Please don’t mess with Jake from State Farm.
Is it just me or does anyone else notice that highly successful campaigns make it very hard for clients to move on to something new? They keep falling back to; “Well, this new concept is good but not as good as that great campaign was. Can’t we just run that one again?” I’ve heard that several times in my career. Being creative, and by creative I mean fresh and different, is risky. It’s hard for clients to step into their “discomfort” zone. But when they do and it’s successful, they find it hard to do the same thing again.
I also think many clients are lazy. The best example of that is the “Got Milk” campaign. This campaign was a huge success for the milk industry. So, what happens, every small business and do-it-yourself marketers began “Got (fill in the blank).” To me this is not just knocking off someone else’s work but it’s lazy. Can’t anyone be original and creative? But again, that takes work and risk, and that’s just too much effort.
So, what’s happening with Jake from State Farm? Very simply, I get the need to appeal to a more diverse audience. I get the desire to demonstrate that State Farm as a company promotes diversity. But why mess with Jake? So, here we are with a commercial that was very popular, even iconic for State Farm, so let’s just update Jake to be the “new” look of State Farm.
Again, I get it, all the reasons why and the goal. But honestly, to me, it’s again just lazy. It’s too much work to try to create a new more diverse State Farm agent, so let’s just reintroduce Jake and change his race. Wow, that’s so subtle. I would never have noticed the switch. Maybe that’s the point too, since the original spot aired years ago maybe State Farm thinks all these new young drivers won’t remember the original Jake and just go with it.
So, really? That’s the best you can do with that? How do you know that commercial will even appeal to a younger audience?
That takes me to the rest of the new Jake campaign. There seems to be no problem creating new spots with Jake from State Farm as the hero. I commend them for actually doing something new, so why not just give the agent a new name and be done? But after watching the spots I can see that the spots just don’t make any sense - at all. Maybe the scripts made sense to the client, but as an audience and consumer, they are so contrived and not funny - just - stupid. It gives Jake a bad name.
So, on the one hand I wish they would be original with their new agent diversity campaign, but at the same time I wish they could do something original that is actually respectful of diversity while hitting the humorous mark. This new approach does neither.
Google hits the emotion button, but just once please.
Now that everyone has had their say about the amazing Google “Loretta”commercial that aired during Super Bowl LIV. Some found it touching, some found it brilliant, some found it emotional, but whatever you felt it will win plenty of awards.
But now that the Super Bowl has come and gone weeks ago, Google has been running the commercial during regular programming. And I have to say, when Loretta comes on – I just change the channel. It is now slow and tedious as it drones on, to me it is unbearable. This is a “watch it once” commercial - I can’t watch it over and over. I actually start to hate it.
So what is the spot actually saying? Who is the man talking to? His computer? His phone? His Google Home? It is touching, but honestly I don’t get what Google is trying to say to me as a customer and so, what’s the point? Is this man anticipating dementia and knows he’s going to need help remembering his life? I know that’s harsh and hateful, but really, what is Google saying? Upload all your photos to Google? And if Google remembers all these things, does that mean I don’t have to? Now most of you would probably say; you need to go to Google to find out about all these new amazing services. But for me, that’s more work that I don’t have time for.
This is not to say that I don’t appreciate commercials that appeal to the emotions. One of my all-time favorite commercials is the Always “Like A Girl” commercial. I can watch that spot again and again. And I tear-up every time. But the Google “Loretta” commercial does not have that effect.
On the other hand, Google is also now running their new “Find Your Scene” commercial. Now this is a commercial that I can get into. I can relate to this because I’ve done it. And this commercial demonstrates it, has fun with it, and makes me want to get out there and do it myself - again. I can watch this commercial over and over, because each time there’s some new detail to see and pick out. I get it. I get the technology aspect, I get the fun aspect, I get the travel aspect, it just has it all.
I’m a big Google fan, I think they are an amazing company that has lead the way in technology and set a standard for sharing technology that has changed the way we look at such things. So, when I remember Loretta, I wish I could be engaged by her and not annoyed.
Sonic sinks into the sea of sameness.
We’ve all heard - and many believe - that change is good. And so it can be, but it has to be a change of improvement, right? Change for the sake of change is not usually as desirable or yields a positive effect. Something has changed with Sonic Drive-in Restaurants, and for me, it’s not a change of improvement.
Great creative is hard to beat. A good concept, good copywriting, good actors, good product - it’s all good. And when it works - work it. Geico, Progressive and many others have shown this to be true. And Sonic had followed that lead for a several years now. Our two guys sitting in the car at Sonic with their quirky personalities created some good interaction, a chuckle or two and memorable brand awareness. It gave Sonic a sense of being unique, fun and a great place to hang out with family and friends. The look is bright and colorful, the food looks delicious and the humor brings it all together.
But something has changed, but what? New marketing director? New CEO? New RFP? New agency? Maybe some or all of these but I’m sure the bigger issue is that Sonic has been represented for all these years by two going-on-middle-age white guys. There is no diversity and so the result is a new concept, a new look and a new direction for Sonic. But that new direction offers nothing memorable, interesting, or appealing.
Pretty footage of places - desaturated, some even dark scenes - even those inside the kitchen of the restaurant. Is this supposed to make me more excited to go out and see the world? Take a road trip? And eat in my car? Not me. Even my most memorable road trips are punctuated with stops to GET OUT OF THE CAR, walk around, stretch. I really don’t want to sit in the car and eat. Sonic has lost all of the fun of the brand. To me it’s trying to look like something it’s not – moody. I feel like they’re trying to talk adventure but the footage looks like a car commercial and that moody footage just doesn’t say food, even the kids eating the burgers in the back seat don’t look happy. Maybe it’s too real. Yes, Sonic now looks different from the other fast food brands, but now they have fallen off my scope. I hardly even noticed their new commercial during a commercial break because it blended into the sea of sameness surrounding it. Nothing about it captures my attention.
So, I’m sad to see some great creative be replaced with nothing special, nothing memorable. Only time (and sales) will tell if this was the smart change for Sonic.
