BMX ad was clever, but it was like accidentally sleeping with a hooker

Yep, I’m with you Tim. I liked the BMX ad on EBAY, but now, I feel a bit cheated!

A genuine, authentic execution with a normal commercial purpose would be a refreshing change…

Guy
Strategy Director, Autumn:01

So marketers shouldn’t use their copywriting skills on eBay?

I agree with the lack of transparency with some of the examples you’ve used, but this is a little different isn’t it? People deliberately attempt to write descriptions that will attract high bids all the time, can you call this a fake just because these guys are good at what they do?

Love the analogy, reminds me of that factoid of the 2 oldest professions.

Also, this resembles the time machine & ecco the dolphin fake listings used to increase the profile of trademe.co.nz site before selling – except, it was origional then. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/tech.....d=10348128

I find it kind of sad that when first reading the eBay ad, I had the crawling feeling that it WAS viral, some kinda stunt. Something about the ‘fully extreme’ language – it felt kinda hollow.

It’s a crappy, crappy reaction to have. Does it mean agency folk are lazy or my Gen Y Cyn-O-Meter is turned up to 11?

This is not how “creativity” helps you sell a product it’s how “lies” help sell a product.

As all the info that made the ad interesting was a lie. Is this how advertising is?

Still thought it was funny they just needed to lose the line about it being about creativity.

This campaign was rad to the power of sick. If anything, it only validates the thinking that creativity is the spice of a good sales pitch.

Lighten up boys and girls, it’s all fun and games!

Who the **** says ‘RAD’, really?

Build a bridge people.

I like it. Well done gents.

A nice modern take on the blind guy with the sign ‘it is spring and I am blind’ to show people, especially clients, that a bit of love and care and effort can be rewarded with more $$.

Cheers,

Andy ‘Redline Proline’ McKeon

If the role of the ad and video was to illustrate a point on creativity, it works.

I think it is refreshing to see a new way to promote creativity. The industry needs to see creativity as an important asset to sales and I think this does a good job.

It shouldn’t be taken to literally. The YouTube piece has been around for a good while and well commented on in many blogs. I think that the majority see it as a clever illustration rather than advertising trickery.

I can’t believe you just slandered “rad”….

If i was searching for a creative advertising agency, this would be a strong indicator of ability to promote a brand. I think it is a great promotion for the agency.. “hands in the air if you just dont mind” hahah

I’m impressed with the experiment but I think it highlights too growing problems:

1. Creativity is increasingly seen by consumers as duplicity (nb this is not a digital specific issue in my mind)
2. Increasingly the cost in time/effort outweighs the result

Any chance Nige told you the amount of time spent on developing the idea?

I think the whole thing was rad to the power of sick.

Let’s not take ourselves too seriously. After all this is just the kind of crazy stunt that us zany advertising people would pull.

At the heart of this lies the issue of brands and storytelling.

I think it all depends on how much as a consumer you can suspend disbelief. I suspect most would have taken the BMX ad in the fun tone it was intended.

Were potential bike buyers duped or lied to?! Well, yes and no. But then the BMX example is not a million miles away from the recent Herringbone campaign:

http://theinspirationroom.com/.....newspaper/

Were the public lied to here?! Were blokes duped into thinking their shirts were hand-crafted by a Frenchman with dwarfism of the appendages?!

I suspect this “storytelling” by Herringbone would have been taken in much the same tone as for the Chk Chk BMX …

In the other cases you mention, there seems to be less transparent “storytelling” going on and much more opaque er, lying.

I find the best rule of thumb on the internet is “guilty until proven innocent”. I can’t remember the last time a funny email came into my inbox and it was real. The internets definitely inspire cynicism.

But that isn’t the case here. The You Tube clearly states they are illustrating a point that a great creative execution can vastly increase the ROI.

For the purposes of the exercise, they had to keep it on the lowdown until after the sale (plus they couldn’t make the You Tube until after the sale… duh). Factor in the fact they’re probably busy people and there’s your lag.

The eBay ad went viral because of its nature.

I actually think this is a really refreshing thing compared to all the hoaxes listed above. At the end of the day they’ve put this out there as an educational tool. If there’s a sweetener for them it’s “come speak to GPY&R” next time you want 500% ROI. At least they weren’t trying to pull the wool over your eyes to sell you corn chips.

If this “creativity experiment” had cleverly enhanced the sale value of the product by providing a detailed well written description creatively written in ‘GenY’ to appeal to it’s target market then I’d be all for it. Unfortunately it took things a step further by discrediting their own skills by lying to their target market. Ok, maybe the lies were so obviously lies any reader should have cottoned on … does that make it better though?

Terrific contribution ScotchAl.

‘Hooker’?! Tim, I’m sending the Scarlet Alliance after you!

I’m with you Tim,

loved the ad, and as a case study, very well done. But still left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

Like ScotchAL said… they’re essentially just lying to their target market… a bit of a slap in the face in my book.

So… let me get this right. Y&R Brands has BMX as a client? Or was this just a bored bunch of underemployed creatives having a laugh with what profit they could make out of eBay? Or does Y&R represent eBay? And does anyone care?

Regardless, it was diverting and funny and made me laugh – as well as reminding me of the maxims “buyer beware” and “if it sounds too good to be true, it generally is”.

I’m more amused by the consumer who decided it was worth parting money for. He’s the chap who ended up making the decision to buy it.

This kind of ‘gotcha’ stunt has started to become commonplace in the digital space.

People hate being made fools of. When they finally realise “it was just an ad” they feel cheated.

Cheated consumers will not like the brand and certainly won’t buy it.

Which reminds me, how are the Witchery sales going?

Anyone?

Anyone?

I was reminded by one of our guys here that a very similar thing did the rounds last year….

Hmm…

http://www.craigslist.org/abou.....70039.html

I’d love to see the brief for this that was written before the EBay ad went up. This is clearly a case of trying to attach the horse to the cart after you rightly closed the stable door so the horse never had the chance to bolt – if that makes any sense.
Anyway, can the creatives just admit that they did this on their own and then management decided to brand it Y&R once it became popular?

Disclosure: I work in the same building as the people responsible for this.

I sent the YouTube link to my 12 year old son. He thought it was pretty clever. His most interesting comment though, was:

“That’s actually a pretty cool bike. I’d pay 120 bucks for it. If I had the money.”