UPDATE TO THE UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Ah, screw it... the Ragu spot is gone again.
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE! The Ragu spot is now back... go figure.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, the link to the Ragu spot is dead. In the end, I think we are overly critical of news promos - but the Ragu spot was far superior to the WCBS one - as DigitalVic explained. Although I am not a huge fan of "testing" spots - I don't think its a bad idea to show them off to folks in accounting, the receptionist, etc to get a reaction. I'll have to blog about the hells of testing spots another day!
don
I'd like to share 2 black and white/photo spots with you today. One is for a newscaster and the other is a stealth ad for Ragu.
Now, I'll be the first to admit - I'm not a big fan of the WCBS spots and love the one for Feed Your Kids Well.
But why? Both are produced just about the same exact way. Both have somewhat cliche copy.
Could it be... SHOCK... I'm wrong? Is it possible viewers actually DO connect to the WCBS promos? Certainly, the Ragu ad features the innocence of childhood, which all of us can relate to. Kids are part of my "things we hold sacred" rule of promotion - its easy to make an emotional connection with children.
But my question to myself and all of you is - are we too jaded to see that the WCBS spots don't play well to TV people who've done this for years and years - but do actually play well to the general public?
Could my barometer be so far off... because I've seen so many promos in my career that this just seems like a bunch of crap? The minute the same exact style of spot is shown to me and its NOT for news - I lap it up.
It is easy to say, no - these WCBS spots aren't very good... but I think we should take into very serious consideration that we are not producing promos for ourselves but for the viewing public.
This is an example where I'm man enough to admit - I could be wrong.
Thoughts?
5 comments:
There's NO connection between these spots except for the style. The content totally separates the two.
The Feed Your Kids spot works (where the promo doesn't) because it's not telling us what we are supposed to feel about it. It's allowing us to latch onto the emotion we feel towards children in general and our own children in particular. If the WCBS people had done it, it would have said "We've made our children healthier, stronger, safer. US US US. WE WE WE."
The promo is very pretentiously presuming to tell us what the reporter has done for us. She will "help us make it through hard times..." Really? You can seriously make that claim?
It fails because it allows the viewer to make a judgment call on the claim made. I can look at that spot and say "You know, my life isn't the remotest bit better because of HER actions."
And that's what was wrong with just about all of those spots. The presumption of how important they see themselves and how we can't live without them. Where do they think they are? Lake Charles?
The RAGU link isn't working. I can't compare the two spots, but I can say that news promo makers are definitely overly critical of news promos--especially those made by our closest competitors. When I view someone elses spots, I usually go with my first impression. If you get the RAGU link back, I'll try to compare the two spots later.
Well, being as I'm not a news promo producer (but a commercial producer), I feel I can speak for the average viewer (somewhat).
In general, I think it's perfectly okay to say "We broke this story." or "Our self-aware Dopplebot9z brings you the most accurate forecast." or anything else that is quantifiable. But when a station tries to tell me what they did for me, or the benefit I gained from watching their channel (pure presumption), I find that very much a turn-off.
Let ME determine if that TV station or reporter has made my life better.
And because of my tireless efforts at holding news promos accountable and bringing their flaws to your attention, I've helped YOU make it through these difficult, confusing times as you struggle with how to make a good promo... Thank heavens for me...
Well said Vic. And I tend to agree with you. I struggle constantly with my "superior" over how our "style" of promos don't benefit the viewers. Or how we're just spouting off that "we're the best". I just finished an end of sweep pop (you know I love those) that just showcased us and nothing about how it actually helped the viewer.
Both Vic and scooterbucs, thank you for your insight from inside the real industry, because I've been fighting a real uphill battle with this in all of college.
I am a senior who has volunteered at a college radio station all four years I've been here. Yes, I'm taking a little longer than normal to graduate, but I won't get into that. Anyway, our faculty station manager encourages us to focus more on our own successes--read: ourselves--and less on our duty of public service in our entire on-air product. I have HATED this philosophy from day one, because it's illogical.
I'm not ashamed that we win a ridiculous amount of awards. In fact, I can choose from among 20 of them to put on a resume. BUT...the public doesn't give a f--- about awards. You have no idea how much I've wanted to scream, "WE'RE NOTHING BUT ATTENTION WHORES!" at the top of my lungs at a meeting, but my rational self has concluded I'd just burn bridges.
Well, at least there are people on the Internet who feel my pain, and it's very comforting to know I'm not alone. Thanks for this great blog and for the brilliant commenters.
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