I'm Lisa Taylor, an integrated copywriter of all sorts of stuff. Except vanity license plates. I just don't get the appeal.
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Does your four-year-old like to voice dial? Mine does.
“Call Dad. . . Mobile!” he said into the plastic wireless (for ages 18 months and up.)
Yes, I voice dial. Yes, I call my husband with it. But the funny thing is that I don’t have “dad” programmed on my phone. I use my husband’s first name. This means he wasn’t copying me; he was taking the technology I use and adapting it to his needs.
And while my son may have already mastered the art of voice dialing, he may eventually have to look up “rotary phones” on Wikipedia to see one. That amazes me in a way the latest microcomputer moonlighting as telecommunications never can.
Is this is how the horse and buggy generation felt when their children began playing with toy cars? I don’t know. What I do know is that I won’t be surprised when my son voice dials SpongeBob.
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McCain Smiley Fries are too happy.
If I were a potato that looked like an emoticon, I’d be pissed. Especially if I were served with peas.
And I wonder if McCain will ever extend the product into winks, frowns, and poker faces.
No Comments »7 Triggers and a Big Top Cupcake
My Big Top Cupcake is not a cupcake. According to the box, it’s “Silicone Bakeware” that creates a large cake in the shape of its daintier cousin. While watching the commercial for the umpteenth time the other day, it dawned on me why I bought one. I’m fascinated by it.
In Sally Hogsheads’ book, Fascinate, she defines the 7 “triggers” that captivate our attention and persuade us to act (or in this case, purchase): Lust, Mystique, Alarm, Prestige, Power, Vice, and Trust.
An enormous cupcake? You might think that’s clearly Vice at work. Not so fast. There’s more than one way to sell an oversize baked good. If you haven’t seen it already, watch the commercial. Even if you avert your eyes (and you may want to), the male voiceover is hard at work, doing his best to captivate and persuade with all 7 of Hogshead’s triggers. Yes, all 7.
First off, he hits you with a threat of negative consequences, which Hogshead calls the Alarm trigger:
Tired of looking like a fool when your cakes aren’t cool?!
Uncool cakes? The last thing I want is to be mocked by cupcake connoisseurs. Or worse, a room of 4 year olds. From there, he rolls right into using the Mystique trigger, which lures with unanswered questions:
And why do tiny cupcakes take so long to make?
Hmm. Is he referring to how hard it is to pour batter into teensy cups? Or the length of time it takes to do all the frosting? Who knows? He moves on without answering.
Get in the spotlight with Big Top Cupcake!!!
Never again will I be upstaged by a Jello mold! With this gigantic cupcake, I can be the star of the show. Or its ringmaster. (Whichever metaphor I’m in the mood for.) This is the Prestige trigger, of course. But in case I prefer to eat my cake over putting it on a pedestal, he uses the trigger we all knew was coming, Vice.
The fast and easy way to make colossal cupcakes that are up to 25X bigger!!!
I mean, if I’m going to spoil my diet, I might as well do it with a forbidden fruit of colossal size, right? And let’s face facts, lots of people are ruled by their sweet tooth. That’s probably why he uses the Power trigger to up the ante, highlighting the cupcake’s potential to influence others who like to eat their cake, icing and, well, more cake.
Everyone’s face will light up when you make a king size cupcake house!!!
Clearly, the Big Top Cupcake marketing people are crafty bunch of bakers. Anyway, if I didn’t respond to the Power trigger, maybe the Trust trigger would do the trick.
Grab your camera to remember those giant cupcakes your family makes together!!!
I’ve got to admit, there’s something nice and natural about bringing together baking and family. Kind of like lemonade and summer. Or babies and bathtime. And utilizing familiarity is what the Trust trigger is all about. Anyway, next up is the Lust trigger. And if it’s wrong to go from Trust to Lust, the Big Top Cupcake doesn’t want to be right:
Look! Nothing’s more thrilling than a chocolate filling!!!
Made easy with our magic center insert!!!
A magically-inclined cupcake with the power to thrill? At one amazingly low price of only $19.95? This dessert certainly knows how to build anticipation with what Hogshead calls “a promise of pleasure.” But that’s not all! There are bonus gifts with purchase, not to mention an extensive overview of all the fillings. But I’ve covered all 7 triggers and I have baking to do in order to rationalize my purchase.
Now, does anyone know where I can get my hands on some giant cupcake liners?
No Comments »Starbursts on ads remind me of rhinestones on sweatshirts
That’s because all that bedazzles isn’t gold. I mean, take the rhinestone. Most aren’t actually stones. According to the experts, they’re often glass or acrylic.
So what would I call a starburst on an ad for rhinestone sweatshirts? Redundant.
No Comments »This Mother’s Day, I’m putting my feet up.
That way I won’t step on the toys. Some of them have surprisingly sharp edges.
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