SET exercises two-week cancellation, pulls all ad dollars from ABC affiliates

ABC News is reporting that Southeast Toyota Distributors, through 22Squared, has cancelled all buys on ABC stations in the 5-state SET territory. Seems that ABC News was beating this drum just a little bit too hard for the folks in Deerfield Beach.

At least one dealer in this market has pulled budget from one station deemed unfriendly to Toyota.

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Toyota gets it: better late than never

Toyota Recall Online Ad

Toyota Recall Online Ad

So this Toyota ad started showing up today… It looks like Toyota is beginning to get ahead of the curve. There is a decent amount of information now on Toyota’s recall site.

I just have to wonder how long Americans are going to allow them to get away with calling a shim a “Precision Steel Reinforcing Bar.” A shim by any other name is still just a shim.

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WXDJ El Zol almost old enough to drink

February 5th, 1990, WXDJ signed on. It is now the oldest continuously operating spanish FM with the same call letters, format and logo. To celebrate, they will be playing the top 95 songs of the last 20 years, and trying to get you to pay cold hard cash to sponsor it. Just think of your order as a birthday present.

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Toyota recall advertisement fails miserably

Toyota recall Ad

Toyota recall Ad

How much you want to bet a 20-something New York creative team put this ad together? And they probably do not even own cars…

Sorry, in an ad about unintended acceleration the words “temporary” and “pause” are not good choices. And the pause button graphic (yeah, that’s what the dark box with the sideways “=” is supposed to look like) is really just confusing in an auto ad.

Toyota, we do not care why you have stopped your plants. That’s not the issue. We care about our cars and our passenger’s lives. This ad misses the point.

Customers and potential customers are looking for solid facts about this issue. After all, a stuck accelerator could mean a fiery death. Toyota should have run a much more information intensive ad… 1) Address the problem, not the symptom; 2) Tell us what you are going to do to our Toyota vehicles to fix the problem; and 3) Tell us your plans for a timeline to fix the problem.

People are passionate about their vehicles (except New Yorkers, which could explain the crappy ad). We will read hundreds of words about our second largest purchase. So, please explain what “fly-by-wire” is so drivers understand there is no throttle cable going from the gas pedal to the engine. Explain what you’re going to do: are you going to replace the accelerator’s electronic guts? install a new return spring? or shim the existing spring?

Overall, Toyota needs to divulge more info. Toyota should not treat customers and potential customers like we can’t handle the truth. This ad really contains no information, just says visit our website for more information…

A lack of information creates confusion. Confusion does not help your brand. This ad does not help Toyota or Toyota drivers. Fail.

P.S. And by the way, “unintended acceleration” is not the problem. It’s the unintended rapid deceleration that hurts.

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WPLG to add an hour of morning news

Starting Feb 1, WPLG will add a 9A-10A hour of local news with Calvin Hughes and Jacey Birch. Scott Padgett will do weather.

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Drew Rosenhaus Party

Buy a schedule on WQAM and you receive tickets and branding at the Drew Rosenhaus 20th Anniversary Party at HardRock February 5th

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Supreme Court rules on commercial speech

A divided Supreme Court today ruled that the US government may not ban political spending by corporations in candidate elections. No matter who does the spending, “political spending” in elections is usually in the form of advertising.

On the practical side, no corporation except Wall Street banks and health insurance companies have any loose cash laying around to funnel into political campaigns. However, they could just drop the lobbyists and use that money for advertising instead.

Now imagine this… a couple hundred bucks and you incorporate as “Bitch Slap, Inc.” You collect a few million bucks as “membership fees” from select corporations. All legal. Then you buy up all of the TV inventory in Palm Beach for 30 days before an election. Your candidate wins. A corporation could send a very strong message to all other candidates with just one strategic campaign.

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Florida Department of Citrus awards media account

bbdo citrus media

bbdo citrus media

BBDO Atlanta bests Campbell-Ewald and Richards Group for this general market account.

The mission of the Orange Juice advertising program is to ensure that Florida orange juice is an indispensable part of the morning ritual because of its wellness and taste benefits. The current annual budget for FY 2009/10 is $19,000,000, which includes agency compensation, production, media, research and travel.

The mission of the Grapefruit (juice and fresh fruit) advertising program is to encourage trial by new grapefruit users while increasing purchase frequency among current/lapsed users. The current annual budget for FY 2009/10 is $1,200,000, which includes agency compensation, production, media, research and travel.

The FDOC’s Fresh Fruit marketing programs historically have showcased the attributes of Florida grapefruit, orange and specialty fruit (tangerines and tangelos). Financial constraints have currently limited marketing efforts focused on this segment, but future programs may be required by FDOC.

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Last Miami Caliente Lingerie Football League game…

Miami Caliente Lingerie Football

Miami Caliente Lingerie Football

Last game of the season. 1/29 Miami Caliente vs. Tampa Breeze 10p-11:30p on WBFS. This is a great opportunity to get your message in front of young male viewers a week before the SuperBowl…

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The Government’s Biggest Campaign Ever


The 2010 Census campaign starts Monday on the Golden Globes. Around $340 million of your tax dollars are hard at work reminding America to fill out and return the Census forms. There will even be a SuperBowl spot. The Census determines how $400 Billion in government cheese is allocated. If Florida gets a bigger response, we get a bigger chunk of that cheese… simple. Right now Census individual statewide campaigns are being awarded in an effort to increase each state’s market share of population. In addition, the Census will have some effect on market rankings.

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