So I heard a very interesting commercial on the radio
today for a patio/outdoor furniture/backyard type
store. The commercial was extremely serious; there was
no hint of humor in the voices of the actors. And
basically, it started with a man who was giving a
monologue of sorts. He was talking about a reoccurring
dream he kept having where he was working on his son's
swingset. It took him an extremely long time to finish
it, and when he finally did, he turned around to find
his son standing there, no longer a child. He even
mentions that the son is so full grown that he had a
beard. Then, a new voice comes in, advertising patio
chairs, grills, etc.

Obviously, we have some very strange things going on
here.

My first reaction was confusion. What did this
monologue have to do with patio furniture? What were
the marketing directors trying to get across? What
were they attempting to appeal to in this ad?

So I guess my attempt, here, is to get to the bottom
of this.

We are, of course, assuming that these marketing
directors are rational beings and that their goal in
any of their commercials is to entice people to come
to their store and buy their products. But it seems to
me that they are just not doing their job.

Consider:

1. The radio station: 104.9-"The New Music
Alternative." It is a South Bay Area alternative
station that generally plays Weezer, 311, Postal
Service, Coldplay, etc. They're playing mostly new
music. No rap. No country. Strictly alternative. This
radio station caters primarily to a 12-30 year
old audience.

So what does that mean? Well, first of all, most
people who are 12-30 don't have children or patios for
that matter. Moreover, those people who are between 20
and 30 and have children and patios probably aren't
listening to this station. So from what I can tell,
this company is totally advertising on the wrong
demographic station.

That is, unless you're assuming they're hoping parents
will hear their kids' station and subsequently hear
their ad. But realistically, most parents with kids
old enough to be listening to this station either
already have a playground or will never get one. These
parents could want patio furniture- but that doesn't
explain away the dialogue about the grown-beard man.
Consider: someone under 30 with kids is not hitting
their midlife crisis or worrying about their kids
growing too fast. That comes later in life.

So why advertise on this station? Any thoughts?

2. The sad "Cats in the Cradle," "Sunrise,
Sunset"-esque dialogue. Okay. Who wants to hear that?
Seriously? And why would it inspire them to buy
patio furniture? If anything, patio furniture makes
you feel old (think about what you picture when you
picture patio furniture- old people drinking
iced tea). I don't see how depressing me can inspire
me to buy patio furniture. Chocolate, maybe. But not
patio furniture!

So any thoughts? Why pick this campaign? Am I missing
something? Do you think the marketing team is just
that crappy?