? Oh, yeah. To buy Calvin Cline's new fragrance, of course! Not.



This commercial is so raunchy, sexual, and plain out inappropriate, that I don't think it should even be aired on TV. One of the biggest problems I have with this type of advertising, is the way they degrade people's self image. They portray the wearers of this scent to look and act in a certain way. And supposedly, that's the cool way. The women are super skinny and the men are perfectly chiseled. But why? That's probably not who's really buying this perfume. Why go down that road? Companies should really be trying to stay away from this type of advertising. They shouldn't be telling me what the perfect woman and man should look like.

Not only does it degrade the normal person's self image, but it's also way too inappropriate for everyday TV. It's wrong for this commercial to be shown. The whole commercial looks like it's about a bunch of kids, messed up on drugs, making out without clothes on, in front of a camera, and saying CK One, Shock. Why would I want to wear this scent? What in this ad has made me say to myself, oh yeah, I'd love that? Nothing! I wouldn't even buy this for a friend. This advertisement is just another sex ad but the kind that just doesn't work at all. Calvin tried to fool us with the techno music and rave lights, but he's not fooling anyone. All this advertisement is doing is making Calvin Cline looked like a dirt, sex oriented brand. This commercial will definitely change the minds of his loyal customers. I won't buy anything made by his brand ever again.

Here are two videos showing the new CK One campaign. The first is for the entire CK One campaign and the second is only the CK One Shock ad.





And it doesn't stop there. Check out what else Calvin has to throw at us on his website, www.ckone.com.

Trick-or-Treat!

In celebration of Halloween, I have decided to choose which candy advertisement, in my opinion, stood out the most this year. And my year's winner is this strange yet funny commercial made by Snickers. It definitely stays true to the always weird, witty, and fun advertising that the Snickers company has always had. But I thought this one was better than all the other Halloween advertisements because it appeals to a very large audience. It's cooky and funny and you are sure to have a laugh.



I think this commercial is great. It is a joke the young and the old can understand. And most likely, every kid wishes they could do this exact same thing. I mean, how perfect would it be if you could just fill your neighbors shopping carts with your personal favorites for trick-or-treating? It'd be awesome! You'd get the most delicious candy and at every house! This commercial wins the hearts of the trick-or-treat-ers and the treat-ees in a very clever way.

Snickers seems to be the one to beat for silly and funny advertisements. They constantly are pulling new jokes out of the hat and surprising us all with out funny they can be by being so weird. Weird and funny advertising definitely seems to be the way every candy company is going in nowadays. But I can't complain, I think they are hilarious! Keep em' coming!

Value Billboards

I am a frequent passenger on Milwaukee’s bus system and at almost every stop I see these kind of billboards. They always have something uplifting or inspirational to say like this one shown above. While checking out the website, which is featured at the bottom of the billboard (www.values.com) , I found out that these advertisements aren’t really advertising for anything at all. What they are really trying to do is, “promote positive values,” because people are basically good and all they need is a little reminder.

The Foundation for a Better Life is the organization behind values.com and this brilliant advertising. In my opinion, these billboards are interesting because they aren’t trying to sell me some kind of meaningless product that I probably don’t even need, but they are trying to sell me something far more personal with actual meaning to my life, values. They are reminding and inspiring people to remember the good things in the world. Sometimes our days aren’t going so well and seeing these types of billboards around town may put a smile on your face.

I especially like that this organization features a lot of these billboards on college campuses. I think it’s a really good idea to focus on that target because sometimes our lives aren’t always fun and games and a simple reminder like this is a great way to keep moral up at a school. It’s also fun and not like the same old advertising you see everywhere. Try to spot one of these billboards out yourself on campus. It’s not hard to do and sometimes they really do inspire you. Here are some others I haven't found around Milwaukee but saw on their website:

Axe Advertising--Premature Perspiration

I think everyone is quite familiar with the advertisements put out by one of the biggest teenage boy body spray's called AXE . Axe has always been famous for using the shock value when putting together a commercial. Their commercials and magazine advertisements are always full of sexual innuendos that reference their irresistible smell. In my own opinion, I think AXE is really starting to take advantage of "edgy" commercials.

In their newest campaign, with a slogan of "premature perspiration," AXE really takes it to the next level. Of course, with a slogan like that your mind already begins to wander. But, I think this is taking it a little too far. In their campaign, the main idea is focused on a guy seeing a hot woman and "prematurely perspiring," because he simply can't help himself. By using AXE Deodorant, however, you can avoid the whole embarrassing "premature perspiration" thing, and keep on sweating without your woman knowing. How great!



Not. I think it's a little strange to think about a guy, starring at you from across the room, basically ejaculating sweat from his armpits. I don't understand how anyone could think that that joke is a clever usage of the vulgar and sexual term. I think AXE is overstepping some major boundaries. As someone apart of their target audience, mostly likely buying the product so my man will stop prematurely perspiring, I would never buy the product. And I don't even see nor get the connection teenage boys will make with the idea of picking up deodorant to stop their "premature perspiration." Isn't that a super embarrassing thing? I mean the commercials already embarrassing me, and I'm just the one being looked at! Take a look for yourself. And if I were showing this commercial on my network, I'd definitely put a "warning, mature content," before the commercial.

Allstate Mayhem!

Allstate, whose advertisements are usually serious and to-the-point, has done an excellent job on this chain of hilarious commercials you see on almost every channel. Yes, I’m talking about the “Mayhem Man.” Their latest commercial, featuring Mayhem as a blind spot to a driver, made me realize that they truly nailed these commercials.



Not only does Allstate totally appeal to their target audience, which is most likely 18 year olds and up, but they also took this joke and created a goldmine. They can take this joke in whichever way they want. They can be silly, they can be a little more serious, but it always comes down to mayhem seriously messing up your stuff. I really enjoyed all of these commercials, but here are some of my personal favorites:




Allstate is a great insurance company. Its commercials are usually geared towards families and people who need a reliable and stable insurance company, that’s why I love these commercials. They tried something different and it definitely ended up being a good risk. I think they’ve really got something going on here. They are appealing to every target in these commercials. They are witty, funny, yet still accurate to what could actually happen in real life. Because there really is real-life mayhem!

I also love the catch phrase they have created from these commercials; “so get Allstate. You could save money and be better protected from mayhem, like me.” In my opinion, the whole campaign of the "Mayhem Man," was a great success. I can't wait to see what new, crazy, and obnoxious mayhem they'll come up with next.

Sheets Energy Strips

Have you ever needed one of those pick-me-ups but didn't want an energy drink because of the extra calories? Then sheets, a new energy strip, is just the product for you. It has 0 calories, 0 carbs, and 0 sugar. But what's even better, is their advertising.

I guarantee you have seen one of these weird yet funny advertisements on billboards and commericials as well as in magazines. I think they have even set a new standard for corky advertising. But, is it just really strange, or is it really smart?

In my opinion, I think they are taking a silly joke, way too far. It's a little annoying and the whole gist of the advertising campaign really does not make me want to eat an energy strip. Take a look at these advertisements: