First Monitoring Post

Adverts have been around since the dawn of time. For instance - Cave paintings from Lascaux in France show that ever since the wheel was invented, man has been plagued by adverts for car(t) insurance.

There are many forms of media today, and through virtually every one we are bombarded with images, slogans and, if conspiracy theories are to be believed, subliminal messages. It is inevitable that of all of these advertisements, some will be very good and others incredibly bad. Marketing is not an exact science and through segmentation and targeting processes advocated by most, if not all authors within the discipline, adverts should appeal to at least somebody.

The first advert, or rather series of adverts that is worthy of my attention (though not for too long, due to its irritatingly catchy theme music), are the adverts for the car insurance company Sheila's Wheels. A car insurance company for women drivers only.

Now putting aside the annoying theme music, what is it about these adverts that annoys me? Is it the fact that the company's unique selling point is that its a very sexist product, that if suggested by a man, for just men, would be roundly vilified by the likes of Loose Women? Sadly no.

Is it the bordering on racist stereotyping of Australians? As if.

Is it a combination of these factors, plus the fact that it encourages dangerous driving (who lets a kangaroo drive their car?), the nauseating "Sheila's" themselves, and assumes that a great big pink car and catchy music will immediately make all women want to buy their product?

Why yes I think it might be.

The only positive i can think of to redeem these adverts was that it bought Shane Connor (who played Joe Scully on Neighbours) back onto our screens for a brief cameo in one of their contributions.

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Well having got that out in the open, the next advert worth a mention in this first post, since I've just seen it on the television, is one for the online price comparison website "moneysupermarket.com"
These adverts may well have been done on the lowest budget of all time. They generally consist of an annoyingly chirpy couple standing in front of a white background, while various cars, light bulbs and all sorts zoom in and out. Clearly filmed against a blue-screen background and presumingly edited by a teenager in his bedroom, the crowning grace of lameness is the group of identical cgi cheerleaders copy-pasted onto the background proclaiming moneysupermarket to be the top price comparison website in either Weston-Super-Mare, Essex or the UK.
The reason I can't remember which is due to the fact that I am marvelling at the fact that these cheerleaders are able to form a human pyramid. Of course that in itself isn't the most amazing thing, many cheerleader squads are capable of it, what is the most amazing thing is the fact that they are doing it by standing on top of the bunches in their hair.

Presumably moneysupermarket.com is not making too much money out of being a market leader because their adverts are downright terrible.