Todd Coats, Chief Creative Officer
Bio
Todd loves variety. Over the past 20 years he's been a designer, art director, illustrator, animator, environmental designer, broadcast designer, producer, creative manager, brand manager, entertainment producer, creative director, chief creative officer, painter, writer, educator, motivator, strategist, funk musician, rapper, loving husband and father. His work has been recognized by The Addys, The Tellys, Graphis, AIGA Graphic Design USA, How, Creativity, ShowSouth, the AIGA North Carolina Design Show — and many more.Articles
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Curious Capstrat–Misfit Jobs
Our unique personalities and skills dictate the kinds of jobs for whichwe’re each best suited. They also determine the jobs we should immediately strike from the list.For example me as a Funeral Home Director. (I can’t keep a straight face.)Or Steven Keith as a School Bus Driver. (The “How’s my driving” hotline would collapse.)So given your personality, what’s your biggest misfit job? -
Good Badvertising
HeadOn! Apply directly to the forehead. Repeat thrice. Become Internet meme.
The ubiquitous HeadOn ad is a 10-second destroyer of ponytail-pretenses that have gunked up the advertising industry for ages. Production values? Who needs ‘em! Persuasion? Emotion? Nah! Humor? Check. Especially if you find rubbing a gluestick on your forehead funny. I sure do.
In an interview with Slate Magazine assistant professor of marketing at Yale School of Management, Dina Mayzlin says, "Part of the charm is that it is so crude. The ad stands out in its repetitiveness. It's intriguing and breaks through the clutter."
Yes, clutter breaking. Like a fart.
That’s Badvertising at its finest. HeadOn sales are up 234% and will continue with an estimated ad budget of $30 million. Brilliant marketing I’d say. For every ad dollar spent they probably make back three because the ad gives viewers headaches, thus spurring demand.
We should expect to see two decades of homage to HeadOn ads. Axe body spray ads aren’t necessarily bad but they owe cultural debt to the B.O. (that’s Badvertising Original, what were you thinking?), Hai Karate aftershave. Sold from 1967 into the 1980s, Hai Karate’s creative strategy balanced on the notion that green gutter water could turn women into lusty cop-a-feel-a-holics. In a genius move, Hai Karate bottles even came with self-defense instructions to protect he-men from the onslaught of aroma-crazed women. Evidently the 1960s expanded the spectrum of advertising in both the good and bad direction.
Since the early 60s, the Godfather of Badvertising, Ron Popeil’s ads have littered the airwaves with their rat-a-tat, Sell-O-Matic goodness. Popeil’s first commercial costs $550 and soon appeared in 100 cities. Similar successes followed the Chop-O-Matic, the Veg-O-Matic. Mr. Microphone, Hair-in-a-can, The Pocket Fisherman, Inside-the-shell Egg Scrambler, Food Dehydrator and Showtime Rotisserie.
It got me thinking. What’s the difference between a bad ad and good Badvertising? I think it should be clear the marketer thinks it’s good, or maybe even not bad. Secondly, the script should rely heavily on mnemonics and repetition. Next, the production values have to be refreshing low and ripe for parody. Lastly, in spite of everything it has to work so well that it proves us ad snobs wrong.
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Another flashcard: Neologism
The OGG hit us with Neologism. That's a new fangled word constructed from the mash up of two words. For instance internet etiquette turns into "netiquette." Ronald Reagan's economic policy became "Reaganomics." You get the idea.
Neologisms occur more often in cultures where language rapidly changes and pop culture thrives. I illustrated slack academics to yield "slackademics." Hey, I went to art school. I get this meaning.
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Litotes exposed!
Thanks to everyone that offered suggestions for my figures of speech flashcards.
I continue to be dumbfounded by my newfound dumbness.
I’ve been working on new flashcards based on the suggestions, so keep them coming.
Will suggested “litotes.” For those like me that didn’t know, it’s a figure of speech in which a speaker, rather than making a certain claim, denies its opposite for emphasis. For example, “Bill Gates isn’t going to the poor house anytime soon.” Conversely, litotes can be used as an understatement to strengthen a statement. Special thanks to The O.G.G (Original Grammar Gangster), Mindy, for setting me straight on litotes and giving me the word “neologism” to work on next.
What do you think?
Stay tuned for neologism!
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Capstrat ReThinks
AIGA Raleigh is conducting a unique poster contest called ReThink. They asked the NC and SC design community to:
Believe creative professionals can make a difference.
Believe individual small steps have a huge impact toward sustainability.
Conceive an idea promoting everyday practices with direct, sustainable results to preserve resources.
Create adigital poster inspiring Carolinians to protect the environment by making sustainable decisions in their everyday lives.
The Capstrat creative team hit the collabratory and came up with interesting results.
1. Wear your clothes more than once.
Copy: Save energy and water by wearing clothes more than once between washings.*
*Unless you’re a smelly lady or dude. Remember Sunday is not pants day.Conceived, designed and mostly written by Brandon with a little help from Lindsey.
2. Bathe less.
Copy: The average shower uses two and a half gallons per minute and lasts nine minutes. Less is best.
Conceived, designed and written by Todd and Shane. Grossed out by Scott.3. Wasting water is sad.
Copy: Don’t run water continuously while you brush your teeth, wash your dog or rinse your dishes. That’s a waste and that’s sad.
Conceived, designed and written by Todd with input from Scott and Shane.4. Essequam videri* (NC State Motto: To be rather than to seem)
Copy: Green is not a fad. It’s a way of life. Take action.
Conceived and designed by Shane. Written by Matheson.5. A piece of paper is not unlike your brain. Use both sides.
Conceived by Scott, designed by Scott and Katie, written by Scott.6. 12 Quadrillion.
Copy: 12 Quadrillion BTUs are saved annually in the US by proper insulation. Be green. Save some green. Add insulation.
Conceived and designed by Chad, written by Matheson.7. Flush only when absolutely necessary.
Copy: A family of four flushes away about 100 gallons of water per day. Double that if your toilet is older than 1982. Remember, if it’s yellow let it mellow. If it’s brown flush it brown. It’s probably a good idea to only do this at home.
Conceived by Todd and Shane, designed by Todd, written by Elizabeth’s little boys. -
The “Wazzup” Syndrome: When good ads go bad
You’ve heard of jumping the shark, haven’t you? The colloquialism represents the precise point when a successful entity slips out of favor just enough to do something desperately stupid. Usually the desperation is met with a faster decline. The term is derived from a 1977 episode of Happy Days when the Fonz jumped a shark tank on water skis.
Sad. Very sad. I believe advertising also takes on the same past peak aroma with the“Wazzup” Syndrome.
Remember the first two "Cavemen" spots for Geico? “It’s so easy to use a caveman could do it.” Bruised Neanderthal feelings on the first spot turn into urbane esquire offense on the second. The third has the company spokesman attempting to smooth the Cavemen’s ruffled fur. The moment we see the characters we know the gag. No surprises. I say,“Wazzup?” They continue to produce nine more spots and a bad TV show that moves further and further away from the original pitch.
Uber risktakers Crispin, Porter + Bogusky resurrected J. Walter Thompson’s late 1970s Burger King in 2004. By 2005, parodies popped up on late night chat shows. Word of mouth spread and the term Creepy King surfaced on the Web. In a genius move, CP+B pushed the creepiness in subsequent spots. They know chatter works. Unfortunately, a recent campaign depicts mothers attempting to kill the King. How can we be creeped out if the King is off’d? We’re forced to empathize with him. That’s not right. It’s also been confirmed the King will be making a full-length movie. Wa-the-H-E-double-L-zup!
Signs of the “Wazzup” Syndrome are an unusual number of parodies, knowing the ending with 15 seconds to go in the spot and your grandmother quoting a catch phrase. Think about the bazillion times Master Card’s “Priceless” has been used and parodied or Alltel's Chad and the perpetually frustrated competitor geeks. We know the ending, which renders the spots less effective.
Advertising is a pop culture thread that briefly ties us together and moves on. For it to be effective it must engage, charm and reinvent itself. Once stale, advertising is chum.
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Calling all linguists!
I’ve been working on a personal project to help explain mysterious linguistic terms. Most we’ve heard but have unclear meanings. I was trying to make a set of 26 cards. One per letter of the alphabet. Problem is, I have a couple examples of “As” and need more examples of other letters. What I have so far:
Tongue Twister or Alliteration (Grey grub)
Anagram(Elvis lives)
Palindrome(Madam I’m Adam)
Oxymoron(Hot ice)
Reduplicative(Hoot Hoot)
Heteronyms(It’s the bass bass now)
Idiom(Kick The bucket)
Xeno(Alien)
Iwas trying to avoid the obvious like noun or verb. Might be impossible. Anybody have other ideas that fill out the rest of the alphabet or what I can call this project?
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Curious Capstrat–Etymology
We arrive from diverse backgrounds, but here we share a passion for winning and a natural curiosity about the world around us. Welcome to “Curious Capstrat” – a blog series of interesting, maybe quirky themed questions.
The first topic is Etymology. What are the origins of these phrases?
"Honeymoon"
“Mind your Ps and Qs”
“Drinking the Kool-Aid”
No cheating! Give us your best, unaided guess even if you have no idea.
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Good design for the people
For the most part, candidates need help with their campaign logos.
Hillary:Classic typeface, tastefully used, red, white and blue–no surprises there. That sweet little flag screams craft store, though. No last name used, Hmm.
Obama:Simple, elegant, concise. With an unusual name like Obama, an O is a perfect choice. The flag ground mimics Middle America and a road towards a brighter day. The top of the O resembles a rainbow or bridge with a dawning sun in the center. Type choice is elegant and not as clunky as Hillary’s. He’s got some Web 2.0 action going on, but the O works. Plus it looks like a patriotic donut.
McCain:John, John, John…You’re not running for sheriff of Hazzard County.
Romney:The mark is elegant but predictable. Haven’t we seen that whole eagle flag thing before? It’s kind of sharp at the end. That scares me. Batman could use it as a grappling hook, though.
Friends—Let’stalk about the issues, put aside our differences and focus on change. Most candidates need better design. They’re missing an opportunity to distinguish themselves. Barack Obama is declared the winner in this race. His mark shows hope, change, freshness, imagination and clarity. Note: The declaration of winner is based on early polling from an audience of one.
What do you think?
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Why I’m big on the Pig
I’m just back from Memphis Tennessee, home to three pioneers, Elvis, Sun Studios and Piggly Wiggly. I love Piggly Wiggly. The stores are long past their heyday but their lasting impression still thrives.
Founded in 1916 by Clarence Saunders, it was the first true self-service grocery store. Saunders even patented this concept in 1917. Because customers could choose products directly from four aisles showcasing 605 items, packaging and brand recognition became important. Choice was important to consumers, narrowing choices became important to companies.
Before Piggly Wiggly, shoppers gave lists to clerks who gathered the goods for them. With a basket of goods, the shopper continued to a cashier corral. No doubt met by the first Star Magazine.
Self-service brought choice. Choice brought brand. Brand brought brand agencies. So, thanks Piggly Wiggly for giving me a job.
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