Billboard dad.

I was obsessed with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen when I was a little girl.  My best friend and I would watch their movies and act out the parts afterward.  I was Ashley.  She was Mary-Kate.  

One of my favorite MK&A movies was Billboard Dad.  In the film, the girls put up a personal ad for their widowed father to get him a date.  They had no idea how much attention would come from it.

If you haven't seen this movie, you were a deprived child.  But I won't spoil it for you.  I still suggest you watch it.  If I still had a VHS player, I'd be watching my copy right now.

Here's the billboard the twins managed to decorate:

Top five billboards.

In the small town of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, I don't see many clever billboards.  I usually drive past a dozen McDonalds and Sheetz billboards every day.  They're effective.  Especially because there are about 10 Sheetz and McDonalds in a five-mile radius.  The other billboards I come across advertise local small businesses.  They're not usually very creative.  So I went on an online hunt for billboards and came up with my favorite five.

Five.  Because I've never seen a toothpaste billboard.

Four.  Because I love Law & Order.

Three.  Because it's cool.

Two.  Because profanity is funny.

One.  Because this lady's the shit.

Why you'll never forget Sarah Marshall.

Anyone remember the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall?  It premiered in 2008.  It's on cable all the time now.  The movie was okay--just another romantic comedy.

If you've seen the movie, you probably remember the cast better than the plot.  Jason Segel, who wrote the film starred alongside Mila Kunis, Russell Brand and Kristen Bell, who starred Sarah Marshall.

Anyways, I was probably a junior in high school when the movie came out, and for some reason I was really excited about seeing it.  I'm not a huge fan of romantic comedies, and although I love Jason Segel now, I probably had no idea who he was in high school.

So why did I want to see this movie so bad?

Because the billboards advertising the movie were so great.

I was in Florida with my family when I first saw the billboard.  I thought some rich kid was being overdramatic about being dumped.

But when I got back to Pittsburgh, I saw another billboard.

I had to research this "Sarah Marshall" character who was being blasted across the country.

Long story short, I went home, went on the website and found out Sarah Marshall was a character in an upcoming movie.  I saw it in theaters.  I never go to the movie theater.

Anyone else remember these ads?

This is what a billboard should look like.  Whoever created this ad campaign really understood the medium.  People try their best to ignore billboards.  It's a lot easier than other ads because especially when driving, you pass them within seconds.

A good billboard is very concise while getting the attention of its audiences.

A better billboard does those things while also directing you somewhere else you can hold your attention for longer than seven seconds.  Like a website.  Or Facebook.

This is great.

Billboard week.

That's right.  The moment you've all been waiting for--when I bring some organization back to the blog.

I know I've been bombarding everybody with television commercials that don't really have much to do with each other.  Aside from the fact that they premiered during the Super Bowl.  But I couldn't help myself.  The Super Bowl started it by bombarding me with the ads first.

So from now on--or until i morph back into Amanda the ADD Adluster again--I'm going to keep a theme going.  Each week, I'll feature a specific style of advertisement and share the best and worst ads I've come across.

This week is billboard week.  I know billboards are super old news.  Actually, TV commercials are old news.  Billboards are ancient news.  But if successful businesses (Sheetz, McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts) still advertise through commercials, they must work.

Here's one of the most memorable billboards I came across.

A 23-year-old from Minneapolis, Minnesota used a billboard in attempt to attract potential employers.  His billboard got so popular it was featured in Time newsfeed.

I guess a resume isn't enough anymore.

Check out Olson's website here.

Guest blogger Taylor Kohr.

AdLuster would like to welcome guest blogger Taylor Kohr to the blog today.  Here's her take on some recent advertisements.


I don't know much about commercials or advertising.  Just the commercials I like and dislike.

When it comes to the skittles commercials, I don't even know what to think.  One will come on Tv, and when it's over I feel sort of mind-blown.  Maybe it's because they're all so random and have the weirdest subjects.

This one is recent and just plain gross.  It reminds me of eating someone's chicken pox.  Ew.  To be honest whenever it comes on TV it makes me never want to eat skittles again, especially ones growing off someones face.

This one is newer also.  Abraham Lincoln sweating skittles?  What does that even mean?

I don't know if this is good advertising or not.  All I know is I feel funny after they come on, and they do not make me crave skittles.



Taylor Kohr is a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg.  She writes a blog about the stresses of being a working college student.  To learn more about Taylor or read her work, visit her blog My College Stress First Aid Kit

Volkswagen Freak.

I know I've already established myself as a Volkswagen advertisement freak.  But since I'm doing my senior project on VW ads, I look at them constantly.  I forgot to show you their newest ad.  I'm not 100% into it.  I like the concept of making Mondays cool again, but only Allstate can pull off a voiceover like this.  I do, however, really like the 'teaser' for the commercial.  I think it's better than the commercial itself.  Let me know what you guys think.

Teaser.

Actual ad.  Premiered during the Super Bowl.

Other top Super Bowl commercials.

You voted.  They won.  Here are the other top commercials from this year's Super Bowl according to Ad Week's Ad Blitz contest.


Number Five.

You already know I loved this one.  It was in my top favorites last week.  I'm glad everyone agreed that this commercial will make moms everywhere feel so awesome when they buy a Santa Fe.

Number Four.

This was one of my favorite Super Bowl ads I showed last week too.  I love it.  I should have warned you (again) that it will make you cry.  It does make me think of the military industrial complex though...not a good association.  But I guess the Jeep is already associated with the military.  Does that give it the right to make us cry though?  I don't think so.

Number Three.

A classic anti-advertisement: advertising that makes fun of advertising--in order to impress other advertisers.  It's funny.  It's cute.  But I hate it.  It follows a formula that's been done a million times before.  I think the celebrity endorsements are the only reasons for this commercial's placement in the top five.  And where is the phone in this ad?  The commercial focuses on it maybe twice.  In two minutes.  Not. Good.

Number Two.

This is definitely my least favorite Super Bowl commercial I've seen.  Maybe I'm not up-to-date on my Budweiser ads, but I don't understand this ongoing Clydesdale reference.  I'm sure it's perfect for Budweiser drinkers...I don't even like carrying bottles of Bud to my customers at work.  The commercial is cute nonetheless.  I get it.  The guy grows up.  His horse does too.  They have an unbreakable bond, just like a man has with his Bud.

However, I DO like the contest that shows up at the end of the commercial urging Budweiser customers to name the new baby Clydesdale.  The twitter hashtag (#) gets people talking online too.  Interesting concept.  Great execution.  I just hate it.  Budweiser drinkers are probably the same guys buying Dodge Rams.  Obviously, nothing like me.