Ingenial » Marketing

Whopperface: Burger King’s secret cameras stun customers

Micah Goulart — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:09:13 +0000

Burger King in Brazil decided to personalize their burgers with photos of the customer printed on the wrapper. They secretly photographed customers while they were ordering and then printed the picture on the wrapper within seconds, in time to hand it to the surprised and unsuspecting diner.

Is this the end of publishing?

Micah Goulart — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:46:59 +0000

Stick with the video for a bit.

63 Reasons to Stop Smoking

Micah Goulart — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:22:00 +0000

See the other 61 reasons at TutorArt.

Walmart’s Black Barbie Sale Decried as Racist

Ric Bruce — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:22:12 +0000

Lower prices aren’t always better as evidenced by this side-by-side shot of white barbies and black barbies that appeared at the humor site FunnyJunk.com. The Telegraph got wind of it this morning and blew the lid off, citing marketers and children experts who say the devaluation may have unintended side effects:

“Walmart should have decided that “it’s really important that we as a company don’t send a message that we value blackness less than whiteness,” said Lisa Wade, an assistant sociology professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles.”

Read the full story at the Telegraph.

São Paulo: A Naked City

Ric Bruce — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:59:00 +0000

The city of São Paulo, Brazil is the world’s forth-largest metropolitan area and for all practical intents and purposes completely ad-free outdoors. It’s weird. No fifty foot billboards featuring watches and handbags. Even outdoor signs for shops and restaurants feature slim, humble designs. I’ve never been there, but the pictures certainly speak for themselves. Perhaps our Brazilian contributor (Micah) can help us out here. If you’ve ever been let’s hear it in the comments.

See more at Web Urbanist

Photo credit

Guilt-Based Advertising

Ric Bruce — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:23:30 +0000

Bad news. Certain ads designed to make a person “self conscious” concerning the effects of their bad habits can actually trigger defense mechanisms which render the ad useless or even dangerous. A recent study by Northwestern University found that alcohol abuse ads can actually encourage alcohol abusers to have a drink, for instance.

The findings imply the best tactic would be to redirect funds from stand-alone, guilt-based advertisements to ads placed in positive locations to offset the ad’s harsh edge. For example, an ad encouraging smokers to quit may be best placed during a slap-stick comedy hour or in late-night TV.

A second alternative tactic encourages abusers to avoid the situations which most often lead to the abusive behavior. A more subtle advertisement may be more persuasive after all!

Read the full story at Advertising Age.