Does pop culture define advertising or does advertising define pop culture?
You’ve heard of Ted Lasso, right? Emmy award-winning show that airs on AppleTV+. In its second season. Features all the goodness that America has been longing for, with a heavy dose of (very) salty language. Somehow weaves British accents and real Premier League soccer teams with Dad Jokes and American football — in an effortlessly comforting, makes you laugh while making you cry, ridiculous warm and loving scenario that works. It does. It just works.
As a writer, I found myself wondering how this show hit the mark in every single way. So last year after watching the last episode, I did some digging to find out how this show came to be. And lo and behold, this character Ted Lasso (and his buddy Coach Beard) were born out of an advertising campaign for NBC Sports Network back in 2013.
Imagine my surprise.
I realized that this show that I love is about my favorite sport, it features one of my favorite actors and now, I find out that it came from an ad campaign? Side note: I may have asked my husband more than once if this show was written just for me (the wait for the beep jingle reference is what sent me over the top – it brought back so many memories) but he promises me that others are also interested in a feel-good story, whether soccer is involved or not.
Here’s what I also realized: for 15 years, I have been walking around saying advertising is not dead and Ted Lasso just gave me everything I needed to BELIEVE that statement to be true.
For decades, advertising has been a part of pop culture.
It’s why (if you’re over 40), you know what I mean when I say, “Where’s the Beef?”
Or how Terry Tate, office linebacker, came up in conversation just last week.
And that recently Geico took a popular tv spot from the last Super Bowl and created their own ice cream.
Believe in the big idea.
Great advertising connects with consumers and makes us love it…whatever “it” is.
Sometimes it works.
Sometimes it doesn’t work.
But you just have to trust yourself to try.
You have to believe that you are making something great.
Believe that consumers are still looking for a connection.
Believe that you can tie a product benefit to a human need.
Believe that great storytelling trumps 125-character count paid social ads.
And believe that when a team sits down to concept for a brief, that you can do great things.
So, in my most Ted Lasso voice, I just want to say to all of you who are looking to create your next best ad campaign: I believe in BELIEVE.
More reasons to believe.
At Chernoff Newman, we have a passion for clutter-busting creative, but an even greater appetite for effective creative that achieves tangible results. Our team is renowned for innovation yet we do not believe in creativity for the sake of creativity. Every advertising effort — whether a social campaign, digital experience, print advertisement, television content, direct-mail piece, e-mail blast, outdoor execution or video pre-rolls — is based on a thorough analysis of our client’s brand and their target audience. We’ve put this thinking to the test for the South Carolina Education Lottery with our Tiny Stories campaign and also for CLT Airport when we launched the simpliFLY campaign. If your company is in need of a big idea that achieves measurable business results, send me a message and I’m happy to chat.
