Good and Bad Ads

The first good ad I found was in Wednesday's edition of Seven Days. The ad was fairly simple with a picture of a chocolate bunny and some colorful text saying "Bunnies For All Your Honeys." I found the ad to be effective just from the slogan they chose to put on it. Also, the picture of a chocolate bunny made me hungry, so it further kept my interest.

The second good ad I found was also in Seven Days, and this particular ad was for a bar in Burlington. The reason I liked this ad so much was because there was a picture of what looked like a puppy eating a cat. At closer inspection though, the puppy was actually resting its head on the cat. However, what really sold me was the fact that both animals had actually died, so my hat goes off to any organization that will put dead animals in their ad.

Finally, the last good ad I found was in the Caledonian-Record. The ad was for NVRH and all it really said was "You'll breathe easier," in bold, black text. The text piqued my curiosity and as I'm currently battling a bout of bronchitis with a touch of pneumonia, I was further intrigued. This ad convinced me that if my lungs should choose to collapse, then NVRH has the technology to assist me.

The first bad ad I looked at was in the Caledonian-Record and it was a large ad urging people to vote for John Tholl. I didn't like this ad because it's really boring with far too much text to read. Basically, as soon as I saw the ad I wanted to turn the page and look at something else.

The second bad ad was also in the Caledonian-Record and this particular ad was for a deal on windows. At first, it seems like a great ad because people are always looking for deals. However, there is far too much text and information in the ad that ends up making it look cluttered and unfriendly.

The third bad ad I found was in Seven Days and it was a small ad for the Pepsi Corporation. The ad itself was fairly small and only in black and white, so it didn't stand out a whole lot to me, especially with the amount of text near it.

Toyota Gets Scrapped

As many of you probably know, Toyota has experienced a sort of public relations armageddon. With numerous recalls and more information surfacing everyday about new problems with Toyota vehicles, the company has been scrambling to control the damage as much as possible. After recalling a dozen vehicle models for various problems, including the sudden acceleration issues, Toyota's PR department is hard pressed to keep up with angry customers and congressman. One of the more serious aspects of the recalls, is that it was revealed that Toyota dodged a previous recall in 2009. Since the information was given by a source other than Toyota, it makes Toyota look like they are trying to cover up as much incriminating evidence as they can. It becomes an issue where it is less about the people and their safety, and more about a company trying to keep their profit margins as high as possible.

From a public relations standpoint, I think Toyota could have, and should have, issued a statement about the problems their vehicles were experiencing instead of trying to downplay the situation. Knowing that journalists and congress will be looking for answers and going through any documents pertaining to vehicles and any problems they may have, I would issue press releases detailing the steps Toyota is taking to fix the problems, and also explain why the problems are occurring. This would be done to reaffirm the public's faith in my company, and to prevent people from thinking Toyota was engaging in a cover-up operation. In a situation like the one Toyota faces on such a massive scale, information is going to get out, so it would be better to be the first ones to give that information instead of having the media reveal the story.