Marketing and branding is king, right?
For all the time I spend trying to fast forward through commercials or skip ads, it seems it's all still making an impression.
What surprised me is how long we remember old slogans, logos and songs, and who the spokespeople were for certain products.
Recently, I was reminded of how long our memories are.
My friend was in the market for a new leased vehicle. She drove a few and one of her options was a white Ford Bronco. She said it was a beautiful vehicle, but she just couldn’t bring herself to get it.
I immediately chuckled because I instantly knew why and I would have totally done the same thing.
It's because it brought back memories from 1994 of that slow-speed chase in Los Angeles with O.J. Simpson in the back of the now-infamous white Ford Bronco. He fled from police after refusing to turn himself in after being charged with a double murder in the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.
That televised pursuit was the beginning of what would become the so-called trial of the century and, as you know, ended with O.J.'s acquittal.
It was just one of those moments in time where everybody remembered seeing it.
Unfortunately, the Ford Bronco now had negativity attached to it.
That happened a lot with O.J. Hertz, Bruno Magli shoes, Louis Vuitton luggage, and even orange juice took a bit of a hit at that time.
It just goes to show how important the choice of the right — or wrong — pitch person can be.
Here’s another delicious product that took a hit: Jell-O pudding because of the Bill Cosby connection.
I imagine some people are more influenced by that sort of thing than others. If I don’t care for the spokesperson, or if the commercial is annoying, I won’t buy the product. Pretty hardcore, I know.
Amy Schumer and her different sizes of tampons makes me cringe.
If the commercials are ridiculously annoying, it's also enough of a reason to bypass the product.
Currently, for me, it is the group of business people sitting around at a board meeting eating gummy bears and talking in children’s voices. I mean, I love a good gummy bear, but I refuse to reward this idiocy.
On the flip side, the right spokesperson is worth their weight in gold!
I love the Geico gecko. He gets my vote every single time as the perfect pitch lizard. I think it’s the accent.
I’m pretty much a sucker for any animal pitch. Clydesdale horses could sell me anything!
I do not understand reverse mortgages, but I would trust Tom Selleck to give me the straight goods on one.
Speaking of how long our marketing memories are, I can still sing word for word some old jingles.
“Like a good neighbour, State Farm is there.”
“I am stuck on a Band-Aid brand because Band-Aid's stuck on me.”
“I’d like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company.”
You’re singing along, right?
What’s a more recent one?
“When you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea...” And yes, I often do the accompanying dance moves.
It's so interesting what we deposit in our memory banks.
Clearly, I should empty mine out from time to time.
