Afa River

Afa River

KINGSFORD CHARCOAL: WORST RADIO COMMERCIAL OF THE YEAR?

KINGSFORD CHARCOAL: WORST RADIO COMMERCIAL OF THE YEAR?

by Dan O'Day

You know how RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK starts out with a tremendously exciting action sequence and then throughout the movie keeps piling on the thrills?

That's what this commercial is like. Except it begins horribly and then, astonishingly, gets worse and worse.

Advertising intersects common human experience. When is the last time you encountered a talking hamburger and/or a talking sausage? How effectively does that little scenario connect with your life?

And...a talking hamburger? How original.

If that commercial was created by an ad agency (and not -- as I dearly hope -- by a precocious 7-year old child who has been allowed to watch Mad Men), now I will reveal a closely guarded trade secret:

It's a national "branding" adaptation of an inane, cliched, paint-by-numbers blueprint long used by People Who Never Should Be Allowed Near A Radio Commercial.

Radio is a visual medium, and successful radio advertising paints pictures of the results promised by the product or service.

Maybe you pictured a talking hamburger.

Perhaps you envisioned a talking sausage.

But you DIDN'T picture food grilling on your barbecue, smoke gently wafting toward your hungry guests who are delighted by the aromas.

Next: A rain dance???

That comedic climax is so lame, so mind bogglingly stupid that my most scornful invective couldn't begin to do it justice.

I mean, a rain dance??

But Here Is What Puts This Commercial In The Hall of Shame:

I heard that spot in Los Angeles.

Here's a special Note To The Guy From New England Who Wrote This Commercial: In THIS part of the country  in fact, in most parts of the United States  we don't have "cookouts."

We have barbecues.

Among the many things you never learned about radio advertising: Speak the language your target audience speaks. If Californians have "barbecues," why would you talk to them about their "cookouts"?

Okay, fine. The inexperienced, entry level copywriter who wasted Kingsford's advertising dollars didn't know that "cookout" is a regional colloquialism unheard of west of the Mississippi River. After all, you don't know what you don't know.

But not a single person down the line knew and cared enough to say, "Uh, guys? No one here says 'cookouts'"??

I've got an idea: Let's all get together and do a rain dance. Maybe the resulting storm will drown out this 60-second audio embarrassment.
About the Author

Dan O'Day (http://danoday.com/blog) is internationally known as the "radio advertising guru," having taught radio and advertising professionals in 36 different countries how to create radio advertising that works.

Free radio advertising newsletter: http://danoday.com/free

copyright 2010 by Dan O'Day

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