Watching Mad Men the last couple of weeks has challenged my DVR fast forwarding abilities. I have been stopped twice now thinking I was back into the show, but in reality was watching a commercial created to look like the show.
Last week Dove aired a spot that was vastly different than their successful Campaign for Real Beauty. Much like the show, the Dove Mad Men spot was set inside an ad agency, circa the 1960s. Two male copywriters were struggling with what to say about the soap when a pretty “secretary” brings them coffee, apologizes for speaking out of turn and gives them some great copy points (Dove makes my skin feel soft, smooth and clean, soap doesn’t). They decide that they have nailed it and can play golf the rest of the day.
This week Breyers did something similar where a male copywriter is struggling for ideas when his boss comes in eating ice cream and gives him all sorts of ideas on how to promote the great taste. Both times, I stopped and watched the ad (twice in the Dove case).
Word on the street is that parent company Unilever plans to give the same treatment to its Hellmann’s, Klondike, Suave and Vaseline brands during the coming weeks of the show.
Not sure if these program specific ads will provide a noticeable increase sales, but it sure is an innovative way to engage a small group of fans who are incredibly passionate about a show about advertising.
And kudos to the folks at AMC for continuing to find innovative and engaging ways to weave actual advertising into the show. Last year had a huge story arch with Hilton Hotels and even had a Conrad Hilton character challenging the folks on the show to come up with advertising for certain properties (wonder if anyone ever tracked if bookings went up?).
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