Monday, November 14, 2005

Ad Review: The Gate thegateworldwide.com

Ok, as far as getting me to read their copy, thegateworldwide.com did a bang up job in the NY Times today.

Why? The photo shows a cow on Madison Avenue with a gun at its head. Copy about killing sacred cows. Who don't they want for customers? Vegans, sure. But Hindoo? Omnivores like me? Pacifists?

What could have been an affirmation of interesting spin turned into another simple minded p.o.s. involving killing an animal for the pumping of bidnez. Right up there with good old Hardee's and the chicken ad.

Look: I frickin' eat meat, wear leather shoes, and all that. But this just offends me. And, by the way, I did and still do find the old National Lampoon advertisement "buy this magazine or we'll kill this puppy" funny.

I checked out the gate website and judge it a Flash in the pan. And after all that advertising spend in the NYT... another boring "ain't we too cool" site.

Dear God, when bad things happen to good code, do I *really* want swinging doors and chartjunk?


Strunk & White, Ed Tufte, hell, Samuel Johnson, Chris Locke... shakes head.

-30-

2 comments :

Anonymous said...

Are you kidding me?!
with the 'buy this magazine...' ad reference you claim to, at the very least, have a sense of humor.
run with it!
seriously, are you trying to get a job with PETA?!
it's a flippin ad that used an image metaphor.
would a 'no cows, guns or street signs were harmed in this ad' disclaimer help you sleep better?!
sheesh!

Anonymous said...

please tell me the original post is kidding. for some more adept industry types (presidents of other agencies, in fact), this ad was one of the better advertisements many people had seen in a long time. some people went so far as to clip the ad & show it to employees of their agencies as the kind of work they should be doing. ironic how inoffensive other, more enlightened, people found it.

time to lighten up, enjoy the show, appreciate the placement and find something without its tongue firmly planted in cheek to rail against.