Beyonce & Direct TV??

Recently Beyonce has teamed up with Direct Tv to "Upgrade" them.  Yet i think that the approach has failed only to "Downgrade" Beyonce.  Top stars dont do TV service ads.  Beyonce has made a horrible move for her carier by doing every deal that has been thrown her way.  She has over saturated the market and needs to be a little more selective about what advertising campaigns she signs on to do.  Usually Direct TV ads are somewhat cheap and done by people who are on the downfall of their career.  What was Beyonce thinking?  She has made herself seem too achievable and her image is becoming tainted.  Next time, Beyonce should consider the consequences of what she associates her name with.

Ann Taylors new line?

Ann Taylor Stores Corp is producing a new high-end fashion line.  This new high-end fashion line was scheduled to show in 24 of its top stores the end of September and will be set aside in a separate section from its regular apparel.  The new line, called Collection, will be 40 percent more expensive than the company's
 usual prices.  Ann Taylor is also going to roll out with a new line of beauty products as well.  Ann Taylor is trying to set theme selves apart from other middle of the road retailers such as Macy's by targeting this new high end market. I think that Targeting a new higher-end consumer will give Ann Taylor a better edge over its competition.  Also, making the line exclusive to these 24 stores will make the line seem more valuable and elluring to women.  However, there is a chance that wealthy women will not take 
a high-end line from Ann Taylor seriously.  Will Ann  Taylors new High-end line be a success??  Only time will tell.  Please comment and let us know what you think!

yahoo avatars

I began reading the current assignment and thought to myself, I have a yahoo messenger account but I'm not sure if I have an avatar or really what an avatar is, because I rarely use the account. So I began a yahoo search to come across these avatars where the sky is the limit. You begin with hair and eye color, then proceed to pick an outfit, then choose a background...and the possibilities become endless, or so I tought spending over an hour messing around with all the different looks.
It is very hard for me to say things that I believe they could change to get more college students involved in using avatars, I would suggest to add more variety. However I will say that I think the fact that yahoo incorporates branding and causes into the t-shirts and backgrounds you can choose from is brilliant. Many college students now are becoming more aware and involved in things like breast cancer and aids awareness and things like one.org to fight the problems going on in the world today. I believe that it would be beneficial to add more printed t-shirts to the avatar choices. They also have a lot of backgrounds in certain locations on campuses, building off that, they could start having backgrounds with college sports teams or pro sports teams to get more people using yahoo avatars. I believe they could also create a make up application, more creative hair colors and just a few more choices and styles to attract a younger audience to yahoo avatar.

"Live the Flavor"

The 2007 Dorito's super bowl commercial was, by far, one of my favorite Dorito's commercials. When the man and in the car and the woman on the street both with Dorito's catch eyes and the commercial exclaims "Spicy" for the woman and "Cheesy" for the man, I thought that was pretty clever. Most men are pretty cheesy and get distracted by "Spicy" women, which is exactly what happened to this man. He was soo distracted by the "Spicy" woman, that he crashes in the car in front of him "CRUNCHY". The then woman runs to aid the man the commercial exclaims "bold" and "smooth?", as she trips and hits her head on the car door! This commercial i found extremely entertaining and very clever, as they made their chips attributes extremely memorable by embedding a memorable picture into our brains. Now and forever, when i bite into a dorito and hear the "CRUNCH" i will think of the man driving into the back of the car in front of him.

My Life...

A few weeks ago we were assigned a paper about advertisements, we had to review the top 10 ad agencies in the United States to find some of our favorite ads. During my search I came across American Express commercials, you know where the slogan is "My Life. My Card. American Express." Watching Ellen Degenerees and Robert DeNiro explain how their lives are full of extraordinary events and how their card was AmEx, made me start to realize how influencial credit cards are to our daily lives.
Those AmEx commercials reminded me of the unforgettable Mastercard commercial where the man is cleaning the elephant and gets sick, so the elepant walks across the world to bring him things to make him feel better,

Hot Soup= $4
Cold Medicine= $11
Tissues= $1
Blanket=$24
Making it all Better= Priceless

Those commercials always seem to touch my heart, I know it may sound cheezy, but in a way I believe Mastercard has a genuine way of reminding us of what is really important by using the word "Priceless".

Although those commercials are funny and heartwarming I don't think I could do either of them justice if I didn't discuss one of the worlds largest credit cards and some slogans Visa has, that most could recite in their sleep. Remember, "Life Takes Visa" and "We are everywhere you want to be." There can be a Visa commercial, with absolutely no words but you can't change the channel because of the catchy music. In one specific commercial, there is a fast paced resturaunt where people swipe their Visa cards like its their jobs. However in the end, a man uses cash, and everything falls to pieces. Finally at the end the pace starts again, and they explain how money shouldn't slow you down, because life takes Visa.
So I'm not sure I necessarily have a favorite credit card ad, but I am starting to realize that they are my favorite commercials on television. Not only are they catchy, they are personal, and make people realize why they use the cards they use. I do believe that when I get my first Credit Card, the ads might help me make the decision. Let us know what your favorites are or if these ads get your attention the same way.