Local Ad Wizards in Rare Form
Question - what are some of the words that come to mind when you think of skiing in Minnesota?
Anyone out there thinking “Jewish, Ivy League, intellectual, Seattle, and Holly-weird” really ought to seek professional help. Or get a job at whatever agency is handling the ads for the Patriot. Because now appearing in heavy rotation on AM 1280, ads for Buck Hill Ski Area, personally endorsed by ..... Michael Medved.
Yes, that Michael Medved, the Philadelphia-born, San Diego-raised, Yale-educated talk radio host, currently living in Seattle. Doing ads for an overgrown molehill next to an interstate highway in Burnsville. Hopefully his star power alone is enough to get a positive buzz going among the arch conservative skiing enthusiasts in the target demographic. Because I’d put the probability that Medved has ever been skiing in his life at about 15%. And the probability that he’s ever been to Buck Hill at approximately 0%.
Then again, maybe he’s some sort of closet Jean-Claude Killy. Because I’d have similar skepticism if I heard Medved doing an ad for Dunkin’ Donuts, but then I get this nugget from his home page:
In 1968, Michael entered an eating contest sponsored by Dunkin' Donuts of New Haven. He consumed more than two dozen large, filled donuts within the allotted one hour time limit and finished second in the State of Connecticut.
About the only thing that can distract me from these radio ads are the new Pioneer Press billboards sprouting up along my commute into the East Metro suburbs. The concept, to promote all of their top columnists as .... dogs. Yes, that’s right, in larger-than-life words and pictures, their styles and visages are compared to various slobbering, filthy mongrels.
On East bound I94 and Century we get one for “Bob Sansevere - Junkyard Dog." Because, I suppose, junkyard dogs are horribly cliched, dull, and for dramatic effect often use one word sentences. Really.
Somewhere else on I94 (can’t remember where) there’s “Charlie Walters - Scoop Dog.” Because, I suppose, he gets “scoops,” which is newspaper parlance for getting breaking news before anyone else. But the unfortunate combination of the dog imagery and the word “scoop” makes me think of only one thing. And let’s just say it doesn’t smell like journalistic excellence.
On 694 southbound in Oakdale there’s “Joe Soucheray - Speak Dog. Speak.” No clue what that means. Maybe something about speaking his mind. And we all know how eloquent dogs can be when coerced into expressing themselves.
But the big problem with this advertising campaign is trying to figure out how they’re going to work in dog imagery in relation to the other star Pioneer Press columnist, Laura Billings.
