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American Morning
2002 in Review: Best Commercials
Aired January 03, 2003 - 08:34 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Is it possible each year we watch more than 300,000 commercials? This morning, we will look at the best from the past year because 300, 00 was not enough, we will throw in a few more, like this Nike commercial. Take a look at this one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A young man is being chased by a chicken.
There goes the young man.
Look, there he goes.
He cannot fool the chicken.
But, wait. All right, he has fooled the chicken.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Joining us with more of 2002 most creative commercials, we have with us Barbara Lippert of "Adweek." Good morning. Happy New Year to you.
BARBARA LIPPERT, "ADWEEK": Thank you.
I love in that one the double translation. The French guy goes on and on, and the English guy tells us barely anything, we don't need to know.
KAGAN: You did not fool the chicken. Absolutely. Not your typical Nike commercial. It wasn't like the "just do it" kind of feel.
LIPPERT: Right, right, well, they like to go out the discipline of sports a lot to show you can move anywhere, and these guys, there are no special effect, they grew up in these housing projects in Paris, and they learned how to glide and jump like Spiderman that way.
KAGAN: The guys that you see in the commercial there.
LIPPERT: Yes, and it's so funny to have the difference of a little chicken feed and his Nike Prestos (ph).
KAGAN: When you're looking for a good commercial, what is that you're looking for, in terms of "Adweek?"
LIPPERT: Well, something really visually interesting and stimulating, something you'd want to see again and again, and something that kind of elevates the art of advertising, so that you feel kind of intelligent after you've watched it.
KAGAN: Is it like making a good little movie or actually selling a product?
LIPPERT: Well, it's both.
KAGAN: Sometimes you'll say, oh, I love that commercial, but what was it for?
LIPPERT: Some of the most entertaining commercials don't necessarily sell. I think if you're going to go into the public all of the time that way, it should be entertaining, and it should be like a movie and it should be something you enjoy. You don't need hammers pounding you on the head.
KAGAN: Let's go to yet another example, and this is Charles Schwab, and it has a little bit of a twist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, kids, here's today's magic stock. We have got big incentives on this one, so get on the phones, we have a lot of stock to move. Tell your customers its red hot. This one is En Fugeo (ph). Just don't mention the fundamentals -- they stink. There are a couple of courtside playoffs tickets for today's winner. Let's put some lipstick on this pig. Get to work, people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Lipstick on the pig, any of us, all of us who have watched our 401(k)s tank.
LIPPERT: 101(k)s, exactly. The shenanigans on Wall Street were well-known, so it was really good creative fodder for Charles Schwab to separate themselves from everybody else. They don't have investment bankers, and there people aren't on commission. And in fact, CBS, as it said, refused to run it, because at that point, another brokerage firm that had just come out in Eliot Spitzer's report, that an analyst at another brokerage firm had privately disparaged the stock that he had publicly touted, so that was happening all the time.
KAGAN: I think that's just a little too inside, and people would really appreciate the spirit of that.
LIPPERT: Right, and for people who work on Wall Street, they tell me that's exactly the way it is.
KAGAN: Unfortunately. That is scary.
I want to get this Saturn commercial in, emphasizing the human spirit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we design our cars, we don't see sheet metal; we see the people who may one day drive them. Introducing the redesigned L, The View, and the all-new Ion. It's different in a Saturn.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Interesting what we see in that, because until the very end, it's a car commercial with no cars.
LIPPERT: Exactly, and Saturn has always been sort of a humanist, populist company, so to see people without their automotive armor and what it would be like, it's just a beautiful concept, and it's really entertaining, and it's something you want to see again and the music is Bach, it's beautiful.
KAGAN: Let's talk about things in the year to come, in the year that's actually here, Britney Spears, last year's It girl, is out.
LIPPERT: Yes, it's like dog years in advertising. She had a pretty good run. She was the star of several extravaganzas, and especially the Super Bowl one last year, where she appeared like Marilyn Monroe and went on and on.
KAGAN: Which kind of really didn't work.
LIPPERT: Yes, so they're feeling that they're going to move on to Beyonce Knowles.
KAGAN: So the next one -- Beyonce Knowles, she's the new It girl.
LIPPERT: Right, and from "Austin Powers." They had a lot of connections to "Austin Powers" before. They had Britney in a commercial with Mike Meyers, so I guess they're taking it from there, and they'll make it funnier.
KAGAN: Oh, even funnier. That's good. Now that we have had fun looking at the commercials, what about on a harder edge? What about the ad market in general? Are people buying? And where are rates?
LIPPERT: Well, it's been a terrible two years for advertising. There has been no growth, and they're expecting very small growth the next year or so. Television buying has not been so bad, TV buying, but print and magazines have been in a terrible state. So we're hoping for a renewal this year.
KAGAN: And I guess your next big time is Super Bowl.
LIPPERT: Yes, it looks like that's going to be as busy as ever, and people still acknowledge that that's the place to be.
KAGAN: You will have to come on back and give us an advance look of what we'll be saying in between the game.
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 January 3, 2003 - 08:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Is it possible each year we watch more than 300,000 commercials? This morning, we will look at the best from the past year because 300, 00 was not enough, we will throw in a few more, like this Nike commercial. Take a look at this one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A young man is being chased by a chicken.
There goes the young man.
Look, there he goes.
He cannot fool the chicken.
But, wait. All right, he has fooled the chicken.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Joining us with more of 2002 most creative commercials, we have with us Barbara Lippert of "Adweek." Good morning. Happy New Year to you.
BARBARA LIPPERT, "ADWEEK": Thank you.
I love in that one the double translation. The French guy goes on and on, and the English guy tells us barely anything, we don't need to know.
KAGAN: You did not fool the chicken. Absolutely. Not your typical Nike commercial. It wasn't like the "just do it" kind of feel.
LIPPERT: Right, right, well, they like to go out the discipline of sports a lot to show you can move anywhere, and these guys, there are no special effect, they grew up in these housing projects in Paris, and they learned how to glide and jump like Spiderman that way.
KAGAN: The guys that you see in the commercial there.
LIPPERT: Yes, and it's so funny to have the difference of a little chicken feed and his Nike Prestos (ph).
KAGAN: When you're looking for a good commercial, what is that you're looking for, in terms of "Adweek?"
LIPPERT: Well, something really visually interesting and stimulating, something you'd want to see again and again, and something that kind of elevates the art of advertising, so that you feel kind of intelligent after you've watched it.
KAGAN: Is it like making a good little movie or actually selling a product?
LIPPERT: Well, it's both.
KAGAN: Sometimes you'll say, oh, I love that commercial, but what was it for?
LIPPERT: Some of the most entertaining commercials don't necessarily sell. I think if you're going to go into the public all of the time that way, it should be entertaining, and it should be like a movie and it should be something you enjoy. You don't need hammers pounding you on the head.
KAGAN: Let's go to yet another example, and this is Charles Schwab, and it has a little bit of a twist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, kids, here's today's magic stock. We have got big incentives on this one, so get on the phones, we have a lot of stock to move. Tell your customers its red hot. This one is En Fugeo (ph). Just don't mention the fundamentals -- they stink. There are a couple of courtside playoffs tickets for today's winner. Let's put some lipstick on this pig. Get to work, people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Lipstick on the pig, any of us, all of us who have watched our 401(k)s tank.
LIPPERT: 101(k)s, exactly. The shenanigans on Wall Street were well-known, so it was really good creative fodder for Charles Schwab to separate themselves from everybody else. They don't have investment bankers, and there people aren't on commission. And in fact, CBS, as it said, refused to run it, because at that point, another brokerage firm that had just come out in Eliot Spitzer's report, that an analyst at another brokerage firm had privately disparaged the stock that he had publicly touted, so that was happening all the time.
KAGAN: I think that's just a little too inside, and people would really appreciate the spirit of that.
LIPPERT: Right, and for people who work on Wall Street, they tell me that's exactly the way it is.
KAGAN: Unfortunately. That is scary.
I want to get this Saturn commercial in, emphasizing the human spirit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we design our cars, we don't see sheet metal; we see the people who may one day drive them. Introducing the redesigned L, The View, and the all-new Ion. It's different in a Saturn.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Interesting what we see in that, because until the very end, it's a car commercial with no cars.
LIPPERT: Exactly, and Saturn has always been sort of a humanist, populist company, so to see people without their automotive armor and what it would be like, it's just a beautiful concept, and it's really entertaining, and it's something you want to see again and the music is Bach, it's beautiful.
KAGAN: Let's talk about things in the year to come, in the year that's actually here, Britney Spears, last year's It girl, is out.
LIPPERT: Yes, it's like dog years in advertising. She had a pretty good run. She was the star of several extravaganzas, and especially the Super Bowl one last year, where she appeared like Marilyn Monroe and went on and on.
KAGAN: Which kind of really didn't work.
LIPPERT: Yes, so they're feeling that they're going to move on to Beyonce Knowles.
KAGAN: So the next one -- Beyonce Knowles, she's the new It girl.
LIPPERT: Right, and from "Austin Powers." They had a lot of connections to "Austin Powers" before. They had Britney in a commercial with Mike Meyers, so I guess they're taking it from there, and they'll make it funnier.
KAGAN: Oh, even funnier. That's good. Now that we have had fun looking at the commercials, what about on a harder edge? What about the ad market in general? Are people buying? And where are rates?
LIPPERT: Well, it's been a terrible two years for advertising. There has been no growth, and they're expecting very small growth the next year or so. Television buying has not been so bad, TV buying, but print and magazines have been in a terrible state. So we're hoping for a renewal this year.
KAGAN: And I guess your next big time is Super Bowl.
LIPPERT: Yes, it looks like that's going to be as busy as ever, and people still acknowledge that that's the place to be.
KAGAN: You will have to come on back and give us an advance look of what we'll be saying in between the game.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
