MarketingInsideOut.com

It doesn’t matter. It all comes out the same. Don’t you people get it? There’s no point in bashing Bogusky – he is the goose that laid the golden egg. No matter what he does – brilliant or bullshit – it’s golden!

Now everyone is up in arms about his lame Microsoft ad with Jerry Seinfeld. “How can he expect to energize today’s youth with a paunchy, yesterday icon that appealed to their parents?” First of all – ouch! Knocking Seinfeld is just wrong. But that aside – they’re railing at a pointless, wandering ad that shows Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld shoe shopping. Sound stupid – yes. But so what. Bogusky did it so it will probably win the Cannes Lion next year. And he’ll probably make a billion dollars selling whatever shoes they feature in that ad. Because that’s how it goes for Bogusky. And no one seems to care that he uses a damn Mac himself!

Remember when he first brought back that creepy Burger King icon? People were actually having nightmares and driving out of their way to avoid even passing Burger King. And now he’s lauded as the genius who’s “unlikely icon has since done everything from date reality-TV pinup Brooke Burke to appear in his own Xbox video game that has sold 3.5 million copies.” The guy can’t miss. Even when he publicly confesses that he “once farted on production for a gap spot.” OK that confession was made in Denver so I guess it wasn’t “officially” public. But face it – the guy farts Chanel! Or should I say Drakkar Dynamik?

And don’t getting me started on bringing Orville Redenbacher back from the dead – to sell a food item no less. But did that hurt our fair haired boy – you guessed it! In fact employees have been heard to liken him to Jesus and to claim “I was walking by the kitchen in the office. There was, like, this halo over him.” Maybe that’s it. At least that would explain it.

But you see my point here. Don’t waste your time or effort. He’s brilliant and can do no wrong. Go ahead – say that again, three times fast. He’s brilliant and… Come on, don’t be bitter – you might as well face it now before the next ridiculous, lame, irrelevant ad wins him his own TV show and makes him richer than Gates… It’s only a matter of time.

I’m a dog lover (ok more like fanatic) so I was naturally drawn to the new Pepto tv ad featuring the woman who’s sitting with her boxer sprawled across her lap while talking on the phone.

It becomes clear, almost immediately, that she is talking to the Pepto Bismol “help desk” about Rex’s problem of over indulgence. She lists an abundance of edible evils, at the root of the problem, and ends with dog treats, of course. The guy on the other end of the line proceeds to explain that Pepto does not treat animals – because he, as does the viewer, believes that her poor dog Rex has a tummy ache.

But no, ha ha, this is when the camera pulls back to reveal a tummy clutching man lying on the nearby couch as our protagonist explains that her dog’s name is Charlie and hopeless glutton Rex is her husband. Cute. Good for a quick chuckle. But at what price Pepto?

Why on earth would you spend good money to tell the whole world that you don’t treat animals when you absolutely do treat them? My vet prescribes a good dose of Pepto for the gastrointestinal tribulations of all three of my dogs. In fact my dogs take Pepto far more often than their humans. Where are your marketing people? Seems like they’re having some trouble thinking outside the litter box (ok that was a cheap shot).

Hey Pepto – give us a shot at marketing your pink tablets to pet owners. But you’ll have to retire that tv spot or risk confusing a burgeoning segment of your audience.