ad campaigns: it's just that simple, and it's just that hard.

For someone who dreads the thirty seconds ads on Hulu, who refuses to watch TV until she can own it on DVD, the question “what is your favorite ad campaign and why?” is a difficult one to answer. I abhor advertisements, the reason being perhaps, because I’ve just seen so many. They’re absolutely inescapable; you can’t turn on a television, listen to the radio in your car, or even Facebook stalk your exes new squeeze without being constantly bombarded with “Try this, not this” and “Buy this, you’ll like it”.

Of course there are a few that I have enjoyed. One specifically, the HP “the computer is personal again” sticks out to me as being really artfully done.

(Photo Credit: Sudheer S.)


I think the ad campaign’s use of big stars (Gwen Stefani, Jerry Seinfeld, and Sarah Jessica Parker for example), and also diverse stars, in order to reach a greater demographic is a wise move that is lost on other ad campaigns. Smart cookies over there at Hp. The ad moves fast, it keeps darting about, holding the attention of an instant gratification based society. It displays the product clearly and showcases it’s more impressive features. It just works. I’d buy it, I buy into the ad completely. In my mind, yes, the computer is personal again.