• by November 10, 2004

QUITE POSSIBLY, HE WAS JUST A LITTLE TOO PERSUASIVE -- Was it just us, or was that Paul Woolmington we saw being zapped in the middle of a PBS special about, what else, zapping? Actually, the program was an episode of "Frontline" entitled, "The Persuaders," and it was all about the "surprising methods" being used by today's marketers to "decipher who we are and what we want." But it seemed to us to be more of a rant about the Madison Avenue's incessant state of advertising overkill. You know, the more voluminous and ingenious the ad industry gets about getting ad messages in front of consumers, the more consumers tune them out. It's a vicious cycle that people in the trade know all too well. And we thought, that most consumers understood equally as well by now. So, why the need for a prime-time PBS special? Well, because someone's got to blow the lid on Madison Avenue's sneaky tactics every few years or so.

As far as ad industry exposes are concerned, we've seen worse. But what's really puzzling us is what happened half-way through the one-hour special, when Woolmington, president-CEO of The Media Kitchen was discussing how people are using TiVos to zap commercials and take control of their TV viewing. In the middle of his discourse, the screen went blank for what seemed to be five or ten seconds. What makes the zap so ironic, is that Woolmington is one of the few people on Madison Avenue who are advocating that the industry stop fighting consumer control over media and learn to embrace it. Could it be that the powers that be simply powered down Woolmington's TV sound bite?

There were some other puzzling moments during the "Frontline" special, including the opening and closing plugs. The program, which was a stark reminder of the overabundance of advertising clutter, was preceded by an ad - well, the PBS folks call it an "enhanced underwriting message" - from sponsor Acura, featuring a spot for its MDX sports utility vehicle. The tagline: "MDX gets hearts in the right place, even if you're not." Our question: was this the best media placement?

As awkward as that media buy might seem, it was "Frontline's" own closing promo that really made us wonder. Ironically, after an hour decrying the overwhelming amount of messaging that seemingly targeted at "you," the program ends with a promotional message touting what "Frontline" is all about. As the colorful words float around the screen, the announcer's stentorian voice intones the tagline: "We answer only to you." Hmmm... that is persuasive indeed!

OUT OF SITE, OUT OF MIND - As far as brand stewards go, few are recognized for their stewardship more than Ogilvy & Mather, but in a development that likely has the agency's late founder David Ogilvy, well, rolling over, spunky viral agency ASABAILEY caught O&M asleep at the wheel where a major band is concerned: its own. The U.K. domain name for Ogilvy & Mather expired unnoticed by the ad shop and was acquired by ASABAILEY. The site now depicts another kind of expiration - the protruding feet of a cadaver in a morgue complete with a toe tag that states: "If you understood the modern brand... you'd understand how to protect it." Ouch. Visitors to the site can click on the toe tag to send the link to a friend. The e-mail subject line comes up as "Ogilvy London Hijacked."