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Favorite Audio Ad

Advertising never ceases to amaze me - there are so many different angles that can be taken, some are great, some not so great. My current favorite ad, though, is the one that has been appearing in Stereophile for Paradigm speakers. It shows a woman decked out to be a sophisticated professional sitting on a chair between a pair of Paradigm speakers facing out into the room. Behind the three of them (they're all facing the same way) is a big brick wall and, of course, it's wood flooring.

Just to be sure that we understand how sophisticated this music lover is, despite her awkward positioning, she's studying the back of a John Coltrane record cover. She's so into it that she can't take the time to put her other albums away, though, as they're scattered on the floor at her feet including a couple that aren't even in their covers - they're lying there naked on the floor. Who, exactly, is Paradigm trying to appeal to with this? Every angle (except humor) that I look at this from breaks down. At least I get a good laugh every time I see it.

Anyone else have an ad they think is particularly good, bad, ridiculous, tongue-in-cheek effective, etc.?

kthomas
elgordo
530 posts
 
In response to Evansdad's post - To paraphrase a very funny, current TV ad: "We doooo, don't we"? AlbertPorter are you listening? C'mon. Youdaman. Wow. Cheesecakeaudio.com
chstob
140 posts
 
Gotta say the new Adcom pre/pro ooh-aah red-lip deal makes me want to check into some home theater stuff/things. Very provocative. You know, stuff'n'things, surround etc.
kthomas OP
911 posts
 
The Maxell ad seems like the complete antithesis to the Paradigm ad I mentioned in the initial post - an ad that demonstrates that Maxell understands EXACTLY who they're selling to. No doubt that that was great advertising.

The easiest job in the world has to be to put together an ad to appeal to men that involves an attractive woman. I mean, how much do you get paid to be an advertising exec who thinks that up? Advertising on so many fronts has gotten so creative, and somebody still makes a living coming up with that.

The other "flavor" that I can never comprehend is the ads for audio equipment that relentlessly shows the owner of the company - Krell, Martin Logan and Polk all come to mind. Boy, that adds a lot to my understanding of what you're trying to sell me!

elgordo
530 posts
 
In an advertizing class I had in college, we learned "When the business starts to flounder, include a picture of the founder".
frogman
7,361 posts
 
A recurring problem in audio ads, IMO, is the poor representation of musical instruments and musicians. How many times do we have to see a clarinet or a saxophone with the mouthpiece (reed) upsidedown? Worse yet, a "musician" "playing" the instrument with the mouthpiece upsidedown? Or a "trumpet player" (model) holding the instrument with hand position reversed? Or an "oboist" reading music on a stand that upon close scrutiny turns out to be a piano score? Or a cheap, student grade clarinet used to advertize a multikilobuck preamp? It is surprising to me that manufactures don't pay more attention to this sort of detail, which although perhaps most obvious to musicians, would lend the ad a much more credible air. On a more positive note, Cardas ads come to mind as some of my favorites.
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