That New Muller Advert

Kintarō Hattori

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBujoJpDxo0

As someone posted in the Metro today:

It's not that I don't appreciate the colour and sest of the new Muller yoghurt adverts (albeit that I'm showing my age by recognising all the 1980s attributes in it), but could someone tell me what precisely does KITT - that rather cool car from Knight Rider - cartoon characters Yogi Bear and Muttley the dog, a Mr Men ensemble, crystalline horses and a parking-attendent-ingesting robot have to do with pro-biotic yoghurt?

Pretty much what I wanted to ask. I can't figure out the point of the advert, any joke or references it may have. I just can't see how the elements are supposed to be related. Yes I'm aware it has me talking about the product but still- usually adverts make some sort of sense.

Anyone?

Basq

It's only function is to serve as both a "water-cooler advert" and to make watchers go "oooh... look there's X!" (where X is a much loved character from our childhood).

That's it... oh, and it sells yogurts!

Kintarō Hattori

Thanks Basq. Strange strange advert. Usually they attempt to make some sort of sense. I don't think I've ever seen one that's so random.

tommy2bad

Love this advert.
The target demographic remembers those characters and will watch the ad then get to see the tag about Muller. Must have cost a fortune to get the rights for so many icons though, I wonder are they all from the same stable?

SEPT 23 1989

It reminds me of a Jackson Pollock painting

The King of Moo

It's just a lazy attempt to play on people's nostalgia by including all these references to people's childhoods (and it draws on stuff from different times, or that's been popular for a long time, in order to appeal to as many people as possible) but without any attempt to bring them together into any coherent narrative.

They're basically saying "Here are things you remember! Buy Muller!"

Luis21

I said the same thing myself. They must have paid a fair few bob for the image rights of those characters and then they put it in a sh*te ad.

Advertisers should be shot.

Dozen Wicked Words

Its like they went to a image library, sorted by cheapest first and dumped them all in a mess of an advert. And why does Yogi sound like Fred Flinstone?

AnonoBoy

It looks like Imaginationland before the bomb goes off. It'd be a better ad if a bomb did go off though.

Sugarlumps

It's focking abysmal.

Wertz

You answered your own question or the bit you quoted did...the fact that you recognise the characters Mr Men, KITT, Yogi, means you're of a certain age...the age of people who go out and do the weekly shop...you're also liable to be male, and in the traditional sense the breadwinner or the one with the credit card.
Muller wants you to buy their product and it wants you to associate the happiness espoused in the ad and it's friendly pointless nostalgia with it's yoghurts.

I like Muller corners but only buy them at half price or bogof...they have the distinct advantage of lasting well past their sell by dates too, which means you can stock up and avoid being marketed to at the full whack price...

Kintarō Hattori

Wertz wrote: »

You answered your own question or the bit you quoted did...the fact that you recognise the characters Mr Men, KITT, Yogi, means you're of a certain age...the age of people who go out and do the weekly shop...you're also liable to be male, and in the traditional sense the breadwinner or the one with the credit card.
Muller wants you to buy their product and it wants you to associate the happiness espoused in the ad and it's friendly pointless nostalgia with it's yoghurts.

I like Muller corners but only buy them at half price or bogof...they have the distinct advantage of lasting well past their sell by dates too, which means you can stock up and avoid being marketed to at the full whack price...

This is the thing. I do recognise all the characters but I can't see how this will encourage me to head into the supermarket and stock up on Muller. Years ago perhaps this would work but people these days are more informed and cynical.

It's a crap advert badly put together. There's nothing clever or humorous about it. It's simply lazy marketing and that doesn't appeal to me or encourage me to buy the product. If they had attempted something more perhaps but it's just sh*t.

tommy2bad

Ah lads! the ads are entertainment, you don't buy stuff because of an ad. Do you?

Wertz

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

It's a crap advert badly put together. There's nothing clever or humorous about it. It's simply lazy marketing and that doesn't appeal to me or encourage me to buy the product. If they had attempted something more perhaps but it's just sh*t.

I agree and thought that the first night it came on (during The Hurt Locker on Ch4 few weeks back)... but like it or not there are many many people out there who this advert will influence. It's a feel good ad and tries to work by associating that "feel good" feeling with the yoghurt for both yourself and your child(ren).
It obviously cost them quite a bit to license the characters and I honestly can't recall their previous ad campaigns... they have a lot of competition on the market especially from supermarket own brands that have copied their double-pot unique selling point, and need to stand out from the crowd somehow, especially given the pricing point.

As for ads being entertainment? Nope. Why would any company waste time and money on them if they didn't work? Anyone that thinks that ds don't influence them in some way or other (and I include myself in this) are only codding themselves...

constitutionus

tommy2bad wrote: »

Ah lads! the ads are entertainment, you don't buy stuff because of an ad. Do you?

good point.

38 years on the planet and ive still yet to buy a packet of tampax !

take that advertising.



on the ad.

i get what people are saying but it IS serioulsy off its tits. seeing as im a bloke who does a shop im far more likely to by miller by the end of it than muller.

The King of Moo

tommy2bad wrote: »

Ah lads! the ads are entertainment, you don't buy stuff because of an ad. Do you?

I think the problem I have with the ad at least is that, regardless of whether it's entertaining or not (I personally don't think it is, but that's subjective), it's lazy and cynical.

They knew these famous characters would make people look up and notice, and they never bothered to do anything clever or creative with them, just paid for the rights and threw them all together.

FreudianSlippers

Take some acid and then watch it. It becomes a whole different story of oppression and genocide.

Kiith

People are talking about the ad...job done.

I think it's a brilliant ad. Regardless of the fact that none of the characters have anything to do with yogurt, it's a harmless but of fun. Not everything has to make sense.

dev_g

Kiith wrote: »

People are talking about the ad...job done.

I think it's a brilliant ad. Regardless of the fact that none of the characters have anything to do with yogurt, it's a harmless but of fun. Not everything has to make sense.

Well this certainly doesn't!!

afatbollix

This thread means it works..

Also mullur thanks you for the free advertisement.

Wertz

Kiith wrote: »

People are talking about the ad...job done.

afatbollix wrote: »

This thread means it works..

Also mullur thanks you for the free advertisement.

I don't buy this argument. We're discussing an advert for yoghurt in a TV forum, not the merits of the product or even a recommendation.
Blah blah any publicity is good publicity... nonsense in my view.

I doubt it was the intention of any of the producers of the ad to have it discussed at length for it's artistic merits or lack thereof... so far here is the only place I've seen or heard it discussed.