Rambling Reckonings

1. I love college basketball, especially the men's and women's tournaments. But I have to say I'm glad to have March Madness behind me so I can get some sleep. Why do all the best games start between 8:30 and 9:30 Eastern time? I guess they need the folks out west to get home from work in time to see the games, but my body isn't geared for going to bed near midnight anymore.
2. Anyone notice all the Ad Council TV spots for the Shelter Pet project during the women's NCAA tournament? They feature animations of the Mutts cartoon characters and are nicely produced. But I'm amazed there was so much public service airtime available. I bet they ran 15 times during the championship game. It's certainly a great cause, but it seems they could have spread some of that time around to other worthy recipients.
3. OK, time for me to get on my soapbox again about negative political advertising. I don't care who the candidate is or what party, there is no place for false or misleading advertising. Why can't we have the same regulations for truth in advertising for political candidates and causes as are required for commercial entities?
4. Who needs comedy gigs when you have amazing voice talent? Not sure how well Tim Allen's acting career is going, but he must be making a bundle on voiceover work. Of course, his work for the Pure Michigan campaign is well known, but if you listen carefully, his is the voice of Chevrolet, Campbell's Soup and others. Buzz Lightyear's alter ego is going to infinity and beyond with his commercial work. Why couldn't I have been born with that kind of voice?
5. Does anyone else think scripting radio spots is a lost art? I was having a discussion with a client the other day about radio as an advertising medium and he indicated his belief that nobody listens to radio anymore. It's just background. I can't disagree, but I don't believe the problem is the medium so much as the message delivery - the lack of creativity in scripting and production. Radio has incredible power to create "theater of the mind". But instead of writing commercials to stir the imagination, most advertisers do little more than the radio equivalent of the talking head. Music helps. Music that evokes the appropriate motion is better. But at the end of the day, nothing compares to the power of an imaginative idea.

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