Television

Before we start yelling slurs at T.G.I. Fridays for being evil, can we first congratulate them on a stellar deal? An entree plus an appetizer or dessert for just $10? That’s recession pricing at its best.

Anyhow, as Pitchfork points out, the background song on the 2-for-$10 spot is a dead-ringer for a bad version of LCD Soundsystem’s 2005 breakout hit, “Daft Punk is Playing at My House,” right down to the tinny vocals and cowbell solo. Observe:

Well, even if you disagree, you now have an excuse to have a little private dance party at your desk on a Friday afternoon. Fun fact: During Lollapalooza 2007, I saw LCD Soundsystem play a frenetic set on a stage about 150 yards a way from where the day’s headliners, Daft Punk, were playing. As frontman James Murphy was performing this song, singing “you’ve got to set them up,” you could actually look across the field and watch the stage techs set up for Daft Punk’s light spectacle of a show. It was totally surreal.

So, how do you guys think we should punish T.G.I. Friday’s for what appears to be a lame ripoff or a modern dance classic? If you suggest we go there and take part in the 2 for $10 deal, I agree. That’ll show them.

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Well, it’s about time The Pitch took a turn for the interesting.

Next Sunday, Culver City-based Muse Communications will be the first diverse-segment ad agency to compete on AMC’s The Pitch. Now, if you’ve been following our weekly recaps of the show, you know that we’ve taken issue with a lot we’ve seen from both AMC and the agencies featured from week to week. But, one thing we haven’t mentioned much is how incredibly white each agency has been thus far, regardless of where in the country they’re located.

The above spot, “White Space” (not to be confused with DraftFCB Chicago’s new floor plan), will be debuting on Sunday during the broadcast of the episode featuring Muse pitching the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. As the agency’s chairman and CCO Jo Muse says in a statement, “The rate of hiring and retention of people of color has always been dismal in the advertising industry. It’s time the public felt the outrage of these people who, even now, can’t find a job in this business, much less move up to the executive ranks.”

It’s a great point, and one that unfortunately gets ignored more often than many would like to admit. Now, if only Muse could get people to actually watch The Pitch on a regular basis.

Before we dive into episode 5 of AMC’s The Pitch, I’d like to address two articles posted on Ad Age in the last week. The first, by PJA Advertising and Marketing’s CEO, Phil Johnson, seeks to address what he feels is the show’s biggest problem: That it portrays an outdated business model. Johnson argues that the show reduces the advertising industry to a caricature saying, “Senior people fret and worry, while junior teams do all the work. Worse yet, in some cases those junior teams get pitted against each other while those senior people condescendingly dismiss their ideas. Consistently, the client gets the least value from the most experienced and presumably expensive staff.”

Now, I don’t necessarily think that this is a problem with The Pitch. This is a problem with the industry as a whole, and no matter how many agency CEOs mug in front of the camera and talk about how their company’s processes are “different,” you’ll find that their employees say something quite the opposite. Scan our comment section sometime for validation.  Instead, I would argue that The Pitch‘s biggest problem is that it’s mind-numbingly boring for anyone outside of the industry. As my girlfriend said during last night’s episode, “I love reality shows where two teams compete. I mean, I’ll watch and enjoy Storage Wars. But, I can’t watch this.”

The second big problem, of course, is that no one is actually watching The Pitch. Ad Age ran the numbers, and found that a mere 148,000 people in the all-important 18-49 demo watched the show last week. However, due to AMC’s slim amount of original programming, the show will most likely complete its entire eight-episode season instead of getting pulled from the air early. I guess they figure re-running Breaking Bad season four isn’t going to top a regular viewership the size of Joliet, Illinois. So, how is AMC hoping to attract viewers, aside from moving the show’s timeslot so that new episodes air right after Mad Men? Well, why not bring back The Ad Store, the losing agency from just three episodes ago? (Like always, spoilers ahead!)

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We welcome back Don Seaman, manager of marketing communications for TVB, which is the non-profit trade association of America’s commercial broadcast TV industry. Now that he’s given us his Super Bowl take, the exec discusses skipping out on this year’s TV upfronts, but doesn’t hold back on reflecting. Take it away, sir.

There was a time, not so long ago, that the networks held back some surprises for some buzz to be made from the actual Upfront presentations.  The events meant something, whether it was an announcement of a surprise renewal or cancellation, a new star joining the network family, or just a major timeslot change.

These days, announcements are made to the press over the weekend.  The events are basically just a way to pay Coldplay their legally binding royalty fees for using their song all week.  You can even find clips of the new shows released in advance of the presentations.  If this trend continues, in ten years the Upfronts may just consist of a login code to get in and a Groupon free drink deal as the after party.

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Gentlemen, let’s face it: Khakis aren’t cool. In fact, the only reason you’ll catch most guys wearing khaki pants is because they’re forced to either by their job, their spouse/significant other, or because they didn’t want to wear a suit to a more formal occasion. For me, khakis are reminiscent of my time in elementary school, where my mom would cram me into an old paid before church. They were uncomfortable, fit weird, and definitely didn’t have the cool factor of jeans.

So, how are Haggar and agency McGarrah Jessee (who you may remember from the Shiner vs. Heineken stage/billboard ripoff fiasco last summer) attempting to give their brand of khakis the cool factor that your old pair of Dockers lacks? Why, with a new TV campaign for the new Life Khaki line, which recently launched (initial spot above) and shows the difference between wearing khakis because you have to and wearing khakis because they’re manly (perhaps a move from the Old Spice playbook).

Did you know that WWII-era generals and Indiana Jones-esque adventurers wear khakis? It’s because they’re manly, and also probably because only farmer-types were wearing jeans in the 1940s. Either way, I learned in my early 20s that a well-fitting pair of khakis can definitely make you stand out in a room. A word to the wise, though, who may feel compelled to jump into a mants experiment: If the pockets of your khakis stick out while you walk around, they don’t fit right. See the newest spots from the campaign and credits after the jump.

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Just four episodes into its first season, is it possible that the days are already numbered for AMC’s advertising reality show, The Pitch? After two weeks in the Monday, 10pm/9c time slot, the cable network seems to have permanently shifted The Pitch, now scheduling it to air on Sundays at 11pm/10c.

Obviously, this is a strategic move to glean viewers from Mad Men, which airs an hour earlier. But, AMC must also be hoping that America will actually stay up watching TV until midnight before they have to go to work the next day. In any case, this abrupt scheduling change surely caused many fans of the show to miss maybe this season’s most anticipated episode, which featured one of the country’s most talked-about young agencies and a food brand that’s recently shown us it’s willing to take risks to get noticed. (SPOILERS AHEAD!!!)

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Compared to last week’s battle for the Waste Management account,  episode three of AMC’s The Pitch was quite tame. We didn’t get any office in-fighting, nor any neglected children, nor anyone fitting the villainous depiction of SK+G’s ruthless creative director, Ray Johnson. But, we did find comfort in the fact that sometimes, even if it’s only once in a great while, the client picks the better concept at the end of the day.

And we still got to see people cry. Oh man, did we ever get to see people cry. (SPOILERS AHEAD!)

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Despite a full-length “sneak preview” that aired in early April, last night marked the official premiere episode of AMC’s ad agency reality show, The Pitch. And, compared to the sneak preview (which pitted McKinney against WDCW for a Subway assignment), the battle for the Waste Management account was much more jam-packed with office drama, in-fighting, ominous music, and surprise twists. Of course, from an advertiser’s perspective, this made it all the more frustrating, albeit compelling, to watch. (MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD)

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A new pair of PSAs from TM Advertising and director Frank Todaro of Moxie Pictures is reminding pet owners to get their best friends “fixed” at a young age, lest their furry companions end up reenacting some 90s teen drama series where 80 percent of characters end up pregnant at some point.

Set to a score of Paula Cole‘s 1997 hit “I Don’t Want to Wait,” perhaps best known as the theme song to the WB’s much-beloved show about teen angst and pent up sexual energy Dawson’s Creek, “Afraid of That” finds two young lovers nearly caught in the act by their parents, who should really know better than to ever let their spawn out of the house. Squee! It’s just like Dawson and Joey, but with kittens!

Meanwhile, “Afternoon Stroll” is probably the better of the two spots, mainly because that kid who runs into the fence near the end of the ad remains funny after repeat viewings. Also, the puppy the girl morphs into is one of the most adorable little fluffballs of cute I’ve ever damn seen. So, remember parents and pet owners: Once your kid hits middle school, start being paranoid. Once your pet hits four months, fix the problem once and for all and prevent unwanted litters.

Update: And now, the infographic addendum:

A new series of TV spots from DraftFCB Chicago is marketing Miller Lite’s latest innovation in beer-chugging apparatus accoutrements, the “Punch Top Can.”

Now, it’s only been two years since the brand unveiled the “Vortex Bottle,” a seemingly useless and unnecessary bottle design feature that has somehow lasted 23 months longer than anyone expected. Undoubtedly, the success of the swirly bottle neck has influenced the powers that be at Miller Lite to carry over their brand of “science” to cans. I can only imagine what the supporting market research looks like: “In our study, seven out of 10 brospondants said that when they shotgun cans of cheap beer to the amusement and horror of their friends, they opt for Miller Lite. Of those that answered positively, four out of five said that they have been wounded by the jagged aluminum the occurs in the wake of puncturing the can with their car keys, which reportedly ‘hurts like a bitch.’”

DraftFCB’s spots depict a horde of 20-somethings in a variety of environments using any and every poking object in their immediate vicinity to punch the new aluminum flap on the top of the can. Yes, you can use just about anything, be it a drumstick, an audio cable, or that douchey arrowhead necklace your burnout buddy has been wearing since he was in middle school. Sure, the “Punch Top Can” will make chugging a little easier, but isn’t most of the fun of shotgunning beer derived from the associated theatrics? If you’re not spraying everyone within three-foot radius upon stabbing the side of a can, how can a game of truth or dare adequately segue into an impromptu foam party?