Minty Fresh Breath & Mushy Brains

There have been two marketing campaigns lately that have peeked my interest. The first was one I hadn't actually noticed until I saw an article in media magazine that I thought was pretty cool. Dentyne has their More Face Time" campaign. The idea is to get off the computer and get back into the real world. Hence the "Face Time". They've even gone so far as to put a 3-minute timer on their website to ensure that you don't waist anymore time online than you should. Also on the site is a "Face time Request" where you can fill in some info requesting face time with a friend for anything from coffee to a walk or even a staring match.

In a word, Genius.

These commercials have made me rethink my whole keeping in touch via facebook attitude, and realize that maybe I should just get in the car and go see my girlfriends. Instead of posting pics of the kids, maybe I should just schedule a day to go visit. When a campaign really makes you stop & think, "Hmm. Good Point." It's obviously accomplished something. Now for Dentyne, this campaign makes sense. Kissing, close up chats with friends and basically real life living outside the Twitterverse are all things that would constitute picking up a pack of gum.

Dentyne is going to obviously benefit from more people taking face to face versus instant messaging. It's a great campaign & applaud you Dentyne.



That brings me to the other campaign that has caught my attention lately, Hulu's VERY funny and entertaining Superbowl ad with Alec Baldwin. Funny & entertaining, but also a little disturbing. As someone who did grow up with a parent who did have that "TV will rot your brain" kind of attitude, there is a part of that does attribute TV, and now the Computer, well basically anything that is not involving a book and a patch of sun on a grassy knoll somewhere, as to be a little unhealthy. This is why I face much guilt in how much my life does revolve around the web. And of course I allow my kids to watch much more TV than I would ever care to admit.

So with my own Anti-TV roots mixed with my overreliance on TV & Computers I always wonder if the effects of too much TV & Internet Time might have negative effects on me. Ok, so maybe not always, but I do sometimes have to slap myself and say, "Get off the computer!"

So when Alec Baldwin and the folks at Hulu come up with a campaign claiming that Aliens are behind TV, it is indeed turning our brains too much and is all part of an evil ploy to take over the world, it does not make me want to go visit Hulu. It actually makes me want to live out the Dentyne commercial above.



Funny? YES. I love a Baldwin as much as the next gal. But does it make me want to visit the site and waist even more time watching TV and surfing the web? NO. No, no, no.

So two campaigns both banking on how much we time we spend in front of the TV and computer. One offers a solution to the "Too Much" epidemic, one promises too make it worse.

Ok, I'm done. Now, let's all step away from the computer and get some fresh air and sunshine. Oh crap, it's raining. And there's a 30Rock rerun on.

Face time tomorrow then...