{"id":1976,"date":"2010-12-22T18:12:08","date_gmt":"2010-12-23T00:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medianet-ny.com\/wordpress\/?p=1976"},"modified":"2011-01-08T13:30:53","modified_gmt":"2011-01-08T19:30:53","slug":"when-a-tv-ad-goes-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/medianet-ny.com\/wordpress\/when-a-tv-ad-goes-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"When a TV Ad Goes Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"National<\/a>A\u00a0television commercial touting the business skills of a rising young executive\u00a0only serves to make her look less than professional.<\/p>\n

First\u00a0aired during the 2010 Super Bowl,\u00a0National Car Rental<\/strong>\u00a0sends\u00a0the wrong corporate\u00a0message to would-be presenters in a corporate world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 30-second ad is shown below, but the first 10 seconds tell the whole story.<\/p>\n

<\/param><\/param><\/param><\/object><\/p>\n

After watching the video,\u00a0we thought that a few still-images\u00a0would clearly demonstrate the many mistakes that plague the poor presenter, commercially named Robin<\/em>. The\u00a0voice-over narrator uses the proverbial “you” to\u00a0connect the viewer to Robin’s presentation\u00a0with directed phrases like “you are a business pro…”\u00a0But, it takes less than 10 seconds to watch her fade from “pro” to amateur.<\/p>\n

“Robin” the Spotlight\u00a0<\/h3>\n

The commercial opens in a conference room with Robin standing directly in front of the\u00a0screen<\/em>. The lesson learned is that the\u00a0image should never appear on your body, as the\u00a0content will look distorted and\u00a0difficult to decipher.<\/p>\n

\"national-1\"

Figure 1 - Hands clasped together, standing in front of the screen.<\/p><\/div>\n

In Figure 1, the problems mount as her body language suggests hesitancy and possible nervousness when the hands clasp together<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Usually, if\u00a0a presenter is unsure of content, the hands tend to cover the more vulnerable\u00a0parts of the body as a form of protection.<\/p>\n

This action is one of the biggest mistakes made by speakers who are trying to project confidence, but\u00a0imply the opposite with hands held together.<\/p>\n

Of course, standing in the light source only\u00a0draws more attention to\u00a0the problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Visual Design is not a Piece of Cake<\/span> Pie<\/h3>\n
\"national-2\"

Figure 2 - One slice too many - and it's missing!<\/p><\/div>\n

The background image\u00a0indicates a lack of attention to visual design<\/em>. With a pie chart, the eye scans the slices starting from the 12 o’clock position. In Figure 2, the starting point is a\u00a0slice of 0%. How can you have 0% of something?\u00a0Imagine offering a guest a\u00a0slice of\u00a0nothing!<\/p>\n

While the labels (percentages) are shown inside each slice,\u00a0the floating “0%” sits outside of the pie,\u00a0because even PowerPoint can’t display a pie slice that doesn’t really exist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In fact, the legend above the pie accounts for only 6 pie segments, ignoring the 0%. Imagine if someone asked for the backup data to support the missing slice?\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are\u00a0other visual contrast issues<\/em>.\u00a0 When labels are placed inside<\/em> pie segments,\u00a0text color may lose contrast, such as the dark text inside the darkest slice. Due to variations in data segment size and color, it is better to place labels on the outside<\/em> so that font size and color can remain consistent.<\/p>\n

The eye also navigates to the brightest foreground elements. So, for the pie chart, it is better to position the brighter color segments nearest the 12 o’clock position. But this is not done here. Moreover, although the two largest\u00a0slices are brightest, they are also nearly identical in color.\u00a0Compare the 35% slice in Figure 2 (above)\u00a0with the 29% slice in Figure 3 (below)\u00a0along with\u00a0the related squares in the legend.\u00a0The\u00a0similarity in colors\u00a0is visually confusing.<\/p>\n

In general, the slide background color is too light<\/em>,\u00a0forcing the heading (Figure 1) to be darker. A white or bright background suggests a print metaphor, but slides\u00a0should follow\u00a0visual design rules, using darker backgrounds\u00a0with lighter foreground elements. Although the attempt is made to offset the chart area in a slightly darker color,\u00a0it is still too light because the legend above the pie uses darker text.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Negative Point of View<\/h3>\n
\"national-3\"

Figure 3 - When finger point meets PowerPoint.<\/p><\/div>\n

The narrator\u00a0gives\u00a0Robin\u00a0the title “princess of the PowerPoint”\u00a0but perhaps “flaunter of the fingerpoint” is more accurate. Figure 3 captures one of the worst gestures a speaker can\u00a0make —\u00a0the pointed finger<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The gesture is also mirrored\u00a0in shadow and appears accusatory.\u00a0 If you point\u00a0a finger at someone, three fingers always point back at you.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Always use an open palm<\/em> to appear warm,\u00a0inviting,\u00a0and approachable.<\/p>\n

The distracting delivery\u00a0is compounded by her stepping into the light source, which visually splits her in two,\u00a0reminiscent of\u00a0a partial eclipse.\u00a0\u00a0How is it that the director did not see this?<\/p>\n

Left is Right<\/h3>\n

During the entire presentation,\u00a0Robin is standing\u00a0opposite of the reading anchor<\/em>. English has left-to-right pattern, so she should be positioned on the LEFT side of the screen, from\u00a0an audience perspective. When a presenter is positioned\u00a0on the same side as the reading anchor, the audience makes faster connections to content.<\/p>\n

\"national-4\"

Figure 4 - The wrong side of the argument.<\/p><\/div>\n

In Figure 4, she\u00a0is opposite the reading anchor, partially in the light source, creating a\u00a0poor line-of-sight. <\/em>For\u00a0those seated on her side, she blocks the view of the\u00a0most\u00a0current data (4th Quarter)\u00a0as well as\u00a0any corresponding legend that explains the bar\u00a0colors.<\/p>\n

These items are distorted\u00a0when projected on her face and clothes.<\/p>\n

Examining the slide content,\u00a0clusters of bars should follow a darker-to-lighter pattern, from left-to-right.<\/p>\n

However, by placing the brightest bar in the middle\u00a0of each cluster, the eye is drawn inward to each data set, rather than across the clusters\u00a0intentionally placed\u00a0along a quarterly timeline. In fact, the phrase “Quarterly Results” is not an emphatic heading<\/em>\u00a0and does\u00a0little to guide the eye to specific data.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reading Body Language<\/h3>\n
\"national-5\"

Figure 5 - Not the way to read facial expressions.<\/p><\/div>\n

One of the most\u00a0distracting moments\u00a0in a presentation is when a speaker stands directly in front of the projector,\u00a0as words appear across the person’s face<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that when\u00a0penetrating the light source\u00a0you may become a walking billboard.<\/p>\n

Figure 5 shows Robin looking completely unprofessional,\u00a0wearing a\u00a0less than visually appealing PowerPoint tattoo created\u00a0from the legend labels that float across her forehead, nose and cheeks.<\/p>\n

It is clear that\u00a0neither a “business\u00a0pro” nor a “princess of the PowerPoint”\u00a0was\u00a0present during the filming of this commercial.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Apparently,\u00a0the ad agency responsible for the\u00a0commercial failed to consult with anyone who knows how to present; or, worse yet, the agency may believe\u00a0this is the norm in a business meeting. One can only imagine how the\u00a0agency\u00a0pitches\u00a0their clients.<\/p>\n

Of course, the fact that this was aired during the Super Bowl (and continues to run) shows that National Car Rental thinks it’s acceptable to the widest possible audience, nearly everyone on the planet. So, both the client and the agency are\u00a0cast in\u00a0the same poor light and, unfortunately, this really\u00a0projects a poor\u00a0image<\/em> (pun intended).<\/p>\n

It is disappointing that a large business entity\u00a0promotes such a visually\u00a0distracting environment while\u00a0attempting to market services to the very business\u00a0clientele they\u00a0insult.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hopefully, National Car Rental and its ad agency will consult with business professionals before making a commercial for business professionals!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0television commercial touting the business skills of a rising young executive\u00a0only serves to make her look less than professional. First\u00a0aired during the 2010 Super Bowl,\u00a0National Car Rental\u00a0sends\u00a0the wrong corporate\u00a0message to would-be presenters in a corporate world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[14],"tags":[21,7,22,9,11,8],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paPH93-vS","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/medianet-ny.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1976"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/medianet-ny.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/medianet-ny.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/medianet-ny.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/medianet-ny.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1976"}],"version-history":[{"count":80,"href":"http:\/\/medianet-ny.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1994,"href":"http:\/\/medianet-ny.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1976\/revisions\/1994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/medianet-ny.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/medianet-ny.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/medianet-ny.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}