You've Got Cauliflower Eyes
The predictability of ads has left consumers blasé

Americans have seen so many shots of people flying, cars bursting into flames, igloos with appliances, cats that cha cha cha and frogs who gladly croak for a beer, we've become visually overloaded.

It's gotten so bad that most people won't look twice at anything unless it's a sight they've never seen before.

When a boxer's been hit upside the head enough times, his ears get hard of skin and hard of hearing, and we say he's developed cauliflower ears. But with us, it's the eyes.

It affects everything we look at -- the books, magazines and papers we read, and the movies we watch. Take a look at the ones that really sell, and you begin to see what's happening.

Everything is more graphic and more pronounced than it used to be because nothing gets through to us unless it has eye-popping sights we've never seen before.

But advertisers, especially those who produce print ads and outdoor posters, haven't caught up. Most ads are still the same, predictable stuff we've seen a thousand times before. And they're not working as well as they used to.

That's why all advertising people should consider changing their standards, and adopting a whole new definition of creativity, like "effective surprise."

To get past the new cauliflower receptivity, ads, commercials, and brochures have to be salted liberally with the element of surprise. Every turn should be unexpected.

Of course, it may be hard for some of advertising's old dogs to learn these new tricks, but they'll have to. More and more research tells us that the moment an ad becomes predictable, people turn the page, look away, or go to the bathroom.

That doesn't mean that advertisers need to resort to special effects or bad taste. The most intriguing sights are really ordinary, familiar things, that are combined in new ways.

For example, consider a simple scene of a woman clipping a man's toenails. A little odd, but unusual, right? And if you turn up the visual volume, and make the woman Elizabeth Dole and the man Fidel Castro, you'll have a frame of eye candy that'll pop right off the charts.

That's the way really creative admakers have got to learn how to think. And that's why this column salutes those who are already doing it.

Saluting creativity

Last month, at a meeting of the Lexington Advertising Club, we bestowed the first annual Golden Mug Awards on the creators of six pieces of advertising that can truly be called "The Best of the Bluegrass".

Each one of these ads and spots was built on the idea of Effective Surprise.

The winners were:

• Slone's Signature Markets, for outstanding campaign. Agency: Meridian Communications, Lexington. The surprise: A supermarket whose ads reflect good sense and good taste, instead of crude huckstering

• LexTran, for their "Singing Drivers" TV spot. Agency: Ad Success, Lexington. The surprise: A wonderful, entertaining romp, with real drivers showing their spirit, service and value.

• Kosair Hospital, for "Band-aid Outdoor." Agency: Creative Alliance, Louisville. The surprise: In one second, this ad spoke volumes about children, care and human values.

• Kentucky Utilities, for "Geothermal" TV spot. Agency: Sheehy & Associates, Louisville. The surprise: A fascinating look at geothermal power being used in Kentucky today.

• Central Baptist Hospital, for "Big on Babies" painted bus. Agency: Cornett Group, Lexington. The surprise: A 12-foot-high baby that's seen all over town.

• Kentucky Association Of Sexual Assault Programs, for "I Believe You" TV spot. Agency: Grehan Associates (UK student advertising agency). The surprise: A frank and totally disarming spot about the very personal subject of date rape.

This is the kind of advertising that creates smiles, nods and sales. But before it does any of that, it penetrates the barrier of cauliflower eyes.

Dennis Altman is an advertising consultant and a professor of advertising and public relations at the University of Kentucky.

Back to Advertising Index

Back to February Issue

Copyright 1996-98, by Kentucky Business Online, LLC.  All rights reserved.

Editorial content is copyright 1998, Lane Communications Group
All editorial materials is fully protected and must not be reproduced in any manner without prior permission. 

Buzzword and the Buzzword balloon are registered trademarks of Buzzword, Inc.  The Lane Report is a trademark of Lane Communications Group.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.