ASK YOURSELF WHY?
HERE’S a question for Ask.com owner Barry Diller: how many martinis did the marketing team tuck into before signing off on the search engine’s new TV campaign – you know, the one featuring former O.J. Simpson houseboy Kato Kaelin?
The spot, featuring a woman in a “Material Girl”-like scenario being feted by men as she sings about getting what she was looking for – which, in this case, was pictures of Kaelin – has the unmistakable feel of something that would appear genius only to those who are inebriated.
Not since AOL’s disastrous 2003 ad campaign – remember those tacky commercials featuring a sexed-up Sharon Stone with a satisfied grin on her face after the company’s yellow “Running Man” performed well and fast for her – has a commercial managed to so poorly articulate its intended meaning.
What Ask.com was trying to do, according to marketing vice president Greg Ott, was tie an obscure, quirky search request like “Kato Kaelin” to its new platform, which returns not just links but also video, pictures and news reports.
But by going for the absurd for what seems like absurdity’s sake, the commercial has the unintended effect of making viewers focus on Kaelin instead of the product. Indeed, Ask.com appears to be an afterthought to the ad itself. Peter Lauria
Grand Discovery
The Discovery Channel, unlike Ask.com, is currently running a picture perfect ad campaign for the new season of “Man v. Wild.” With nearly 2 million viewers tuning into the show’s second-season premiere last week, making it the second most-watched basic cable program among men 18-54, Discovery apparently has another breakout hit on its hands.
The show’s concept is pretty simple: drop host Bear Grylls into some of the most extreme conditions in some of the most remote parts of the world and see if the adventurer can survive. While in Scotland, for instance, Grylls is made to seek warmth inside a deer carcass.
Discovery’s ad campaign is even simpler than the show’s concept. One 30-second spot begins with a voiceover asking, “Does Bear Grylls really need to do these things? Probably not.” The commercial then cuts to Grylls in freezing temperatures in Iceland eating a sheep’s eyeball for sustenance. From there the voiceover continues: “But you might. New destinations. New adventures. New ways to get out alive.”
That’s it. No quirky gimmicks. No lame attempts at irreverence. And, most importantly, pay attention here Ask.com – no Kato Kaelin. Peter Lauria
Mosiac magic
Mosaic Media Group quietly netted a lucrative four times return on investment in last week’s $175 million sale of Dick Clark Productions to Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder.
While press reports noted that Mosaic took Dick Clark Productions private in 2002 for $140 million, that was the total consideration in the deal and not the actual amount Mosaic put up. After subtracting the $70 million in cash the company had on its books and another $35 million in bank financing, Mosaic only used $35 million of its money in the deal.
That means that Mosaic netted $155 million in the deal with Snyder after accounting for the $20 million in debt on DCP’s books. Or, to put it another way, Mosaic generated a nearly 450 percent return.
Hopefully, the company will use the money to put together one rockin’ New Year’s Eve party this year. Peter Lauria
Kingsley not nuts
The most eye-arresting close-up in the darkly comedic film “You Kill Me” is not of its star Sir Ben Kingsley – but of a jar of cashew butter.
Kingsley plays Frank, a hit man who’s drinking seriously affects his prowess at whacking people. Forced to get sober in San Francisco, Frank warily eyes the nut butter his handler brings him. “The cashew butter represents change, says Christopher Markus, who co-wrote the screenplay with Stephen McFeely. “Sometimes change is good for you, other times, you look around and ask, ‘What was wrong with peanuts?’ ”
Retailers would agree. “Based on the trends and product introductions we see, cashew butter sales are increasing,” said Lynn Dornblaser, at research firm Mintel. “It’s not that consumers are choosing peanut butter less but rather they’re adding cashew and almond to their shopping basket.” Pistachio or walnut butter, anyone? Coeli Carr
New ‘do
So that’s what under her journalism hat. CNBC’s No. 1 personality Maria “Money Honey” Bartiromo debuted a new hair cut last Friday, one day after she took “off [her] journalism hat” to cheer on an interviewer who had views which supported Bartiromo’s “friend” Stephen Schwarz man, the CEO of Blackstone Group. Richard Wilner