In 30 Rock, Steve Buscemi’s character is a private investigator who recalls a time where he “successfully” infiltrated a high school to bust drug dealers. His ironically grizzled appearance serves as a hilarious reaction image macro for any sad attempts of using memes and slang in mass media/advertisements.

How do you do, fellow kids?

A Junior Copywriter critiques current trends in Advertising/Media

We need to stop with the Garbage Millennial language that has run rampant in advertisements and pop-culture. The Buzzfeedian venacular that has produced phrases like “This new spray-on nail polish IS EVERYTHING.” or “We literally can’t with this Bacon Avocado Toast Recipe.” The annoying brand image of the quirky pizza loving gurl who SLAYS ALL DAMN DAY. The sad corporate attempts in making a video or meme “viral” like the Truth Orange campaign that left people making statements like “That video made me want to start smoking 2 packs a day.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4srWvLXZRw

I sound like a bitter, divorced 55 year old who has nothing better to do than angrily write about everything that’s wrong with today’s generation, but in actuality I’m a 22 year old female who in theory should be responsive to that type of “slang” in advertising. Don’t get me wrong, I sometimes catch myself liberally sprinkling the word “literally” like I’m a long-lost Asian member of the Kardashian Klan. And I do use certain terms like “YAS” and “That dress is ugly AF.” However, these terms are used when I’m conversing with my friends throught the comforts of Social Media. In real life, it’s better to make the effort to communicate in a universal, easy to understand tone.

Here’s where I pretend to know what I’m talking about

I come across these Thinx Ads every morning. Thinx launched a line of underwear that can hold up to 2 tampons’ worth of menstrual blood. The product allows women to forgo tampons and sanitary pads during their time of their month. Sounds amazing right? I mean the thing practically sells itself. They sound like underwear that Mrs. Jetson would wear. Nevertheless, I’m assuming their target audience are skeptical women who are not comfortable throwing away their “tampies” and using Thinx’s moisture wicking, antimicrobial “patented technology”. And they have every reason to be skeptical, this is uncharted territory.

Their design and creative concept are amazing. They’re normalizing women’s genitalia and menstrual cycles by likening it to grapefruits and eggs. Their print design is fantastic and is visually appealing, invoking a sense of sophisticated simplicity, creating a strong brand image for their revolutionary product.

The copy is strong on the ad above, but I do have to nitpick on the use of “ur” instead of “your” and the cringeworthy closing line of “Boom.” What does ‘ur” add to the message? Is THINX trying to be my bestie sending me a text message? Why would you use proper grammar and punctuation across the whole paragraph but use an acronym for one word? If you were to go for the casual text vibe, you should go all out.

I get it, you’re trying to reach you target audience/demographic. But when it’s poorly researched/executed, it reads as disingenous and try-hard. Think about it, didn’t you cringe whenever your 45 year old history teacher tried rapping about the Civil War to make class more “fun” ? It’s the same thing when a brand is attempting to be like their consumers. Creativity is not pretending to be your target audience.

Give millennials more credit, we’re intelligent and socially aware. We don’t have to be spoken down to, in order to sell a message or product. We don’t need media to be Steve Buscemis asking “How do you do, fellow kids?”

A New York State of Mind

The best kind of advertising is honest, smart/clever and in good taste. I’m not claiming I’m THE authority on advertising, but as a Junior creative who just got her start in the Advertising world, I try and absorb as much as I can. I’m also based in New York City, the best city to get maximum exposure to a multitude of ad campaigns. Every morning and evening when I’m on my 40 minute commute, I study the banners plastered over the subway trains and stations. Some of them are great, a lot of them are crap.

Something I noticed with these ads, is they tend to go for the tongue-in cheek, snarky New York humor. There’s some that just work, like StreetEasy’s #FindYourFormula campaign, which pokes fun at the intricacies and misfortunes of renting in New York.

The sad thing is when 1,500 rent is a steal in NYC

Then there’s this 7/11 ad that’s trying the same snarky language but misses the mark completely.

When someone scratches “Fuck You” on the glass panel, you know your ad sucks.

Why does one snarky New York humor ad work and the other completely fail? For one thing, Streeteasy’s campaign uses fun illustrations reminiscent of newspaper strip comics. Streeteasy clearly researched their target audience, understanding the pains of apartment hunting in New York. 7 Eleven lazily put a picture of a blueberry muffin against a boring drab white background and slapped some copy on top of it. The copy is reading like “snobby New York transplant” who thinks the city is gross and smelly. I mean true but New Yorkers don’t appreciate it when people call us out on our shit. Basically, Streeteasy is laughing with us and 7 Eleven is laughing at us.

So my main take away from this whole salty critique is; If you’re gonna use millennial, New Yorker humor, you gotta do it right. Research the crap out of your audience, be genuine and for the love of god don’t ever use outdated memes from 2010.