I try not to watch too much TV. However, football requires much of it. Along with football, naturally, comes commercials. Over the past year I have been increasingly more critical of commercials and their messages. Sometimes I see a commercial and just totally get confused by it. Here are three that I just don’t get.

Snowboarding Nissan Frontier

I get escapism and suspending reality in commercials. I get it. With that being said, I still don’t get this commercial:

Nissan Frontier Snowboarding

The commercial is not showing me anything even remotely possible whereas many other truck commercials seem to give me an idea of practical real-life applied solutions. Again, I understand escapism and I think it works for some ads. Axe is a good example. Use Axe, and scantly clad (if that) women magically show up. I get that.

However, I can suspend belief for a $3.00 stick of deodorant. Am I willing to suspend belief for a $20,000 truck?

Chase United Mileage Plus Explorer Card

Actually, I think I do get this commercial but I’m not certain it is the message they want me to be getting.

I am unable to find it online, but it airs constantly. It has two business travelers one of which has the Chase Visa Mileage Plus Explorer Card and he scores a free checked bag, while the buddy pays. The one without says he knows some hidden place they can hang out where there is a three-pronged plug they can share. But, lo and behold, the guy with the Chase card has club passes! Then the Chase guy gets to board earlier than the dude without.

Essentially the commercial is telling me that the airline nickels and dime you, is a pain in the butt, and they suck balls. Although, if you pay them a little bit more for membership into their Chase Explorer Card the experience will suck a little bit less.

It takes some hubris for their marketing message to be, “Hey we suck, but pay us more money for it to suck less.”

Corona Snow Sand Commercial

In general I like Corona’s ad campaign. Traveling on an airplane can suck (see above) and the desire to have a cold beer to escape to an imaginary beach is compelling. Meeting your buddies after work to have a beer? I get it. Oh boy do I get it as PJ Harrigan in State College, Pennsylvania can attest to. Damn you and your well-priced happy hour specials.

Anyhow, I don’t get this:

So when on your nice ski vacation you really wish you were on the beach? That’s gotta be a nice problem to have. Who, exactly, is the target audience for this gem? People with way too much money and time?

“Man, this Aspen ski lodge is way too much work, I totally wish I could relax in Cancun.”

#YuppieProblems

Bonus: Viagra

One dude in the mountains popping Viagra with two horses. Not judging, just throwing it out there.  . . one man . . . two horses . . . mountains  . . . Viagra.

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I initially wrote this article at Case Entrepreneurs and am reposting it here.

I used to find this fun?

For several years I studied jujutsu. One of the things I remember most about my teacher is that he would often say, “Simple things aren’t.” At the time, I was listening to him in the context of jujutsu, where the performance of seemingly simple techniques concealed the layers and layers of subtle complexities. For example, I spent a great deal of time practicing ukemi, which from all appearances looks like falling down and doing summersaults. Little kids can do summersaults. Heck, I am pretty sure my cat does them on an irregular basis. Nonetheless, rolling around on the ground has many subtle nuances such as what parts of your shoulder and hip touch, what, if anything is in your hands and so forth. It takes a lot of practice to fall down the right way. Another example is forming a fist and punching somebody. I imagine humans have been balling their fists up and punching each other since the moment we stood upright. However, to form a fist just right, to line up your wrist with the elbow and shoulder, then to rotate your body, move your feet, and even to breathe just right; throwing punches is serious business. I would tend to think that most martial artists and boxers would likely feel the same way; or else everybody would be awesome at boxing. And, for those who are lovers and not fighters, just think about how simple it is to hit a golf ball. I mean, right, all you have to do is swing the club and hit a stupid little ball.

Dreaded Five Forces?

In business school we learn several frameworks; Porter’s Five Forces, Porter’s Value Chain, McKinsey Value Chain, McKinsey 7S, Marketing Mix, 4Ps, 5Cs, SWOT, and a multitude of things that can be described as the something-something matrix. These are relatively simple things to learn and to subsequently apply to established companies. Fill in the blanks. At the next level of understanding, it is not necessary to fill out the framework blanks each time, but rather to think about the frameworks while analyzing a business case. Arguably, a final stage of learning the frameworks is to ignore the frameworks. Sometimes they can be constraints limiting the variables and concepts that are considered; think outside the box, if you will. One of my strategy professors called the Porter’s Five Forces the Dreaded Five Forces; a zillion MBA students can do a Five Forces analysis, but it takes a little more work to think beyond it. As I noted, these frameworks are straight-forward and are relatively simple to use when applied to existing companies. You can Google-up what Google is all about, and then fill in the blanks. Most of us “get” what Google is all about.

Here is how that simple framework thing, isn’t: Start a business.

Recently, I began to work with a business accelerator to start my own business. At first I was loathe to use the frameworks (as some of my former classmates would not find surprising), but I concluded that these frameworks were developed for a reason; time to use my MBA education. Then things got difficult. When your business does not actually yet exist, one does not simply walk into Mordor do an internet search to find information. To really articulate your value proposition for each market segment, describe revenue streams, who exactly are your customers, competitors, collaborators, what is the internal rivalry, and how much power do your suppliers and buyers have, and so forth – all for something little more than an idea is a very difficult exercise. Uncertainty and ambiguity make otherwise seemingly simple tasks less simple and more complicated. For instance, just determining what it is you need to know and what questions you should be asking is a challenge.

As students, all too often we may learn something and subsequently become almost blasé users of that knowledge. At times, it is easy to dismiss things as being too simple to be of value. But, how many times have you fouled up a complex mathematical operation all because you forgot to carry the one (or any other elementary level mistake)? Chances are if things may seem to be too simple, then perhaps you have not yet been challenged to really understand the nuances of your knowledge.

Simple things aren’t. Especially for entrepreneurs.

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The Rise of Craft Beer in America – Forbes.

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Interesting thought exercise.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2011/09/16/what-if-the-moon-didnt-exist-the-fun-of-counterfactuals-in-science/

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I think the real story here is that a few people latch onto some trendy idea without fully exploring the implications of said trend thinking that it is ‘better’ partially because it is more novel. I’m sure the word ‘innovative’ was probably thrown around as well.
Forget the Standing Desk; You Just Need to Move Regularly.

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Fear mongering for political points is dad. Mmmkay?
Bioethicist Bets Bachmann $10,000 on HPV Vaccine Link to Damage – Businessweek.

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Extreme cases of pseudoscience are somewhat easy to identify. Although, sometimes the lines are blurred. For example, cryptozoology has had some success with the giant squid and coelacanth. However, when those discoveries are made, mainline zoologists claim them for their sphere of influence once again denying legitimacy to cryptozoologists. With that being said, of course some of they cryptozoology folks are crazy. This is meant to just be an example of things are not always black & white; science or pseudoscience.
What Is Pseudoscience?: Scientific American.

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Think they are missing that Google offer?
Groupon’s IPO is Back on Track [REPORT].

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Are you still on Google+?
Raise Your Hand If You’re Still Using Google+ | TechCrunch.

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Brewing: Heady discoveries | The Economist.

tim anderson - a finger pointing at the moon