February 5, 2012

AT&T “Rollover Mom” Brings Reality to its Marketing

RolloverMomYou’ve probably seen her in the AT&T “FamilyTalk with Rollover Minutes” spots as the mother who gives her family the oh-so-familiar-death-eye glance that only Moms are capable of and usually have the desired effect on children or teens. I know when I see the ads it reminds me of my Mom telling me to do my homework or eat my food. The actress’ name is Geneva Carr and ten years ago left a lucrative banking job to pursue an acting career, having appeared a few episodes of Law and Order and Hope and Faith and hosts of other on TV appearances. Since then she’s gained wide acclaim on TV and the stage, but you probably know her best from the steel-piercing stare she projects as a Mom who scolds her sons and sometimes her husband for wasting minutes. According to AT&T, her role on “FamilyTalk with Rollover Minutes” commercials was supposed to be a one-time deal, but the humor of the spots soon caught on and AT&T found that the spine-chilling stare and finger-wagging we all have experienced as a child was a winner. Humor and childhood reality seem to always be a good mix for advertisers. AT&T knows that they have a winner and recently started letting fans and AT&T users know more about Geneva Carr, seems she gets the stare and attitude from her own Polish mother that never wasted anything. As her popularity grows, some on Internet Movie Database message boards (IMDB) find her sexy, most find her funny and talented, I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of Geneva and her hapless kids asking “Mom, can I have more minutes?”

More information on Geneva Carr according to IMDB

Until next time, Tim

Motrin Feeling a Twittering Pain

Motrin is feeling the pain. The ad attached here was attacked online over the weekend, mainly from those of us on Twitter. Mothers complained it was offensive. What do you think?

Motrin Mom Babywearing Ad

The coverage from the mainline media, and the thousands of Tweets on Twitter made the company pull the ad from its website and issue an apology for upcoming print ads. The woman who sparked this controversy is L.A.-based blogger, freelance writer and mother, Jessica Gottlieb. On Saturday, she received a Twitter message asking her to check out the online Motrin video. Which she promptly did and started the firestorm, and then let the world know how much it offended her.

I don’t think the ad was that offensive, maybe the “trendy” part about wearing your baby and the obvious exaggeration about wearing “it on your side, your back” etc. was too much. But, people are entitled to their opinion, and they now have an instant venting mechanism. I guess this Motrin ad and McNeil Consumer Healthcare, will go down as a case history of companies trying to deal with a newly-empowered audience that can talk back to ads, almost instantly, even on a weekend. Search MotrinMoms on Twitter and see what I mean. One mom stayed up until 4AM to respond to the ad with a Youtube video.

On a somewhat related note, my friends Dan and Eileen just had their fifth child – a baby boy. Congratulations! I’ll have to ask them how they plan on carrying him?

Until next time, Tim