” ‘I lost my sex drive.’ ” – Let’s hope it stays lost.

“Wine in the delivery and a boob job!” – And they say responsible motherhood is dead.

 
I rest my case.

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:

Emarketer, citing findings from a six-month Simply Measured study, says that although brands are flocking to Google+, they’re not seeing the level of consumer engagement found on other networks. Maybe it’s because no one is on Google+:
Emarketer points to a February 2012 study by Arbitron and Edison Research found that only 8% of U.S. consumers had a profile on Google+.

Still, Google+ is in its infancy and Facebook ain’t dead yet.

Meanwhile, Ad Age Digital reported Monday that brands aren’t “hanging out” so much as they are “pinning” — as the all-seeing-all-knowing Internet giant takes fourth place in mindshare behind social media darling Pinterest.

The Ad Age article steps beyond the brands’ lack of interest and nicely summarizes a bigger problem with Google+:
 

The broad consensus is that Google+ is an empty city where the masses go to set up a profile but then seldom return.

 
This girl is part of the masses who flocked and then fled. I’ve set up a profile, and I have returned from time to time, but my other friends aren’t on — they’re not sharing, not engaging. I interact most on Google+ with strangers who have shared this blog through their profiles. Although I believe Google+ will have a bigger place in social media and digital marketing, I believe the adopters must first shake their unwavering loyalty to Facebook. And that could take a helluva lot longer than a mere nine months.