Bathroom Advertisements

This past weekend I was home and stopped by the Natick Mall to do some shopping. In the past four years they have completely renovated the inside and have made it ten times nicer than it ever was before. I went into the bathrooms and while I was washing my hands I noticed a sign on the mirror. It said "if you like the soap that you are using, you can purchase it at the Aveda store on the second floor"

I have never seen anything like that before and I thought that it was really weird but also really clever. After I saw the sign I actually noticed the soap that I was using and thought about how much better this soap seemed compared to other bathroom soaps. This is probably not true but the fact that I saw that the soap was from Aveda, it made me think about stopping into the Aveda store - a store I would not otherwise think to go into.

So, even though this advertising strategy did somewhat weird me out, it was very effective and made me think about purchasing something or at least going into the Aveda store while I was at the mall.

Text Message Advertising?

Last week I purchased an Adobe software program and, as always, I was asked for my billing and other standard information. I also gave them my cell phone number which I did not think twice about at the time. Since then, I have been receiving at least two text messages a week from Adobe promoting different products or how to contact them if I have any questions or concerns. I don't know if this is a new advertising strategy that Adobe is trying but it is definitely not working.

I have called the 1-800 number a few times to ask them to take me off of the text message list but each time I have been put on hold and given up after ten minutes or so. Not only have I been receiving text messages from Adobe but other mass messages from companies asking if I want to make "fast cash". These text messages are annoying and have done nothing but discourage me from purchasing Adobe software in the future.

Has anyone else experienced this or something similar?

What Will You Be Watching Sunday Night?

As always, Sunday nights Super Bowl has been in the media spotlight for the past two weeks and it seems even more so this year since it is once again Patriots vs. Giants. For many people, the Super Bowl is an opportunity to critique new commercials and to get a good laugh.

While looking at NPR this morning, I noticed an article about three "hidden themes" of this years Super Bowl ads. It was very interesting and has made me very excited to see the commercials that will be aired on Sunday and to see how many of them incorporate one of these "hidden themes".

According to the NPR article these three themes are: 1. The quest for our inner child 2. Our affection for animals and 3. Sex --  I am very interested to see how many of the commercials played throughout the Super Bowl use one of these three themes and to see how they are used.

Did you see any of these themes being used and if so, how? Do you think it was effective?

NPR article: http://www.npr.org/2012/02/03/146336389/3-hidden-themes-of-this-years-super-bowl-ads