Happy little trees from ESPN and W+K
EDITOR’S NOTE: This post reflects my interest as a marketing student in advertising and sports marketing. The opinions expressed here are mine and in no way reflect the opinions of my employers.
Just spotted on AdWeek’s Ad of the Day: An ESPN commercial from Wieden+Kennedy features none other than Bob Ross, a TV painter whose PBS show undoubtedly distracted entertained scores of Gen Xers before the advent of cable televisions’s Golden Age and the Internet. AdWeek already has a nice overview, so I’ll just add my two cents on why this spot works: The commercial’s retro setting (e.g. the brown paneling, the Sears silk curtains, the bamboo furniture) along with the actor’s costumes and props, give it a weird but effective then-meets-now that will resonate with Xers 35 and older who were so bored at Grandma’s back in the 1970s and 1980s that they gave into Ross and his paints and spent the captive, believing they too could paint happy little trees. And that makes for a happy little memory.
You’re always taking the TV to watch all your painting shows.
~ Husband,
ESPNWatch commercial, May 2012
The ESPNWatch “Paintings” spot was posted on ESPN’s YouTube channel on May 21. At the time of this writing, it had 2,471 views.
MORE: Bob Ross painting mountains:
-
August 3, 2012 at 3:32 pm | #1Nike ad team finds greatness with ‘Jogger’ spot « J's Pages
Leave a Reply
Who’s J?
I am Jane Q. Public: consumer and citizen. As I go, so goes the nation. Sometimes.
(But really, click the link.)
At work
At play
|
No, really, who’s J?
Jacqui Barrineau
Editor. Writer. Consultant.
I'm an editor and writer with certifications in public relations and e-Commerce. I also have a background in information technology. (In another life, I was a systems analyst.)
When I'm not editing copy for USA TODAY, I write an occasional short story or poem. My work has appeared in Calliope and the feminist journal So to Speak, and I'm a regular flash-fiction contributor to Paragraph Planet and Doorknobs & Bodypaint. Also on occasion, I interview editors for The Review Review, a comprehensive guide to literary journals and the people who produce them.
My points-of-view are collected on such esteemed outlets as Wordpress, Facebook and Twitter. The views expressed here and elsewhere are mine, not my employers'.
I live in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., with my husband, Trey, our Shetland Sheepdog, and two unhelpful-but-funny cats.
