FREE

On way to catch people's attention is with the word FREE. Magazines are always a good source for this. Everybody loves free no matter what it is they'll stop and look. I came across an advertisement for emusic.com that was a cut out picture of an ipod/mp3 player. On the top of it read "25 FREE SONGS". I got really excited and started looking for a code or something that I would submit to get my free songs. Then, I came across the tiny letters in the back...."free with a 7 day trail subscription, credit card required", and I moved on with my life. This might catch some people. It did make me stop and look at their advertisement. But I wasn't willing to go any farther than absolutley free no strings attached.

Intense advertising

I was looking at my favorites list on my internet browser where I specifically add certain internet sites. At the bottom of the list were two dating sites that were added to my favorites without my knowledge. I was kind of annoyed by this because I felt like they were invading my personal space. I don't think it is a very effective way of advertising because they are two internet sites that I would not be interested in visiting at all. They need a more effective way of picking their target market.

Super Bowl Commercials

I waited patiently throughout all the super bowl commercials for the much anticipated and talked about one second Miller Lite commercials. However, to my disappointment they were never aired. At first, I thought I may had missed the one second ad but it turns out, according to USA TODAY that the Fox network decided against broadcasting the three commercials that had been approved for airing. The commercials make fun of Anheuser-Busch's new Budweiser Select beer. Anheuser-Busch bought the most Super Bowl advertising an so as a result Fox's sales department decided to veto the ads.
"Fox said it would not run commercials portraying Anheuser-Busch, which bought the most Super Bowl advertising time this year, in a negative light, said Jon Nesvig, president of advertising sales at Fox."
Fox sold 30-second spots for up to $2.4 million this year. So apparently in this case, money is more important than freedom of speech or competition in the market.
"It appears to us that Anheuser-Busch is trying to bully us out of the pregame on Super Bowl Sunday," Miller spokesman PeteMarino said. "But we remain confident that our message about new Bud will be well heard and well understood."(http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/admeter/2005-02-06-miller-ads-pulled_x.htm)
I don't think it's fair that Fox can decide what can be heard and not heard. As a consumer I want to know what my other options are!

check out the Miller Lite ads....quite a funny concept.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=K9GwHnU2ESE