Thursday, November 17, 2011

What are they selling?

11/17/11

Diet program Jenny Craig has parted ways with Valerie Bertinelli.  Maybe they got too many questions about how much plastic surgery was involved in Val’s new look.  In her place they have hired 41–year-old Mariah Carey who just shed 30 post pregnancy pounds using their nutritionist and workout plan.  They have also shortened their name to “Jenny.” (Jaslow, 2011)


But check out this introductory commercial.  The funniest comment about it on adweek.com comes from Wayne Best who says: “If I hadn’t read the article I would have thought it was an ad for an escort named Jenny.” (Bazilian, 2011)

I agree.  How about you?  Does it make you want to buy something? 



Bazilian, E.  (2011, November 11).  Ad of the Day: Jenny Craig.  adweek.com.  Retrieved November 17, 2011, from
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-jenny-craig-136484
 
Jaslow, R. (2011, November 10).  Mariah Carey touting Jenny Craig after losing 30 pounds.  cbsnews.com.  Retrieved November 17, 2011, from  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57322303-10391704/mariah-carey-touting-jenny-craig-after-losing-30-pounds/
 

7 comments:

Josh said...

I see his (and your) point. That really does look like a late night call-in hotline ad. It has a much different feel than the Valerie spots did, but overall I'd say it's a "miss."

Josh
www.independentstudycomic.com

Staren Soanes said...

I agree, this commercial doesn't say much about Jenny Craig as a weight loss company. The Tagline "Set/Go" doesn't fit in to the ad either. I understand the idea of less is more sometimes, but it doesn't work with this commercial.

Sam Berman said...

The fact that the company changed its name without informing the consumer seems like a terrible idea. This puts them at a disadvantage right from the beginning and I have no idea what they thought this ad would accomplish. I understand that weight loss is all about feeling sexy but this ad seems to be selling the sex without even addressing the weight loss. Honestly, the only thing worse than the new company name is that head line...Jenny/Set/Go...seriously? That is just terrible and couldn't be more vague.

I don't have any problem with Jenny Craig but they really need to rethink their advertising campaign.

Atchka! said...

So, are Carrie and the rest all gone too? I can't find any information on Valerie no longer being a spokesperson. Is it just Mariah now?

Personally, I think it's just a cheap way to get people talking about Jenny Craig again with a "sexy" new ad. Considering their failure rate, I'd say that redesigning themselves is about as best a chance as they have in attracting a bigger market, which means more men.

Peace,
Shannon

Eugenia Diez Targise said...

I couldn't agree more with the three previous comments. I didn't know Jenny Craig nor Valerie. I would have never thought of a weight loss company after seeing this ad. So if they are trying to talk to new consumers, they are not heading in the right direction and for current consumers they are apparently in the same track by changing the name without notifying.

Ji said...

I agree with Wayne. If they decided to pick a big star like 'Mariah Carey', they should have prepared their ad contents more reasonable not to waste their money. When people first watch this ad, they might think 'what is this for?' After a few seconds, if a light lit up in their heads, it is a successful ad. However, this one it is not like that. It went too far.

Renata Ribeiro said...

I think the idea was good but the execution was terrible.

They could had use this commercial as a teaser to take consumers to their facebook page or their web page and then discover what were they talking about.

With this execution they couldn't inform anything to us.