Scituate's finest

 

After yesterday's second trashing of the recent jaGUar campaign (and their tired vehicle line up) I thought I'd spread some good juju about a campaign I love. But sadly don't see enough of -- Goodby's work for Sam Adams beer.

I should preface this and say I'm a tad biased. 

After all, my sister in law has lived back there most of her life. And her three kids, and now their kids, are in and around the Marshfield area. So taken was I by the beauty of the Massachusett's coastline that years ago, I was tempted to pick up roots and move there.

Crazy, right? Who leaves Southern California to go back east and live in a saltbox?

The point is, I have some familiarity, other than the yearly Yankees v. Red Sox rivalry, to recognize New England authenticity. And that's what I love about the work, it rings true. Albeit in a glossy, manufactured, focus group-friendly kind of way.

For starters the campaign is distinctively tied to the beer. Samuel Adams beer, not my cup of suds, is unmistakably Bostonian. I could cite the connection to the real Sam Adams, but then I'd have to Google American History, not one of my favorite Jeopardy categories.

For other starters, I love how each spot begins with a crafted musical/graphic sting. Not sure why more ad agency people don't employ this technique. There's a reason why jingles worked in the 50's and 60's. In fact Ms. Muse has an encyclopedic knowledge of all them. As well as an awesome and often amazing ability to recall lyrics to every song known to mankind.

Years ago, when I was doing a radio campaign for Bizrate.com, I worked with April W. (did not secure her permission), who suggested we kick off each spot with a chorus of singers, "Another nightmare story about someone who got screwed online...e-screwed."

It was delicious. In the same way the announcer says, "It's your cousin...from Boston."

And then there's the character himself, who may or may not be a second cousin of Ben Affleck. Or Matt Damon. Or even the guy that doesn't like apples. 

He's salty, like a good Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chip basket. But he's not your typical ad spokesperson. I'm looking at you Toyotathon Jan. The client deserves mucho credit for taking the beach path less traveled. 

What I love most is that he's obnoxious, in an almost lovable kind of way. He's unfiltered. Brash. And set in his ways, come on, who wears a backward cap like that anymore? In other words, he's just like people from Boston.

Best of all, charming as it may be, I don't have to listen to that accent for more than 30 seconds at a clip. 

No offense cousins. 

Copy Everything

I've got a bone to pick. I hear you loud and clear, "Rich, when don't you have a bone to pick?" 

And that's totally fair. But if no one points out what's colossally misguided with this world how will it get any better? And so I take my job as righter of wrongs very seriously.

Moreover, while the Jaguar fiasco has gotten a little long in the large feline predator tooth, I have a special interest in the debate as I was, at one time, Group Creative Director on the account and feel I have a right to hold the current marketing genii to task.

More specifically, I take issue with the new tagline: Copy Nothing. 

I may be proven wrong when jaGUar shows us the new line up of vehicles sporting the Growler or the tamed version of The Leaper, but as far as the last 20 years go, jaGUar has COPIED Everything.

As any good lawyer knows, you can't make an assertion without having the proof. And on this I have substantial proof.

Take this 4 door sedan...

Now let's take a look at the Lexus ES 300...

Without the badge wear, you would not be able to tell the difference.

What about SUV's you say. Surely the cheeky lads in Coventry have broken new ground and fashioned an SUV unlike any other on the planet.

Here's the Lexus 350...

And here's the groundbreaking jaGUar F-Pace...

Uhhhhh.

Well they did use a fancy blue background. 

Ok, so I'm cherry picking. But I do enjoy winning an argument, though all the ample proof I've offered regarding Trump being an Idiot Savant of misogyny and feeblemindedness over all these years, was of no apparent use.

Let's take a look at the convertible jaGUar, a sports car where they have made a name for themselves.

And let's take look at the BMW's version (for variety's sake) of the two seated roadster.

Wait what?

When we were trying to breath new life into the brand (way back in 2002) we stumbled upon a maxim written by the head of design at Jaguar. "If you can't tell it's a Jaguar from 100 feet away, we have failed to do our job."

The commodification of the brand and the ill-conceived X-type -- now just $199/month, sorry, bad habit --has not done them a bit of good. 

I'll be shocked if this new marketing effort does anything to help.

Shocked, I tell you.