Subtle Sex Sells Too

We’ve seen splashier advertising, but once in a while something comes along with just the right blend of humor, sophistication, sex appeal and simplicity that it deserves its 15 seconds of fame. And, thanks to www.adweek.com/adfreak, we think this billboard advertising Kraft Macaroni and Cheese is one.

This brand of tasty creativity is akin to a Bill Cosby standup routine versus an Eddy Murphy gig. During their prime, each would leave you with a little pee pee in your shorts. But while Murphy’s brand of comedy involved language that would have death row inmates turning their heads like dogs deciphering Latin, Cosby could get across risqué concepts without using words any darker than … well … “pee pee.”

Is one a higher art form and the other lower? That’s a discussion for a different day. But in today’s world of advertising, there’s room for both kinds as well as for every shade in between, depending on your product and market. Sometimes, however, with all the obvious wordplays and creative advertising brainstorms that are generated today, we can forget how powerful a tool subtlety can be. Thanks for the reminder, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. We’ll keep that concept on the back burner.

The case of a billboard campaign that works (unfortunately)

South Florida drivers are arguably the worst drivers in the country. You may debate this under the contention that New York, New Jersey or possibly Boston has far worse drivers than the Sunshine State. You’d be right, until you consider that South Florida is the retirement home for a fair number of road warriors from each of these areas. Put Joey Buttafuoco on I-95 next to Tony Soprano, merge a retired Cliff Clavin into traffic and you can see how South Florida is far more perilous for innocent commuters than the northeast.

So South Florida’s abominable drivers have only themselves to blame for the new billboard campaign that recently launched on major highways throughout the area. The message is simple and the graphics almost childlike. Even drivers careening by at 80mph (25mph over the posted limit) can easily recall the silhouette of a man slipping on a banana and the message “whocanisue.com.”

As appalling as many South Floridians have found its message, this advertising campaign illustrates perfectly the role simple creative plays in effective billboard advertising. The easy to recognize graphic, colorful lettering and text of just 14 characters (including the dot) is wholly memorable to drivers and potential plaintiffs.

Unlike other mediums, a billboard has very little time to make its message hit home. TV has the luxury of 30 seconds, radio has 60 seconds, newspaper ads can be read all day long. A billboard as two seconds or less to catch your attention.

Because of its short timeframe for impact, billboard advertising is one of the most difficult mediums to create ads for. We can, however learn a few things about effective billboard ads from our online lawyer friends.

1. Keep text to seven words or less
2. Use bold, simple fonts with no shadows and leave ample space between letters
3. Use bright colors (reds, blues and greens are good choices)
4. Graphics should be simple with one core elementAvoid using a light blue background (it blends in with the sky)
5. Print a copy of your billboard sized to be about 2 inches wide. Hold it at arm’s length. If you can’t read it, neither can a driver.

Now that you know how to create effective billboard advertising, go out and procreate. And, let’s see something really good to replace the banana peel guy. How hard can THAT be?