Not too long ago we received a postcard.  This postcard is so poorly photoshopped that we all had a good laugh at its expense.  Now I present to you the chop job in all it’s glory… try not to laugh too hard.

Those three billboards sure look natural.  I can totally believe that that’s exactly how they were when that picture was taken.  No chance at a poor chop job there.  They didn’t even try to make it look good.  Just a drag and drop with no editing.  My favorite is the chopped airplane.  Not only does it suffer from the same shiny out-of-place look as the billboards but look at the perspective.  It’s in front of the light pole.  This means that the plane is directly above the highway.  So it’s a really tiny plane piloted by hamsters and it’s about to land on the highway.

One would think a company that works in advertising would be able to print better advertising material for themselves.  If this is the quality of their advertisements what are we supposed to think of their billboard work?

Overall Nike’s recent ‘Human Chain’ commercial is pretty cool.  It has a nice song playing that goes really well with the action,  it has a slightly artsy feel without feeling overbearing and it has a strong sense of empowerment for the brand and the athletes involved.  One thing in the commercial still feels out of place.  It just so happens to be my favorite part of the commercial as well, the MMA section.

The MMA fighter showcased is Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson.  Upon initially seeing the commercial I was ecstatic to see MMA getting more coverage (OK I still am), but it doesn’t quite flow with the rest of the commercial.  Every other scene in the commercial has the long chain of repeating athletes, this scene is notably lacking it.  They try to add a little bit of the effect when Rampage throws the punch at the other fighter but it is hard to see and doesn’t have the same power it does in all the other scenes.  There are plenty of ways they could have re-done the scene to add the chain… but I guess they wouldn’t have gone as well with the song.

Yesterday while checking my personal email account, I found this advertisement for a delicious looking mini wrap from KFC. Being the food enthusiast that I am, I needed to find out more.

After doing some research, I came to find out that this mysterious new menu item was only 99 cents at participating locations. What a steal! Unfortunately the list of participating locations was only limited to two states, Virginia and Florida. Looks like I won’t be getting my hands on this wrap anytime soon.

But the real reason as to why this advertisement has been keeping me up at night is the name that KFC has chosen for this menu item to bear. Get ready for this…The “iTwist.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the i”Fill In The Blank” branding system pretty much owned by Apple? It all started with the iMac, where the “i” stood for “Internet.” Yes, it has evolved quite a bit over the years to include brands like the iPod and iLife, which don’t require an Internet hook-up, but there is still a strong sense that “i” branding system is appropriate for all things electronic.

I’d be curious to find out why KFC’s marketing team chose a brand name with such an electronic feel to it. Does the name “iTwist” make you hungry? Apparently it does for the Germans.

Auf Wiedersehen,
Chris