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Recycling TV Ads
Makarand writes "According to this article in the Denver Post a young entrepreneur has gotten into the business
of
recycling junked TV commercials
for clients with low budgets. TV ads cost anywhere between
$50,000 and $1 million and small businesses usually cannot afford an original production. The company,
Thought Equity, wipes off all references to the
earlier company and makes the junked commerical ready for reselling with a price tag less than
$10,000.
Also businesses that want their ads on the air as soon as possible are approaching the company
seeking recycled ads because producing original ads takes time."
Makes you realize just how little the ads actually have to do with their products. The Simpsons episode with the artsy-fartsy commerical for Mr. Plow skewered this nicely.
"But I trust in the people's capacity for reflection, rage and rebellion." -Oscar Olivera
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
"Dude you're getting viagra."
Come to your (chevy) store and get a new (chevy blazer) built (chevy) tough.
1) Make an ad with bunch of hot chics in bikinis.
2) Recycle this ad to sell anything from breakfast cereals to Pentium-4 chips
3) Profit !!
This is your server running on Windows XP..
*cracks egg*
(Sorry.. too obvious?)
The Simpsons Kamp Krusty episode, when 'Mr Black' was dubbed over Krusty's voice in the video.
Krusty: (on TV) Hi Kids! Welcome to Kamp Krusty! Hoo huh hoo heh ha heh! I'll see you in a few weeks! Until then, I turn things over to my bestest buddy in the whole wide world, Mr. Black . I want you to treat Mr. Black with the same respect you would give me. Now here's Mr. Black
Wouldn't a familiar scene and tune already associated with another product just be free advertising for the previous product? If I see that "I am Canadian" speech in commercials, I'll still think of Molson even if it's about commemerative coins from the mint.
When people use stock photos in ads they generally photoshop in other junk, but with tv commercials being so expensive I'm going to expect a lot of identical commercials with different names tacked on the end. After all, it's targeted to those with low budgets.
I can just picture the Chihuahua go "Yo quiero MSN" or "You got Windows, right?"
...
Nah, that won't work
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
They probably are talking about campaigns that you've never seen, because they were never used.
I work at an advertising agency (I know, I know) and one of the most interesting things about it is to see how much money is wasted writing, editing, and producing ads that never see the light of day because the client thinks it's too edgy, or doesn't like blue carpet, or thinks the whole campaign is a bad idea because his sister told him so.
At the end of all this, there are hundreds of commercials that are brilliantly done and well-produced - that you've never, ever seen. Many are probably edgier and more interesting than anything you've ever seen as a television ad.
I'd be interested to see what these turn out to be!
Have a look at "Your Name Here" on the internet archive... It's designed to be generic, and takes some great cheap shots at the advertising industry
. ph p?collection=prelinger&collectionid=01681
http://www.archive.org/movies/movies-details-db
Heck, they're recycling *new* adverts for different regions of the world! When a firm can't be bothered to shoot a new advert for a product, no matter how cheap the first advert was, they just chuck some voice-over actors into an overdub studio for a different world market. It really instills confidence in the product and respect for their intended audience.
And in some cases, adverts are recycled from pop-culture, current affairs, and famous events. Tons of adverts barely even feature the product in question. Should anyone remember the product the old advert was selling, there could be some interesting humourous cut-and-paste opportunities in the offing....
Now even the commercials are in reruns.
Can You Say Linux? I Knew That You Could.
...but with webpages. I remove all references to the original company, but have missed a few meta tags from time to time.
At least it failed - no self-respecting Aussie drinks Fosters, then or now:)
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
Doesn't really matter, if they were paid as a work-for-hire, or were paid scale by the hour. Most likely, they were paid for the work they did, and the ad agency owns all rights to the commercial.
A similar example - I wrote a chapter for a computer book a couple of years ago, and was paid per-page for the work I did. I found out a year or so later that they (the publishing company) had re-used my chapter in a newer edition of the book (Solaris 9 cert study guide versus the Sol8 one I wrote for) . However, that was well within their right, as it was a work-for-hire and they owned all rights to what I'd produced and could do what they wanted with it.
I was thinking more along the lines of Iron Eyes Cody (The crying Indian from those Keep America Beautiful ads) walking up to the monitor to observe the shockingly garish XP desktop theme. A tear runs silently down his left cheek. Que ending credit: "People Start Polluting the server room, People Can Stop It"
Sappy slow music plays. We zoom in on two women walking along the beach.
Young woman: Mom, can I ask you a personal question?
Older woman: Sure dear, what?
Young woman: Have you ever...you know...felt LIKE USING AOL?
Older woman: Oh my goodness. Yes dear, there have been times like that, times when I wasn't feeling so fresh. That's why I always trust EARTHLINK. You see, EARTHLINK gives me back that clean feeling.
Young woman: Really mother? How does it work?
Older woman: You simply insert the EARTHLINK applicator into your CDROM DRIVE and let it cleanse and soothe your COMPUTER.
Yound woman: Wow mom, that sounds like just what I need, where can I get EARTHLINK?
Older woman: I have some right here in my purse!
(Laughter)
- JoeShmoe
.
-- I wonder which will go down in history as the bigger failure: the War on Drugs or the War on Filesharing
For all the people who didn't read the article, but commented anyway:
This company is NOT re-using previously aired ads. They are taking ads that were filmed, but never aired, giving them a once over, then selling them. They are buying these ads off the company that filmed them. They are not ripping off other companies commercials, icons, or jingles. They are buying other companies rejects, improving them, then selling them.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
Doesn't really matter, if they were paid as a work-for-hire, or were paid scale by the hour. Most likely, they were paid for the work they did, and the ad agency owns all rights to the commercial.
.00006 % of what I'm actually owed.)
Actually, it does matter. I am a former board member at SAG, and I was on the negotiating team for the last TV and Theatrical contract. I know most of the people who negotiated our Commercial contract, and I've been a member of the union for over 25 years.
Our contracts are really clear about this sort of thing. While the ad agency may own the creative rights to the commercial, if the ad was produced by a signatory agency, using union actors, the agency has to go back and renegotiate with the actors if they hope to "repurpose" the ad. Usually, this results in the actors getting a "buy out" for a certain number of cycles and markets. My mom just went through this with a commercial she did over a year ago, that the agency is bringing back next month.
This protection is one of the many benefits SAG and AFTRA members have. I used to do improv with this girl who was in an AOL commercial. I don't reacall what it was about, but it ran almost every break, nationally and on cable, a few years ago. She wasn't in the union, and did the spot as a non-union hire. She got a "buy out" from the agency . . . for 500 dollars. Had it been a SAG job, she would have made more than that for the session fee, and at least ten times that on residuals. As it ended up, that one day's worth of work really hurt her, because those geniuses at all the ad agencies immediately labled her "The AOL Girl," and wouldn't hire her for anything else.
A similar example - I wrote a chapter for a computer book a couple of years ago, and was paid per-page for the work I did. I found out a year or so later that they (the publishing company) had re-used my chapter in a newer edition of the book (Solaris 9 cert study guide versus the Sol8 one I wrote for) . However, that was well within their right, as it was a work-for-hire and they owned all rights to what I'd produced and could do what they wanted with it.
The comparison you made between writing work and SAG work is interesting, but it's really not valid. That comparison would apply more toward something the work I did on TNG. While I "created" Wesley Crusher, and my likeness is inextricably linked with him, if Paramount wants to write "The Adventures Of Wesley Crusher At Star Fleet Academy" as a series of books for kids, they can do that, and I they don't owe me a cent. They own the character the same way the company you wrote for owns your work. If they want to sell an action figure that's clearly my likeness, they have to pay me royalties on that. (But, since it's Paramount, I usually end up with
Dilbert: "You stole the entire idea from our competitors ad."
Ad Exec: "Ok, so I guess you do understand the creative process."
~paraphrased from the Gruntmaster 6000 episode
There's a classic accident representation attorney ad that's been circulating in lots of cities for a long while. The commercial is shot in black and white, which heightens the drama. The setting is the office of an Insurance Company's legal staff where the evil insurance lawyers are discussing the details of a new claim. The attorneys are arrogantly joking about how they're going to deny the claim. One of the older lawyers finally asks "Who's their lawyer?"
Then they use the trick that makes the ad reusable. The camera cuts away to a hilarious reaction shot as the attorney's name is matter-of-factly spoken.
"James Sokolov"
All the young attorneys suddenly look up, visibly shaken. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence the camera cuts back to the older lawyer who says:
"Uh. Let's settle this thing."
I've seen the same ad many times in different cities, always with a different lawyer's name. I've seen a few different versions with different actors and dialog. I always laugh when they get to the cutaway shot.
I find that if I say "Unfrozen Caveman Attorney" at the cutaway the reaction seems even funnier.
-- thinkyhead software and media
I was doing this guy I met, and he was, like, uh uh uh damn oh no. And then, like, half of his equipment was shriveled. And I was, like huh. It disrupted my sex. It was really good sex. And then I had to do it again and I had to do it fast so it wasn't as good. It's kind of a... ... bummer.
- First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.