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Listening to 1010 this morning, I heard two versions of a generic spot to promote radio advertising.
The first was a young woman thinking out loud about different things she might like to buy and experience with a male announcer piping up after every line she says with a sales pitch, eventually providing the tagline "Radio, your customers are already here." or something like that.
The second spot was another female, a young mother, talking about possible parenting purchases with the same male announcer explaining why advertising on the radio is such a good idea ending with the same clunky tagline.
Both ads are badly written with the timing between the female and male voice actors seriously disjointed. The radio sales angle is weirdly vague with no contact information.
How anybody thought these spots would do the job they're supposed to is a mystery.
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I'm sure one big reason is these ads are written by fledgling copy writers, Gen Z vintage, who have been told about radio in theory but don't really listen to radio, so they are going on what they imagine about radio from what they've been told.
Many years ago artists tried to draw animals based on descriptions given by foreign travelers like Charles Darwin.
Take a look at what they thought a rhinoceros looked like.
Some look like horses with sort of steel plates like armadillos.
I too think those ads are weak and confusing.
Just to go off on a tangerine, there is an insurance ad these days that I cannot understand.
No, not Desjardins.
It's another one (so much for how effective it is if I can't even remember what company it's for) , in which a young boy is saying to his father, no, dad you're dreaming go back to sleep, to which the father replies, nice try, go back to your room.
What is this about?
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If you travel back to the early 60s, Stan Freberg did some amazing radio ads:
Just do a youtube search for "Freberg radio" to hear lots of them.
Last edited by Peter the K (July 23, 2024 12:28 pm)
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I read an article about these radio advertising ads several weeks ago but have been unable to find it again. But it's not from CFRB or even Bell Media. This is a campaign started by a group like the NAB that is being sent for free to radio stations across North America, to try to lure advertisers back into buying spots on the medium.
So what seems like an amateur authorship actually comes from a big organization that you'd think would know better.
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967-11-11 call Pizza Pizza..hey hey hey..One of the most effective radio campaigns and jingles ever. Still heard on the radio after more than 45 years. First location opened in 1967 corner of Wellesley and Parliament in Toronto.
The Pizza Pizza jingle literally helped to build the company which now has over 720 locations across Canada, and expanding in Mexico with PZA Pizzeria.. Canada is the only country in the world where Detroit based Little Caesar's can't use their signature line..Pizza! Pizza!
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Tho spots are created by the Pro Bono Group, consisting of former CHUM Creative Directors Larry MacInnis and Mike Occomore with former CHUM writer Mike Tennant, who was a partner of Terry O'Reilly in the first few years of his original CBC radio series.
These are three of the most talented radio writers in Canada today and they do this gratis (hence the name Pro Bono Group) and they create PSA's for many worthwhile causes. Combined, they have well over a HUNDRED YEARS in broadcast writing as well as several hundred awards for their creativity.
Last edited by Doug Thompson (July 23, 2024 2:20 pm)
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I'm glad Pizzaville dropped the cockney guy saying 7 free sex free sex free sex.
It was bloody annoying.
On another note, I grew up in Vancouver listening to this ad for Dominion which ran for decades.
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NEWSGUY 1 WROTE: I'm glad Pizzaville dropped the cockney guy saying 7 free sex free sex free sex.
was bloody annoying.
The Pizzaville actor, Brian George, recorded those commercials for many many years. That was only one. They refreshed them enough so theat they weren't stale. The fact that you remembered that one out of all their Brian George voiced ads says something about the power of advertising. Brian George became much better well known as Babu on "Seinfeld" and as Raj's father on "Big Bang Theory".
Last edited by Doug Thompson (July 24, 2024 12:41 pm)