Category Archives: F-bomb

Jan 23 2013
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ad slogans, commercials, F-bomb, memes

Bookin’ funny

booking

I found myself laughing like an idiot by the end of the new Booking.com spot, helplessly ceding my critical faculties to a dirty twist on nameonics.

The :60 commercial is really 2 spots in one. The first 40 seconds are a mildly amusing if dutiful execution of a planner insight: travelers are terrified that the hotel they book online will turn out, upon arrival, to be a disaster. This worry is exacerbated here in the U.S., where our Draconianmarket-driven economy allows for far fewer vacation days than in Europe.

In the last 20 seconds, however, the spot goes crazily off the rails, with the VO announcer yelling : “It’s booking marvelous! Look at the booking view!” and so on, like a sportscaster at an English soccer match who’s had a few too many pints but is swearing faster than the censors can bleep him. Having spent a lot of time in the company of Scottish fishing guides who say “fooking” at least 3 times in every sentence, the riff had a special relevance, but I think it’s pretty hard not to get the joke.

It’s booking stupid and sophomoric. It also gets my vote for Next Big Advertising Meme. The spot comes from Weiden’s Amsterdam office, which explains a lot. I saw it on FX’s “Justified” which also explains a lot: a network for guys with grown-up discretionary income but the sensibilities of 14-year olds. Perfect.

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Mar 23 2010
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F-bomb, Joe Biden, swearing, Vice President

$5 foot longs are f—ing fabulous!


Vice President Biden caught on mic; calls health care bill a 'big f—ing deal'

How long before the F-bomb is dropped into advertising? It’s going to be in my lifetime, I’m pretty sure of that. And maybe even while I’m still sentient.

Why am I so sure? Because I hear it every night on teevee, and every day seeping through someone’s ear buds on the subway or the elevator. Advertising lags popular culture and mores, but only by about 5 years. By the time the generation of marketers raised on Jay-Z and The Sopranos makes it to the C-suite, you’re gonna hear advertising that sounds just like open-mike night at the White House.

By the way, not to carp or anything, but “big f—ing deal” usually means it’s not a big f—ing deal at all. What the Vice President meant to say was “…f—ing big deal” as in “That $5 foot long is f—ing fabulous!”