Men are horrible at gift giving. Women know this, men don't.
It doesn't matter how sensitive, thoughtful or metro-sexual he is. A bad gift from a guy is as sure as rain after a car wash.
So, how does one find enlightenment on this matter of grave importance, receiving the proper information on how to avoid being written up in the book of bad? Take The Doghouse at Beware of the Doghouse as capable and entertaining resource.
It has been viral hit for JC Penney around the "truthiness" that guys are total failures with the whole gift thing. It makes us laugh and sparks the desire to send along and share. It is the kind of thing that may even win a marketing award or two.
I was going to suggest it might have been interesting to see recommended gift ideas and links to other options beyond diamonds. I mean, even as dumb as most men are, everyone knows that diamonds are a guaranteed victory. Perhaps it would have been helpful to see gifts selected by women, voted on in a Digg type manner driving online purchasing across categories. That kind of thing.
However, I immediately remembered the whole point of exercise is to keep us gents focused. Any distraction may result in an ill-conceived decision to that will end up being a one way ticket to the Doghouse.
So, it is great that the site does not try to do too much and there is clear focus on what they want you to buy. And, although I was going to be cynical and suggest they simply want you to buy the most expensive thing they can sell, I truly believe the spirit of this effort is to keep men safe this holiday season. For that, we are all thankful.
The agency behind the Doghouse campaign is Saatchi & Saatchi. Nicely done.
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But isn't it fascinating that this spot did not result in an outcry from men who are not like those depicted? There was no discussion about how that ad is disrespectful or paints men in a bad light. Compare to the Motrin Mom situation.
Yet another example of 'know what your audience is willing to tolerate.
Jack, I'm not sure if that is a tongue-in-cheek comment or serious? Either way, good point about knowing what an audience will tolerate.
Motrin was a different beast as it tried to force through an insight that was flawed from the outset. A pain medication trying to be cutesy just struck the wrong nerve in the small but vocal minority.
However, the insight for Doghouse is bang on. Yes, it takes a broad brush with men, but c'mon, we all know guys like this - we have been guys like this ourselves. So, I'm not offended. As a man I find it funny and I kinda lika da' funny stuff.
It is amusing. Remember Joe Pesci in Goodfellas - "let me understand this cause, ya know maybe it's me, I'm a little fucked up maybe, but I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh, I'm here to fuckin' amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?"
Yes, Tommy DeVito and Henry Hill gave crappy gifts too. Once they realized diamonds were the way to go, they got into the mob to avoid paying retail.
I totally agree with you that it was a great ad, but I think one major missing component was the ability to embed it on other websites or otherwise share the video more easily.
If you're putting video online, you might as well make it easy for the maximum number of people to see it.
Hey Parker,
Thanks for the comment. The ability to embed is always a nice feature.
I suspect these guys are in the doghouse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5sg8BLaQCw (Amstel Commercial)