You are now entering Ad Space, a realm of commercials, brought before us so we might examine how they work, and discuss why we both love and hate them so. So it is written …
Occasionally, you’ll get a specific ad or series of ads that’s so well known, advertisers for a competing product will directly lambast what the previous ad did. And I find that fun, just ’cause it’s amusing to see advertisers getting salty with each other, so I thought I’d share some prime examples.
A while back, I did an Ad Space on Bud Light’s “Dilly Dilly” commercials, that were set in a faux-Medieval setting, with recurring characters like “The Bud Knight”. In one of their most elaborate ads, they did a big stuntwork and special effects filled tie-in with Game of Thrones.
To which Miller responded with an ad showing the folks who filmed that commercial actually preferring Miller Lite once shooting ends. Nice little “take that”, and a way of painting themselves as a beer for real people, not needing all these ridiculous gimmicks.
Then there’s when T-Mobile tried selling itself as a phone plan without contracts or fine print or other complicated legalese, which they referred to as “yada yada”.
… to which Visible responded by pointing out how (a) T-Mobile (sorry, Otherguys Wireless) seems to have only a vague grasp of what “yada yada” means, and (b) a lot of the contractual details they’re yada-yadaing over are actually kind of important. All delivered by Jason Alexander, to boot.
But perhaps the ultimate example came after Verizon retired the “Can You Hear Me Now?” character, who appeared in numerous commercials of theirs during the 2000’s …
… and Sprint saw an opportunity.
