Entry 3: Little Baby's Ice Cream-What the What??

So, this is a thing (actually watch the whole video, it's only a minute): 

Welcome to fear! This is a commercial for a real ice cream company (here's their website: http://www.littlebabysicecream.com/). Although it definitely terrified me into never, ever, buying any of their ice cream for fear of what drugs this guy is on, it's impossible to ignore. I wouldn't say it "grabbed" or "got" my attention so much as...molested it. 

Seriously. Stare at that for a few minutes and try to ever sleep again.

This probably makes me look like a complete psychopath who stays up until 4am watching creepy videos in the dark, chewing on my fingernails and giggling, but a friend actually showed me this video because it's hilarious in a creepy way. We all watched it together and laughed, and still sometimes quote it (after all, this is a special time). The point is, we approached it as a big joke, but thinking back, as crazy as this may sound, it is actually an effective advertisement.

Under the guise of almost making a parody of the "high concept ad" discussed in the persuaders, this a clever approach to reaching consumers. The narrator talks about his glistening skin, clean and clear pores, love of his job and life, being young and light on his feet, and his ability to "spring from ac-tivity to ac-tivity." These are hyperbolic versions of the sentiments many high concept ads denote-the need for attention (good skin/looks), the need for affiliation (being happy and social), and the need to dominate (being physically invincible). It's obviously ridiculous, and it's supposed to be ridiculous. They say eating ice cream keeps you light on your feet? It seems like it's meant to sound like it's making fun of the absurd claims many ads make about the improvements their various products can bring to consumers' lives. 

I admit that before doing the unit on advertising in zero period and thinking about this ad critically, I did not and probably would never have noticed this irony, but I remember that even the first time I watched the commercial I got the sense that something was being made fun of. I mean, that guy is definitely about to crack up, and the cadence of the narrator's voice is deathly serious to the point of mockery. It gave off a vibe of transcending normal ads, which, looking at it now with more knowledge, isn't too far off.

The Frontline episode The Persuaders talked about breaking through the clutter, and how it has become the most difficult task for advertisers in this world of constant marketing. With a combination of unnerving the crap out of me and making me laugh, this ad pierced straight through the normal happy family, happy friends, running through a field laughing type commercials. 

In my opinion, humor is the most effective way to reach customers. It makes it feel like you connect with the advertisers; it gives the experience a conspiratorial sense, which puts you and the company on the same side, which makes you shelling out the cash for their product seem more like a couple buds sharing something. When I watch a funny commercial or see a funny print ad, I know in my logical brain that this was designed to make me laugh and want to spend money on them, but I can't help thinking 'Ha! I totally gotcha bro, this is good stuff.' It's that part of us that will always believe that we are just a little bit better at thinking than everyone else that sees funny ads and immediately thinks it makes us cool because we get it and share this humor with an invisible network of advertisers and consumers.

So, even though this was probably designed by some psychologists somewhere who realized they could easily appeal to vain people who think they're really hip and funny, I still think this ad is awesome and hilarious and I give props to the Little Baby's Ice Cream people for taking a risk with a weirddd commercial. They were able to come up with something different, which is nearly impossible with the number of advertisements out there, and if I ever pass a Little Baby's Ice Cream shop, I'm definitely going in. With a few attack dogs, just in case, but still.