Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - S3E24 - When Brands Mock Other Brands

Episode Date: June 15, 2014

This week on Under The Influence, we look at brands that mock other brands. It’s a risky strategy, as one company has to ridicule another brand to make a point - and mocking a rival always fuels retaliation. We’ll talk about how Miller High Life mocked Anheuser-Busch during the Super Bowl, how Jaguar mocked Mercedes, how Samsung mocked Apple, how Apple mocked Samsung, and how Apple kind of perfected mocking when it set its sights on Microsoft. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly. As you may know, we've been producing a lot of bonus episodes while under the influences on hiatus. They're called the Beatleology Interviews, where I talk to people who knew the Beatles, work with them, love them, and the authors who write about them. Well, the Beatleology Interviews have become a hit, so we are spinning it out to be a standalone podcast series. You've already heard conversations with people like actors Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, and Beatles confidant Astrid Kershaw. But coming up, I talk to May Pang, who dated John Lennon in the mid-70s. I talk to double fantasy guitarist Earl Slick, Apple Records creative director John Kosh. I'll be talking to Jan Hayworth,

who designed the Sgt. Pepper album cover. Very cool. And I'll talk to singer Dion, who is one of only five people still alive who were on the Sgt. Pepper cover. And two of those people were Beatles. The stories they tell are amazing. So thank you for making this series such a success. And please do me a favor, follow the Beatleology interviews on your podcast app. You don't even have to be a huge Beatles fan. You just have to love storytelling. Subscribe now and don't miss a single beat. new year new me season is here and honestly we're already over it enter felix the health care company helping canadians take a different approach to weight loss this year weight loss is more than just diet and exercise it can be about tackling genetics hormones metabolism felix

gets it they connect you with licensed healthcare practitioners online who'll create a personalized treatment plan that pairs your healthy lifestyle with a little help and a little extra support. Start your visit today at felix.ca. That's F-E-L-I-X.ca. From the Under the Influence digital box set, this episode is from Season 3, 2014. You're not you when you're hungry. You're in good hands with us. You're under the influence with Terry O'Reilly. Back in 2012, the Colbert Report landed a new sponsor, Nabisco Wheat Thins. As host Stephen Colbert said that night, he is always happy to take sponsorship money.

Welcome back, everybody. Thanks so much. Folks, regular viewers of this show know that a couple of times a year, the network sometimes asks me to do an integrated sponsorship, which I love. The money's green and I'm in. When he announced the new sponsorship, he told the audience there was more to Wheat Thins than they probably thought. Now, a little brought to you by credit is usually it. But tonight, we have a product too important.

Because tonight, it's Wheat Thins. What happened next was interesting. Now I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, Stephen, how important could Wheat Thins. What happened next was interesting. Now I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, Stephen, how important could Wheat Thins be? Yeah, I used to think that way too. Until I received this actual memo from Wheat Thins. Detailing for my sponsorship purposes what the role of Wheat Thins is in our lives. Colbert took the opportunity to read from

the advertiser's actual strategy memo, which had been sent along as background material to help him understand the Wheat Thins brand. Now, the team at Nabisco has broken down the Wheat Thins core message into two distinct categories. What is the role of the brand? And what's not the role of the brand? Bullet point one. Wheat Thins are the perfect snacking sidekick whenever, wherever, and for whatever. Okay?

What's it go with? Cheese? Yes. Hummus? Sure. A discarded strip of truck tire, it can handle it. Colbert continued reading from the advertising memo, which I don't believe was meant for broadcast. I would love to pour this whole box in my mouth right now. But the memo clearly states that we can't show overconsumption. That is a brand don't.

You see, the serving size for Wheat Thins is 16 crackers. So as delicious as they are, I shouldn't eat more than 16. And also, if they are shown out of the box, like in a bowl, there should only be a max of 16. Stephen Colbert wasn't just welcoming a new sponsor. He was openly mocking that sponsor. And you know what? That is the way it should be. Because when you think about it, and they have,

16 is the perfect number of Wheat Thins to keep you on the path to and proud of doing what you love to do, no matter what that is. No matter what. Driving kids to practice, watching a movie, arson. No judgment. Showing excerpts from the memo up on the screen the crowd howled at the high-minded advertising philosophy surrounding a cracker

now I want to reiterate I cannot say this too many times that this is an actual memo from Wheat Thins that I received and I just want to make sure you understood that before I informed you that Wheat Thins are not a crusader or rebel looking to change individual paths or the world.

No! In case you're wondering what Wheat Thins thought of Colbert's rant, Nabisco issued a statement after the airing saying that millennials had traditionally thought of wheat thins as boring. But, by pairing the product with Colbert, Nabisco felt they had successfully made wheat thins, quote, fun, relevant, and edgy.

That episode of the Colbert Report was the third highest rated show to date, and the seven-minute segment of Mockery got over 760 and sixty thousand views mockery as an advertising strategy is not for the faint of heart it's rare that a brand will invite ridicule as we tense did with Colbert more often a brand will choose to do the mocking and heap scorn on another brand to further its cause. Sometimes that mockery is good-natured,

sometimes it's biting, sometimes it's thinly veiled, and at other times, it's flat-out bloodshed. But that's the risk when brands mock other brands. You're under the influence. All marketing is war. It is a heated competition between companies to gain more market share, claim the hill

and plant their flag at the top. That war is sometimes fought quietly with strategic marketing plans, product innovations and a keen eye for opportunity. At other times, blood is spilled.

Think of when Avis threw a marketing grenade at Hertz in the 60s, and all-out combat was declared. Or the Cola Wars of the 80s, when Pepsi went after Coke with every piece of artillery it had. Sometimes during those conflicts, a brand will call out another brand and compare their features side by side in their advertising. Sometimes a brand will attempt to discredit a competitive product

with superiority claims or customer testimonials. Then sometimes, something else happens. A brand will actually mock another brand. Back in the late 80s, I was a copywriter at an advertising agency called Chiat Day. Our biggest client was Nissan, and we were launching the new 300ZX. It was a fast and sleek automobile, and we advertised the car as a worthy option to other high-end sports cars. To put an even finer point on that claim, we created a sticker that went on the 300ZX

rearview mirrors in showrooms. So, when potential customers sat in the car and glanced up at the mirror, it said, Porsche goes here. We did that for two reasons. One, to position the 300ZX as a fast automobile. And two, to openly mock Porsche. Granted, it was done with some humor, but it was mocking nonetheless. The automobile category is one of the most competitive in the marketing world, and auto manufacturers are the biggest advertisers.

That makes it ripe for war. During the Sochi Olympics, Cadillac began airing a new TV commercial. It opened with a man looking at his very expensive swimming pool. Then he addresses the camera and begins walking through his very expensive house. Why do we work so hard? For what?

For this? For stuff? Other countries, they work, they stroll home, they stop by the cafe, they take August off. Off. Why aren't you like that? Why aren't we like that? Because we're crazy, driven, hardworking believers, that's why. Those other countries think we're nuts. Whatever. Were the Wright brothers insane? Bill Gates, Les Paul, Ali. Were we nuts when we pointed to the moon? That's right. We went up there. You know what we got?

Board. So we left. Got a car up there. Left the keys in it. Do you know why? Because we're the only ones going back up there. That's why. But I digress.

It's pretty simple. You work hard, you create your own luck, and you've got to believe anything is possible. As for all the stuff, that's the upside of only taking two weeks off in August. N'est-ce pas? At the end of the ad, the man gets into his electric hybrid Cadillac.

It was a commercial that stirred up a lot of controversy. First, the ad took a poke at European countries that, quote, work, stroll home, stop by the cafe, and take August off, suggesting hard-working countries like the U.S. wouldn't dream of being that lackadaisical. It was an interesting message to put out there during the Olympics, where all countries come together to celebrate decidedly different values. Many also felt it was an offensive philosophy that celebrated the unbridled pursuit of all things material. Meanwhile, all this controversy gave rival Ford an idea. The creative director on the Ford account contacted Detroit Dirt, an organization that promotes composting and sustainable living, and he asked co-founder Passion Murray to star in a commercial.

Ford then shot that commercial by mirroring the Cadillac ad shot by shot, but inserted an anti-materialistic theme of sustainability instead. Why do I work so hard? For what? For this? For dirt? Other countries, they work. They stroll to the market and buy locally grown food.

Locally. Why aren't we like that? Well, more and more of us are like that. Because we're crazy entrepreneurs trying to make the world better. Some people might think we're nuts. Whatever. Me? I collect food scraps from restaurants, manure from zoos. Manure. Do you know why?

To keep this stuff out of landfills and use it to make good, rich dirt. That's why. Yeah, look, it's pretty simple. You work hard, you believe that anything is possible, and you try to make the world better. You try. As for helping the city grow good, green, healthy vegetables, that's the upside of giving a damn. Nespa. At the end of that commercial, Murray gets into a Ford C-MAX hybrid. The Ford commercial was clearly mocking the Cadillac message by articulating a contrasting version of the American dream. It also raised an interesting question.

Did Ford drive a ton of attention to Cadillac by mocking it? In other words, when Ford decided to mock Cadillac by mocking it in other words when Ford decided to mock Cadillac did hundreds of thousands of people watch the Cadillac ad in order to appreciate the Ford commercial the answer would have to be yes whether that bump in viewers resulted in positive impressions would be the more interesting question when one brand decides to mock another, it's different than ambush marketing, where a brand shows up uninvited and tries to hijack an event

without paying millions of dollars to be an official sponsor. And it's different from a parody, which is usually done for comedic effect. A campaign that mocks is a statement. It is born of contempt where one brand tries to ridicule the other by using

its own philosophy or features against it. In another automobile skirmish, Mercedes created an amusing TV commercial showing chickens dancing to the Diana Ross song, Upside Down. 3, 2, 1.

Upside down, boy you turn me inside out and round and round. The ad shows several chickens being held by white-gloved hands. The hands gently move the chickens, helping them dance to the music. While the chicken bodies sway, their heads remain sublimely still, providing an offbeat demonstration of Mercedes' suspension system. It's a funny video that you can watch on our website. At the end, a graphic on the screen says, Stability at all times.

Magic body control. Mercedes-Benz. Three months later, rival Jaguar released a commercial mocking Mercedes. It, too, showed a pair of white gloves holding a single chicken, gently helping it dance to a song similar to Upside Down. Then, the man holding the chicken says, See? It's just like a Mercedes.

But then, there is a sudden growl and a flutter of feathers floats to the ground. The camera pans to the right and reveals a real jaguar cat licking its lips, having apparently swallowed the chicken. The graphic says, Magic body control? We prefer cat-like reflexes.

Jaguar. Jag had scoffed at the refined claim of body magic in favor of raw power. I suspect Jaguar wouldn't have mocked Mercedes so openly just a few years ago, but it recently changed its tagline to say, it's good to be bad. And this new brand positioning gives it more latitude

to push the boundaries in the overly refined luxury car category. And we'll be right back. If you're looking for flexible workouts, And we'll be right back. teens, new locations. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. If you're enjoying this episode, why not dip into our archives, available wherever you download your pods. Go to terryoreilly.ca for a master episode list. The beer category is another sector that is highly competitive because each sharepoint is worth millions of dollars.

Back in 2009, Miller created an unusual campaign to run in the Super Bowl. The brewer decided to create ads that criticized other brands for spending $3 million for 30-second spots while in the middle of a recession. In particular, they were clearly mocking rival Anheuser-Busch, a perennial Super Bowl advertiser. Anheuser had purchased 4 minutes and 30 seconds of airtime, for a total of $15 million. And Miller was clearly saying that amount was an out-of-touch extravagance.

So, Miller first ran this commercial in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. It featured their long-time deliveryman spokesperson complaining about the cost of Super Bowl ads, saying all Miller High Life would need is a one-second commercial.

Man, did you hear that advertisers are paying like $3 million for a 30-second commercial? That's like $100,000 a second. I don't care how big the game is. Who got $3 million? I tell you what, if High Life had a spot, all we need is a second. At the end of the ad, a graphic said, The one-second commercial. Watch for it on the big game.

As promised, Miller High Life created a one-second commercial where their spokesperson just yelled out, High Life! But just before the Super Bowl, NBC yanked the commercial and directed its affiliates not to run it. The network said the ad was

disparaging to advertisers who had paid to be in the big game. But everyone read between the lines and knew Miller's scorn was directed at Anheuser-Busch. Many wondered if Anheuser had put pressure on NBC to block the Miller ad. But NBC said they had received no such request. When news leaked that the Miller High Life one-second ad had been pulled from the Super Bowl, newspapers all over the country covered the story.

Miller still managed to air the one-second commercial in more than 100 markets nationwide. They just had to run it on smaller, local stations instead of major markets. It was an interesting strategy. First, Miller got almost as much publicity as a result of being confined to small markets as they would have had they paid millions of dollars for the big markets. Secondly, the strategy of mocking Anheuser-Busch for spending lavishly during a recession played

right into Miller's value positioning, as the brand was priced 20% lower than premium beer. Lastly, the one-second ad campaign and its subsequent publicity worked. Sales of Miller High Life were up 5% the week before the Super Bowl and 8.6% the week after. High Life! In the end, mocking their rival was good for business. Samsung has gained incredible market share in the mobile phone category over the last few years. And it has done so by mocking Apple outright in its advertising.

Maybe the most famous of those ads was when Samsung openly mocked the way Apple fans will stand in line for hours just to get their hands on the latest iPhone. The spot was entitled iSheep. It begins by showing people standing in line for hours in Chicago, San Francisco, and New York. Hey, they're saying that this phone's going to be like a precious jewel. Ooh, I love that. The headphone jack is going to be on the bottom. I heard the connector is all digital. What?

What does that even mean? Who knows? I'm psyched. As the Apple fans excitedly talk about the new iPhone, one guy in line is using a Samsung Galaxy S3. Two guys beside him notice and say... I guess that Galaxy S3 didn't work out. No, I love the GS3. It's extremely awesome.

I'm just saving a spot in line for someone. That's not cool. Then the Apple fans notice two guys touch their Samsung phones together. What is that? Hey, what'd you just do? Oh, I just sent them a playlist. By touching phones? Yep. Simple as that.

It's the Galaxy S3. Then, in a funny payoff to the guy holding a place in line for someone else, we discover who that someone else is. Hey! Hey, Mom, Dad. Oh, thanks for holding our spot. The faces on the two Apple guys hilariously drop as the older parents make the iPhone seem like it's not hip at all.

Then, another person in line spots a friend walking by. Hey, man. Oh, hey. How's it going? Saved you a spot. I moved on. But you're not going to miss How's it going? Saved you a spot. I moved on. But you're not going to miss all this?

I got the Samsung GS3 now. This one's 4G. Yeah, we've had that for a while. This one's got a big screen. This one has a bigger one. And we can share videos instantly.

You can watch a video while you're sending an email. Well, we're going to get that for sure. Maybe not this time, but the next time, right? The ad ends by saying, the next big thing is already here. The Samsung Galaxy S3. The commercial mocked Apple nine ways to Sunday. It mocked the eight-hour

lineups. It mocked the appeal of the iPhone to older generations. It mocked the lack of features. And it mocked the fact Apple fans would still line up for a phone they know offered less. Apple retaliated with a little mocking of its own when it ran a print ad touting their green initiatives. The headline said, There are some ideas we want every company to copy. Without saying it, the ad mocked Samsung, as Apple was currently in court suing Samsung for copying its technology. But Apple can't complain too loudly about being mocked, because it kind of invented the genre. Hello, I'm a Mac. And I'm a PC. Oh, hey, iPod, nice. Yeah, it's just a little something to hold my slow jams.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, and it works so seamlessly with iTunes. You should check out iMovie, iPhoto, iWeb, because they all work like iTunes. You know, iLife. Comes on every Mac. iLife. Well, I have some very cool apps that are bundled with me. Well, like, what do you got?

Calculator. That's cool. Anything else? Clock. Sounds like hours of fun. Yep. Or at least minutes. The Get a Mac series is probably the most famous campaign to mock another brand.

Apple was personified by cool actor Justin Long, and Microsoft was represented by a decidedly uncool John Hodgman. Or, as the world really knew, it was Steve Jobs talking to Bill Gates. Over 66 commercials were made, running from 2006 to 2009. The genius of the Get a Mac series was that it mocked Microsoft relentlessly. But it took the curse off the campaign by having Mac be kind to the PC character,

throwing an arm around the lovable loser. Apple's share of the computer desktop market more than doubled during the run of the campaign, and its stock price rose over 140%. Microsoft's stock price barely moved. It was one of the most vicious attack campaigns in recent history, a skillful iron fist tucked inside a velvet glove. At a rare talk back in 2007,

Jobs and Gates were being interviewed together on stage. When Jobs was asked about the Get a Mac campaign, he turned, looked at Gates, and said, The art of those commercials is not to be mean, but it's actually for the guys to like each other. Thanks! The laughter you hear is the crowd-watching Bill Gates' reaction. He doesn't buy it for a second.

If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered. Summer runs or playoff season meditations, whatever your vibe, Peloton has thousands of classes built to push you. We know how life goes. New father, new routines, new locations. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. When a brand decides to take the philosophy and inherent brand characteristics of a rival

and wield them as a weapon, it's a nasty business. It's one thing to claim superiority or to use customer testimonials to state your case, but when you attack a company's convictions, it usually means war. When Samsung mocked Apple, Apple mocked Samsung right back. When Jaguar mocked Mercedes, Mercedes mocked Samsung right back. When Jaguar mocked Mercedes, Mercedes mocked Jag within days. When Apple mocked Microsoft, Microsoft eventually retaliated.

Mocking instigates reprisal. So, as an advertising strategy, you have to be prepared to don some armor. It's interesting that, historically, it was usually small brands with small budgets that used mockery as rocket fuel to gain attention. But today, ridicule is no longer the domain of the Davids. Goliaths like Samsung, Apple, Jaguar, Mercedes, Ford, and Miller

happily partake. While it may work, it can also feel a little unseemly as an advertising strategy, because at the end of the day, you're heaping scorn on your potential customers, which is a strange way to try and entice them, begging the question, do the ends justify the means? But maybe at the end of the day, Stephen Colbert summed it up best when he said, The money's green and I'm in when you're under the influence. I'm Terry O'Reilly. Yeah, hi, Terry.

I noticed Steve Jobs mocked Microsoft. He mocked other computer companies. He mocked other smartphones. And when you think about it, he even mocked turtlenecks. Under the Influence was produced at Pirate Toronto. Sound engineer, Keith Oman. Theme music by Ari Posner and Ian Lefevre. Series coordinator, Debbie O'Reilly.

Research, Lama Balagi. Feel free to follow me on Twitter at Terry O'Influence. Okay, I won't beat around the bush. I like the cut of your jib. And your jib would look even better in an Under the Influence t-shirt. You'll find them on our shop page at terryoreilly.ca slash shop. See you next week.