Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Sunday
Interview With Michael McCarthy
Aired September 21, 2003 - 10:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Michael McCarthy, media editor of "USA Today," has some insight on the best TV commercial category. He's in New York. Michael, thanks for joining us today. I think it's kind of ironic that the best TV commercial goes to PBS, really not known for its commercials.
MICHAEL MCCARTHY, MEDIA EDITOR, "USA TODAY": That's right. A media organization, PBS, has won two out of the last three years. But it really is a terrific spot. You could say it's the best performance by a fish since "Fining Nemo."
CALLEBS: Yes, it looks like "Finding Goldie."
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I was just going to say, my 2- year-old would be screaming Nemo right now. The whole crew here was laughing when they were watching this. The creativity, the drama, I mean, this is like an epic drama, you're just dying to know where this fish is trying to go.
CALLEBS: That's right.
COLLINS: Is this what works now in television commercials?
MCCARTHY: Well, award show voters tend to look for several things, they either look for laugh outloud comedy, they look for a serious message, or they look for a big idea. And this spot has a very big idea. It's all about following your dream, and it's about inspiration. It was directed by the same director who did the indy hit from Mexico, "Y Tu Mama Tambien," and it's just a terrific spot.
CALLEBS: Let's talk about the VW spot called "Squares," because that doesn't have tremendous production value or make a big statement, but it is graphically so inviting.
MCCARTHY: Yeah, it's a terrific spot. Again, it's a car commercial, so you wouldn't expect this kind of spot from them. But it's very simple. It uses just simple objects that are all squares until we get to the very last image, which is the rounded shape of a VW beetle. And the message, of course, is the VW beetle is very different from all the other cars that you see out there.
And what I think is special about this spot is that it shows that car commercials and car companies are finally taking chances creatively, they're not just showing us the new, shiny car going around the winding road with the leaves flying up in the air. I mean, they spend the most money on advertising. So finally, take some chances and do something with it.
COLLINS: Yes, Michael, I hesitate to offer this, but my degree is in journalism with an emphasis in advertising before I got into TV. And I remember back when I was in school, the Infinity car campaigns and this kind of reminds me of that. The commercial was beautiful, it was intriguing. But you didn't remember what the commercial was for in the end. Do you think people from that one and some of these others that we are looking at, are going to remember exactly what the product is that they're trying to sell?
MCCARTHY: That's an excellent point, Heidi. You are referring to the famous rocks and trees commercial. And it's the classic debate, do people remember these commercials? Do they remember the brand? I think they do these days. I think consumers are bombarded with so many commercial messages that are so similar, that when you see something different, something that's very uncar-like like that, you do remember it. Also, VW is an excellent advertiser. They have been doing untraditional advertising for a long time. So I think consumers are used to seeing untraditional approaches from them.
CALLEBS: Michael, for the rest of the Emmys, best actor, best actress, you can see what's at stake, a better part, heightened role, something along those lines, but for these advertisers it seems that even more is at stake.
MCCARTHY: That's right, Sean. You know, advertisers and the ad agencies, sometimes careers are gained and lost on awards like this. People's careers go up, people's careers go down.
There's even been a case of an ad agency that was sued for creating a flop on the Super Bowl. So awards like the Emmys mean a great deal to these people. I mean, here you're seeing a spot called "Angry Chicken" by Nike. What I like about this spot a lot is Nike is taking its "just do it" message into the streets. What we're seeing here is a team of French street acrobats. So we're seeing some real traditional -- untraditional approaches, and I think the Emmys are trying to recognize that.
COLLINS: And you know, you mentioned what happens as a consequence if your ad doesn't go well from the advertising agency side of things. These are not cheap to make. They're not cheap to run. And you know, we think about the Super Bowl all the time when we think about great commercials, and everyone waits for those commercials to come out. What about the Emmys now? Is it ever going to be similar to that, trying to get a spot to run during the Emmy?
MCCARTHY: Well, Heidi, what the Emmys and the Grammys and the MTV Awards and the Oscars are trying to do is trying to turn these shows into creative showcases similar to the Super Bowl. The idea is to get consumers to stay in front of their TV sets rather than flipping channels, and have them watch the commercials the way they do the Super Bowl. I don't think they're there yet, but maybe they will be there one day.
CALLEBS: This one bothers me. Poor Ozzy. I mean, this one just looks like a poor, doddering old guy. COLLINS: Oh, yeah, I feel so sorry for him.
CALLEBS: Right.
MCCARTHY: I mean, there's so many actors from bad '70 TV shows in this spot -- you know, Fox, which is broadcasting the Emmys, could probably take the actors from this commercial and turn it into another episode of "Celebrity Boxing" if they wanted to.
CALLEBS: Oh, boy, can't wait for that day.
COLLINS: Yeah, definitely.
CALLEBS: Michael McCarthy, media editor of "USA Today," thanks a lot for joining us. We look forward to watching these spots again and again.
MCCARTHY: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 21, 2003 - 10:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Michael McCarthy, media editor of "USA Today," has some insight on the best TV commercial category. He's in New York. Michael, thanks for joining us today. I think it's kind of ironic that the best TV commercial goes to PBS, really not known for its commercials.
MICHAEL MCCARTHY, MEDIA EDITOR, "USA TODAY": That's right. A media organization, PBS, has won two out of the last three years. But it really is a terrific spot. You could say it's the best performance by a fish since "Fining Nemo."
CALLEBS: Yes, it looks like "Finding Goldie."
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I was just going to say, my 2- year-old would be screaming Nemo right now. The whole crew here was laughing when they were watching this. The creativity, the drama, I mean, this is like an epic drama, you're just dying to know where this fish is trying to go.
CALLEBS: That's right.
COLLINS: Is this what works now in television commercials?
MCCARTHY: Well, award show voters tend to look for several things, they either look for laugh outloud comedy, they look for a serious message, or they look for a big idea. And this spot has a very big idea. It's all about following your dream, and it's about inspiration. It was directed by the same director who did the indy hit from Mexico, "Y Tu Mama Tambien," and it's just a terrific spot.
CALLEBS: Let's talk about the VW spot called "Squares," because that doesn't have tremendous production value or make a big statement, but it is graphically so inviting.
MCCARTHY: Yeah, it's a terrific spot. Again, it's a car commercial, so you wouldn't expect this kind of spot from them. But it's very simple. It uses just simple objects that are all squares until we get to the very last image, which is the rounded shape of a VW beetle. And the message, of course, is the VW beetle is very different from all the other cars that you see out there.
And what I think is special about this spot is that it shows that car commercials and car companies are finally taking chances creatively, they're not just showing us the new, shiny car going around the winding road with the leaves flying up in the air. I mean, they spend the most money on advertising. So finally, take some chances and do something with it.
COLLINS: Yes, Michael, I hesitate to offer this, but my degree is in journalism with an emphasis in advertising before I got into TV. And I remember back when I was in school, the Infinity car campaigns and this kind of reminds me of that. The commercial was beautiful, it was intriguing. But you didn't remember what the commercial was for in the end. Do you think people from that one and some of these others that we are looking at, are going to remember exactly what the product is that they're trying to sell?
MCCARTHY: That's an excellent point, Heidi. You are referring to the famous rocks and trees commercial. And it's the classic debate, do people remember these commercials? Do they remember the brand? I think they do these days. I think consumers are bombarded with so many commercial messages that are so similar, that when you see something different, something that's very uncar-like like that, you do remember it. Also, VW is an excellent advertiser. They have been doing untraditional advertising for a long time. So I think consumers are used to seeing untraditional approaches from them.
CALLEBS: Michael, for the rest of the Emmys, best actor, best actress, you can see what's at stake, a better part, heightened role, something along those lines, but for these advertisers it seems that even more is at stake.
MCCARTHY: That's right, Sean. You know, advertisers and the ad agencies, sometimes careers are gained and lost on awards like this. People's careers go up, people's careers go down.
There's even been a case of an ad agency that was sued for creating a flop on the Super Bowl. So awards like the Emmys mean a great deal to these people. I mean, here you're seeing a spot called "Angry Chicken" by Nike. What I like about this spot a lot is Nike is taking its "just do it" message into the streets. What we're seeing here is a team of French street acrobats. So we're seeing some real traditional -- untraditional approaches, and I think the Emmys are trying to recognize that.
COLLINS: And you know, you mentioned what happens as a consequence if your ad doesn't go well from the advertising agency side of things. These are not cheap to make. They're not cheap to run. And you know, we think about the Super Bowl all the time when we think about great commercials, and everyone waits for those commercials to come out. What about the Emmys now? Is it ever going to be similar to that, trying to get a spot to run during the Emmy?
MCCARTHY: Well, Heidi, what the Emmys and the Grammys and the MTV Awards and the Oscars are trying to do is trying to turn these shows into creative showcases similar to the Super Bowl. The idea is to get consumers to stay in front of their TV sets rather than flipping channels, and have them watch the commercials the way they do the Super Bowl. I don't think they're there yet, but maybe they will be there one day.
CALLEBS: This one bothers me. Poor Ozzy. I mean, this one just looks like a poor, doddering old guy. COLLINS: Oh, yeah, I feel so sorry for him.
CALLEBS: Right.
MCCARTHY: I mean, there's so many actors from bad '70 TV shows in this spot -- you know, Fox, which is broadcasting the Emmys, could probably take the actors from this commercial and turn it into another episode of "Celebrity Boxing" if they wanted to.
CALLEBS: Oh, boy, can't wait for that day.
COLLINS: Yeah, definitely.
CALLEBS: Michael McCarthy, media editor of "USA Today," thanks a lot for joining us. We look forward to watching these spots again and again.
MCCARTHY: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
