Our newest powerhouse brand - New Jersey. You got a problem with that?

One of the most oddball developments in the whacky world of branding these days is the way the characters and culture of New Jersey are taking television by storm. New Jersey – where you don’t go to the beach in the summertime, you go “down the shore.” And the words water, coffee, dog and whatever are pronounced wadder, cawfee, dawg and wadever. Growing up in North Jersey, I thought I’d never see the day when the Garden State, long the subject of derision by “too cool for school” New Yorkers and comics who loved to crack wise with that “what exit?” joke, would become a powerhouse brand and the darling of reality TV. Who woulda’ thought Style, Bravo, TLC, HBO and others would all be going nuts over Jersey.

If ever there was a case of perception versus reality, it’s in New Jersey. Take a look at the way the media buyers see Jersey, or the way it’s been portrayed in films and TV shows from Law & Order to HBO’s The Sopranos, and you’ll begin to understand the “perception” problem. To the media buyer, North and Central Jersey are part of the NY Metro and practically the sixth and seventh boroughs of NYC. South Jersey? That whole thing belongs to Philly. The reality is that New Jersey is a densely populated cross-section of America – the good, the bad and the ugly. There are lots of people, and many of them are very, very affluent. Many of them actually do not commute to Manhattan to work.

So did Jersey ever have a chance to build its brand? Does Jersey really have anything unique? I think what the television networks, advertisers, magazine publishers and other “shapers and reflectors” of the popular culture have finally discovered about Jersey is its people. In a recent promotional interview, I heard Carolyn Manzo, one of Bravo’s “Real Housewives of New Jersey,” say that people from New Jersey dare to be themselves. She's a smart lady and I agree with her. It seems no matter what their net worth, these “regular guys” and Jersey girls” are interesting to watch because they’re just being themselves. And adding to their appeal is the fact that they really don’t care if you like them or not.

Ad groups don't want FTC "on steroids."

In a story published April 22 in Ad Age, Rich Thomaselli reported the advertising industry is rallying in opposition of a provision in the Financial Reform Bill that could extend the power of the FTC to uncomfortable new levels.

The 4-A’s, the Direct Marketing Association and the AAF are among 30 groups that delivered a letter to the U.S. Senate and took out a full-page ad in the influential Capitol Hill newspaper, Roll Call, spearheading an effort to prevent the Federal Trade Commission from once again becoming the "nation's nanny."

The groups say a "hidden" provision in the already-passed House of Representatives' version of the Financial Reform Bill (H.R. 4173) would expand FTC power and restore the broad rule-making and enforcement authority the agency enjoyed prior to 1975, when Congress imposed restrictions on the FTC with the passage of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

The ad industry groups and others believe the provision that would grant the FTC greater power over unfair and deceptive ad practices has no business in a financial reform bill. They fear heavy-handed tactics and an atmosphere where the FTC has too broad an authority over many different industries.

Could the "gloom and doom" be finally over?

Great story on Forbes.com about how advertisers are rolling out carefree campaigns that use humor, colorful images and upbeat language to get consumers to lighten up--and open up their wallets. But hey, isn’t that what advertising is supposed to do?

While none of us could ever get two economists to agree whether the real tough times are finally behind us, leave it to advertising to lead us to our happy place as consumers. Sure, people are still unemployed and facing foreclosure, but when the gloominess of our reality begins to seep into advertising, most of the resulting executions are pretty lame. And they come off as pretty insincere. Advertising should be happy, uplifting, humorous. That's what we expect.

Lane Bryant says Fox, ABC censored their spot.

In a post on the company’s Inside Curve blog, plus-size retailer Lane Bryant complains that two networks -- Fox and ABC -- are trying to censor them by resisting the airing of its sexy Cacique lingerie ad. Fox wanted edits, then wanted to restrict them to the final 10 minutes of American Idol.

This story is interesting for several reasons. First, it's an example of hypocritical these two networks in particular - the right wing Fox and the Disney-owned ABC - really are.

So why give LB this kind of static when both networks have consistently broadcast other racy ads (think Victoria’s Secret) and programming (like the sexually-charged Desperate Housewives). I know the TV networks have a tough time dealing with the needs, wants, desires, prejudices of their affiliates, particularly in the Bible Belt, but come on. Let's grow up. Or could it be that Victoria's Secret is such a powerhouse advertiser, they don't want LB encroaching on their turf?

LB has made the most of this whole thing - and who can blame them? I've gone to the blog, watched the spot in question - Yes, it's great work. Very sexy, but also very tastefully done. The consumer reaction seems overwhelmingly favorable. People get it. Why are the stick-thin, but amazingly ample-breasted females on the Victoria's Secret ads deemed to be "normal" while the bigger, more curvy women represented by LB seen as being too fat for prime time? We're not talking obese here. We're talking normal.

One of the comments posted at LB's blog brought up a good point. If you go back to pre-Farrah Fawcett America, pre-Super Model America, back to the Mad Men era of the late fifties/early sixties, the Marilyn Monroe body, which I believe was a size 10, was considered the ideal. Nothing wrong with those curves either.

Watching American tonight. Let's see if they air the sexy Cacique ad, or just the tamer one.

Gotta love those Belgian Agencies. How do you say "chutzpah" in Flemish?

In case you haven't heard about this, ad agencies in Belgium - nearly 20 of them - have banded together in a protest against spec new business pitches. They say clients are abusing the industry by conducting pitches where too many agencies are invited and all are expected to do spec work. Gotta love those Belgians for having the backbone to say, "enough is enough." They've called a Virtual Strike, and done it in a very creative, classy way that leaves no doubt of their solidarity. The strike started yesterday, and is planned to last for a week.

This year's Super Bowl ads were just a sad commentary on our society.

I watched this year's Super Bowl again with great anticipation. The lack of creativity in this year's class of ads could make this a very short post.

It's a good thing the Super Bowl ads aren't really an indication of who's the best and brightest in the ad business. And some of what you saw wasn't even conceived by advertising people. The Dorito's ads, for instance, are "user generated" and the result of a contest for average Joes to submit ad concepts and win a big money prizes. Great, as if there aren't enough advertising creative types out of work these days.

No, the best creative work is being done by small agencies for smaller clients with limited budgets. In their world, the creative has to be damn good to break through the media clutter on a comparatively shoestring budget.

So what were this year's Super Bowl ads an indication of? Here are a few suggestions...

1. Some higher being has apparently decried that all advertising must be sophomoric, snarky and/or derivative. Originality is not allowed.

2. Talking babies are apparently an indication of a highly advanced society.

3. A talking baby with a girlfriend is apparently even more "awesomer."

4. The people at Doritos have cursed as with their stupid "let's invite average people to submit ad ideas and pay them lots of money so we will appear to be average people just like them" contest thingy.

5. As a society, we really, really, really love beer.

6. With the exception of Audi, the auto manufacturers apparently didn't get the memo. Audi's "Green Police" spot was pretty darn good, and scored in USA Today's Top Ten.

Note to Doritos brand managers:

Please, please, please stop doing that stupid contest.

Could be worse for Toyota - those Camrys could be exploding!

Getting back to Toyota now, we’ve had all kinds of calamities with automotive recalls over the years, from exploding Ford Pintos, to the big “unintended acceleration” scandal with Audi back in the 1980’s. The fact that you probably don’t even remember that will tell you what I’m about to say. This too shall pass, but not before Toyota loses a lot of ground in both market share and reputation. GM they say was the first to jump on Toyota’s neck, offering some big financial incentives to Toyota owners to come in and try the Chevy products. Good move, I say. Because a lot of those former Toyota loyalists would be driving Hondas next week if not given a robust incentive to try the American cars.

Now the Feds are jumping on. They want to look like they're doing something to keep all the soccer moms safe. If Toyota knew a lot more sooner, then I say they deserve it. But we'll never know.

Quoted in Advertising Age, Dean Crutchfield of branding agency Method brought up an excellent point. He said regardless of how hard Toyota throws itself on its sword, there will always be a level of doubt in place that the company's dealerships will have to contend with. "Can you imagine those poor dealerships are now going to have to contend with questions about whether the issue is sorted out in this model or not every time they try to sell a car?" he said. "It's going to trail them for some time to come."

Yes, it will. The Audi situation was a very interesting one. I did a fair amount of work in the car industry back in the eighties and was told by very well informed sources there was nothing wrong with the cars. The whole thing was driver error, but it messed up Audi’s reputation big time, and those dealers had to hear all kinds of inane questions and wisecracks from well misinformed showroom customers for a long time.

Ah, the car business. Never gets dull.