Favorite Audio Ad


Advertising never ceases to amaze me - there are so many different angles that can be taken, some are great, some not so great. My current favorite ad, though, is the one that has been appearing in Stereophile for Paradigm speakers. It shows a woman decked out to be a sophisticated professional sitting on a chair between a pair of Paradigm speakers facing out into the room. Behind the three of them (they're all facing the same way) is a big brick wall and, of course, it's wood flooring.

Just to be sure that we understand how sophisticated this music lover is, despite her awkward positioning, she's studying the back of a John Coltrane record cover. She's so into it that she can't take the time to put her other albums away, though, as they're scattered on the floor at her feet including a couple that aren't even in their covers - they're lying there naked on the floor. Who, exactly, is Paradigm trying to appeal to with this? Every angle (except humor) that I look at this from breaks down. At least I get a good laugh every time I see it.

Anyone else have an ad they think is particularly good, bad, ridiculous, tongue-in-cheek effective, etc.?

kthomas
A recurring problem in audio ads, IMO, is the poor representation of musical instruments and musicians. How many times do we have to see a clarinet or a saxophone with the mouthpiece (reed) upsidedown? Worse yet, a "musician" "playing" the instrument with the mouthpiece upsidedown? Or a "trumpet player" (model) holding the instrument with hand position reversed? Or an "oboist" reading music on a stand that upon close scrutiny turns out to be a piano score? Or a cheap, student grade clarinet used to advertize a multikilobuck preamp? It is surprising to me that manufactures don't pay more attention to this sort of detail, which although perhaps most obvious to musicians, would lend the ad a much more credible air. On a more positive note, Cardas ads come to mind as some of my favorites.
In an advertizing class I had in college, we learned "When the business starts to flounder, include a picture of the founder".
The Maxell ad seems like the complete antithesis to the Paradigm ad I mentioned in the initial post - an ad that demonstrates that Maxell understands EXACTLY who they're selling to. No doubt that that was great advertising.

The easiest job in the world has to be to put together an ad to appeal to men that involves an attractive woman. I mean, how much do you get paid to be an advertising exec who thinks that up? Advertising on so many fronts has gotten so creative, and somebody still makes a living coming up with that.

The other "flavor" that I can never comprehend is the ads for audio equipment that relentlessly shows the owner of the company - Krell, Martin Logan and Polk all come to mind. Boy, that adds a lot to my understanding of what you're trying to sell me!

Gotta say the new Adcom pre/pro ooh-aah red-lip deal makes me want to check into some home theater stuff/things. Very provocative. You know, stuff'n'things, surround etc.
In response to Evansdad's post - To paraphrase a very funny, current TV ad: "We doooo, don't we"? AlbertPorter are you listening? C'mon. Youdaman. Wow. Cheesecakeaudio.com
I like the speaker ad from a year or two ago for some modest Brit speakers, AR I think? But the sexy naked profile of the female model walking past the speakers, that was NOT modest--very cool! To hell with the speakers, I want to meet the woman. It's like Ridgid Tool calendars, you don't buy the calendar to see the tools, you know? We need more High End Audio cheesecake, lol....
I must confess, I have the "Blown Away" ad copied as a 60" poster, framed and tagged to the wall about my rig. It is a guilty pleasure. I thought that it was Life imitating Art, or Art entertaining music, or something. Dale
Kublakhan: Did you say/write something (my heterosexual male persona must have blocked it out:-)? But I am sensing these really strange images.
Hey Dekay
That tape ad was for Maxell, and the year it was done - I think it was 1979, it won every advertising award there was.
A classic
i was selling a sonic frontiers tube amp a while back and i took a picture of myself lying naked over the tubes, my dainty feet up in the air in joy and ecstacy of the music, surrounded by red roses and champagne glasses half-full. well, besides being horribly burned by the tubes (my buddy turned it on as a joke) it seemed that no one really appreciated good taste because i never got one response. ever. excecpt from the police.
I used to enjoy the tape ad (think that it was TDK) with the man seated in a chair with his hair being swept back from the sound. I beleive that this was an award winning ad and was done as print as well as television..
SORRY!!!! I did it again! TYPO above in that last one. Please replace a 'd' for that 's', should read "great ads though" The letters are so close on the keyboard. SORRY!
Thanks,
Chris
Recent Pepsi ads. I can't really remember what they sell in them, could be a drink??? I don't know. Great Ass though.
I remember the ad Tubegroover mentions. It get my vote too. It is actually bad marketing. We remember the woman, not the product. Mr. Wipple was not pretty, but we all remember the product. That's good marketing.
Several years back there was an ad I found visually very stunning (great photography) but conceptually, I just did't get the point. It was the Red Rose or was it Cello? ad with Mark Levinson, a naked woman and an apple as props. Now what the hell any of this has to do with an audio product, I haven't exactly figured out. On the other hand it got my attention. Then again on the other hand I don't remember nor care what they were selling, a subliminal message maybe is the point? Was it effective in selling product? Maybe someone on the inside could enlighten us. It ran for quite a while so it must have worked to some degree.

Kurt I also have tried to figure out who that ad is appealing to. Certainly not an audiophile but maybe a man or woman that is attracted to the photo of the lovely young woman in her upscale barren loft apartment? My reaction was, I'll bet that room has a lively ring.