This guest post on Boing Boing by writer/comedian/game developer* Jason Torchinsky argues that modern advertising is pointless and puts up these television ads for Twix candy bars as Exhibits A and B. If you haven't seen the ads and can't be bothered to watch them right now, the basic gist is that the young male protagonist of the ad gets into a terribly awkward situation with a very photogenic girl. By biting into a Twix bar, time stops and he gets a moment to compose himself and turn the faux pas to his advantage. (He can't fix the fact the he's got a bad haircut and looks like a tool but Twix is only so powerful, apparently.) Here's how Jason sums this up:
"They're relying on the tenuous idea that we're all not drooling idiots to take this literally, because the only qualities of a Twix bar demonstrated in these commercials are the ability of the Twix bar to stop time. There's nothing mentioned of the taste, the crunch, the dubious energy benefit-- all the usual candy bar selling points-- just the bold suggestion that these crunchy little logs have colossal power over the time-space continuum. I know no one really thinks they can do that, and this is just an advertising conceit, but it's strange when the big marketing appeal of your product is the freedom it gives you to be a jackass."
The conceit is inane, Jason's thesis goes, and therefore the advertisements are a waste of money. While I don't disagree that the conceit is inane (I don't think the ads are that great) the ads are far from pointless.
What is the burden of an advertisement for Twix? Those ads are not targeted at children - they run in prime time - so between that and the content we can assume that adults are the intended audience. So let's think about Twix's relationship to adult consumers.
This is a candy bar that has been around since 1967. It's ubiquitous and it costs less than a dollar. I promise that the overwhelming majority of adults who are amenable to eating candy bars have eaten at least one Twix in their lifetime.
Now let's revisit Jason's criticism.
"There's nothing mentioned of the taste, the crunch, the dubious energy benefit[.]"
Why on earth do you need to spend 30 seconds talking about the taste/crunch/mouthfeel/whatever of a product that virtually the entire target audience has already eaten? Jason is fundamentally incorrect in his assessment because he seems to be working from a standpoint that all advertisements need to be made with an unexposed audience in mind. It would be folly to do that for a popular and universally-available candy bar.
The point of these ads is to keep a familiar brand top-of-mind. No, Twix does not stop time. But it is delicious and crunchy and the purpose of the ads is not to inform you of that new and unique insight but rather to remind you that you already know it. The ads are not about tearing holes in space-time or the apparent gullibility of the ladies in them. What the ads are actually saying is: "Twix exists and you like it."
There's a message in there about Twix being good for taking a break - and I'm sure the account team at the ad agency worked though many a Twix-fueled brainstorm to come up with that. But on a basic level, the purpose of the ad is to put an entertaining wrapper around the crucial moment midway through when the Twix break in half with a loud crunch and reveal the thick rope of caramel in the middle of the bars. That's the moment when people who enjoy Twix think to themselves: "I sure do like Twix." That's it. Everything else (the attractive girl, the doofus guy, the arguably funny setup) exists to hold your attention until that point.
If you've tried Twix before and don't like it or if you don't eat candy bars no TV advertisement is going to change your mind about that. You are not the target audience for these ads.
Ads like this are useful to brands because frankly, you spend very little time thinking about candy bars. They're not a considered purchase, they're not an expensive asset. They're not a part of your identity. Go to the right part of America and you'll find people who identify themselves as Ford drivers or Chevy owners. See if a Rolex watch wearer or Gucci bag bearer seem to consider their possessions a part of their identity. A 60-pence candy bar is never going to occupy that kind of affiliative real estate, and thus requires a very different approach to advertising. The next time you're queueing for the till at the grocery, the box of Twix candy bars is going to stand out to you, because you've seen two ads and read two blog posts about it. And if you're a member of the intended audience, you might remember that you find it very tasty and buy one.
(Thanks to my buddy Mike McIntyre for sharing the BB post on Google Reader and getting these wheels spinning in my head to begin with.)
*Much though I disagree with him on the points made here, the guy is a legitimate renaissance man. I wish my resume looked like his.
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