Commerical, Hijacked.
So have you seen the new Netzero TV spot? My jaw just about hit the floor when I saw it last night.
You’ve seen the AOL ad, right? A secretary for an AOL executive is approached at her desk by a line of customers who have suggestions about how to improve the internet service. The secretary goes into the executive’s office to tell him that there are some customers outside who have some new ideas for the company. He asks how many, and she says, “All of them” as the camera angle pans up to show a massive crowd of people encircling the building. He then says, “We’re going to need more chairs.”
It’s all part of AOL’s new marketing campaign aimed at making the lagging ISP polish its image into something more people-friendly.
Last night, this is how the Netzero commercial went:
A secretary for an AOL executive is approached at her desk by a line of customers. The first man in line says something like “We’re just here to tell you that we’re all switching to Netzero, because they offer the same service for half the price.” The secretary goes into the executive’s office to tell him that there are some customers outside who are switching to Netzero. He asks how many, and she says, “All of them” as the camera angle pans up to show a massive crowd of people encircling the building.
Using a competitors’ logo or marketing style in advertising is nothing new. The cola and burger wars have made that tactic pretty common. What is most surprising about the new Netzero ad is that it is nearly identical in visual style to the AOL ad [edit] right down to using the same actors. Not only are the sets, camera angles, color palette and format identical, but so are the actors. The actors selected to appear in the Netzero ad look so similar to the AOL actors that it is only at the moment you hear the customer say, “We’re just here to tell you that we’re all switching to Netzero, because they offer the same service for half the price.” do you suddenly realize that it’s not an AOL ad at all, but a massive and well-executed “zing”. Ouch.
I was entertained. I thought it was clever and daring. It was something, as far as I can recall, that I’d never seen before. But is it ethical? In bad taste? Or just brilliant marketing? I can’t help wondering if there’s going to be a lawsuit.
UPDATE: Nov 27, 2004 @ 4:43 p.m.
Compare and contrast the 4 commercials:
