Walt Disney World's 50th Anniversary Celebration

Written by: Rinni Finley

It is an exciting time for Walt Disney World right now with the celebration of its 50th anniversary! After opening the gates to the Walt Disney World theme park in Orlando, Florida on October 1st, 1971, the magic has only grown. From the time of the park’s opening to now, Disney has released over 640 movies including the Marvel and Star Wars franchises. With the constant production of content for fans as well as the ever-evolving parks, Disney and its resorts are one of the most influential companies in the world. As they celebrate their 50th anniversary of the Walt Disney World theme park, the company has introduced some new and redesigned features in the park to honor its semi-centennial celebration. 

Evolution of the Walt Disney World Park Over 50 Years

When the park first opened, Walt Disney had already passed away. Therefore, the responsibility and overseeing of the park fell to his brother, Roy Disney. The park opened with a fully functioning monorail system that took guests to and from the Transportation and Ticket center as well as the hotels. Once inside the park, there were attractions such as Haunted Mansion, Hall of Presidents, it’s a Small World, and more. Over time, Disney installed more attractions like their rides, as well as more hotels and resort portions allowing for a more overall inclusive experience for guests. Currently, Walt Disney World has 4 parks inside including Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT. Between all the parks, there are just over 50 rides and over 100 attractions. 

Redesign of the Annual Pass and Special Merchandise

In homage to the 50th year of the park’s success, Disney has reimagined their annual passes to have an “EARidescent” finish complete with an iconic character in full gold color on the front of the pass. To go along with the “50” theme, there are 50 different characters that will be featured on the new passes, from Mickey Mouse to Olaf. There are also new golden statues of the same “Disney Fab 50” characters spread throughout the park which create more magic and more photo-ops! Disney has added in some smaller details as well such as 50th anniversary cups in their restaurants. On top of details added to the parks, there is a new line of 50th anniversary merchandise as well. With multiple collections that dropped in the park’s stores on October 1st, the exact 50th anniversary, guests can find merchandise in themes of Celebration, Disney Castle, The Vault, EARidescent, and more. 

From annual pass designs to new statues to new, limited edition merchandise, Disney has thought of it all to honor 50 years of the happiest place on Earth.

Our Favorite Olympic Ad Campaigns

Written by: Natalie Alvarez

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Olympics were forced to reschedule to the summer of 2021.  This came with lots of creativity in the Ad world and gave many brands the opportunity to push out their best work.  

Nike 

Nike’s campaign of “The Best Day Ever,” created by Wieden+Kennedy, was a part of their “Play New” campaign.  This ad used well-known athletes such as Serena Williams and Sha'Carri Richardson to promote this campaign.  The video highlighted accomplishments that athletes make to better their tomorrow.  This ad also shone a light on mental health and the importance of athletes taking care of themselves.  

Nike also released another ad titled “The New Fairies,” the same day Rayssa Leak, a 13-year-old Brazilian, won the silver medal in the first-ever women’s Olympic skateboarding street event.  This ad used the song “A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes,” which is famous for its feature in Disney’s Cinderella.  The ad includes visuals of Disney animals and shows the creative mind of a young 13-year-old and she skates around town. 

Dick’s Sporting Goods “There She Is” 

Dick’s Sporting Goods came out with their “There She Is” ad by focusing on female athletes.  The tune “Miss America” by Johnny Desmond was used throughout.  This ad not only fits the tone of focusing on the Olympics but can also be used as a way for female empowerment.  The chief marketing director of Dick’s Sporting Goods, Ed Plummer, stated in an interview with Fast Company that “we’ve thought about this as more broad than the Olympics.” 

Beats By Dre 

Beats by Dre released an ad starring track star Sha’Carri Richardson.  Richardson was banned from the Olympics after a positive marijuana test and was unable to compete.  This ad also promoted Kanye West and the drop of his new album “DONDA,” by using a song that was to be featured on the album.  Richardson is dressed in Nike and is wearing the Beats by Dre headphones.  Although Richardson was not allowed to participate in the Olympics due to the drug test, other companies such as Nike showed their support for her by including her in their ads. 

Facebook

As Skateboarding made its first appearance in the 2021 Olympics this year, Facebook took advantage of this new sport to create their “Longboard Family” ad. According to an article by CNN, many skateboarders were not happy with the fact that this has now been added in the Olympics.  Most see Skateboarding as a lifestyle rather than a sport. This ad was created by Droga5 and directed by FKA Twigs.  Throughout the ad, it shows skateboarders putting their skills on display, while also promoting the Facebook app through sharing their creative videos.

United Airlines 

The official airline sponsor of the Team USA 2021 Olympics, United Airlines, released their “Time to Let Yourself Fly” campaign to promote air travel during the 2021 Olympics. Because the Olympics were hosted in Tokyo this past year, United wanted to promote air travel since the world is now opening back up after the pandemic. This ad campaign used athletes such as gymnast Simon Biles and surfer Kolohe Andin. This year marked 40 years that United Airlines has sponsored Team USA along with their partnership to fly out athletes along with all their equipment.

Instagram Shopping

Written by: Hannah Stedman

The popular photo-sharing app is making a transition into a shopping and video platform. Instagram’s recent updates have introduced more shopping specific features that let users buy directly from the app from corporations and small businesses. 

With the introduction of Instagram shops, there is now a designated section that users can visit to buy products. Instagram allows the user to save their card information and shipping address, so shopping can be done in as few as two clicks. Products can be tagged in posts so users can see them  on their home feed. When users select the product, Instagram directs them  to shopping pages where they can buy the product with just a couple of clicks. 

Many small businesses are taking advantage of Instagram live to do product demonstrations and give a more in depth look at the quality and specific features of the product. Some businesses have also utilized their stories and highlight reels to show their products for sale and let users purchase off of these features. One example is how users can purchase products off of Instagram stories. Users  comment  on the story of a specific  item they  want with their information, and the seller then can put aside the item to ship after the user pays for it.

These changes to Instagram’s platform have led to a significant increase in spending. Instagram’s business account says 50% of people that they've surveyed have gone to a website to buy the product or service that they saw on Instagram stories and 58% of people have become more interested in a brand or product after seeing them in stories. As more businesses utilize stories, the more easily accessible the products will become and the more users will be accustomed to purchasing items off of the platform. 

Users are drifting away from Instagram as a social media platform and are openly embracing it as another form of shopping. It’s getting harder to tell the difference between a normal picture post with a product tag and a sponsored post, and one day there may not be a difference between them at all.

These types of features are what separates Instagram from other social media platforms like TikTok or Twitter. Instagram has been easily able to adapt to the new trends and they listen to what the consumers want. It has evolved so much since its start in 2010, and it will continue to evolve to stay relevant for years to come.

The Sports Industry During the Pandemic

Written by: Miller Ladusau

COVID-19 has caused almost every business, school, and sports network to take an economic hit. This year has been full of unknowns, and we lived through quite a historical event. COVID-19 has ruined a lot of things in the last year, but the sports community has especially suffered — in more ways than one. 

The Olympics

One effect that the pandemic has had on the sports world is the 2020 — now 2021 — Olympics. Sports fans have waited four long years for the Olympics, and now they cannot even partake in watching the long-celebrated competition; the last time the Olympics was canceled was way back in 1992. This cancellation means that athletes must keep up their hard-core training regimens and diets, and fans must be patient for another long year.

Advertising

The hit the sports industry has taken due to COVID-19 has majorly affected advertisers. There is not much, if anything, to advertise, simply because there aren’t as many games and events taking place. “The situation isn't much better for advertisers during regular major league sports programming. According to data supplied to Marketing Dive from TV ad measurement firm EDO, live sports events​ account for eight of the top 10 programs in its SER Index, which measures the effectiveness of a TV ad based on the actions viewers take.” 

"The unprecedented cancellation of March Madness, in particular, has dramatic implications for advertisers, who spent an estimated $1.126 billion in total on March Madness advertising in 2019 for an estimated 22.5 billion impressions,” the company said. This year, sports organizations are not even making 50 percent of the commission that is typically made. 

Ticket Sales

Due to social-distancing practices, ticket sales have majorly decreased. Because crowd sizes are supposed to be contained to a small number, there are a limited amount of admissions at every game these days; small crowds mean much less money. Because ticket sales cannot really resume any time soon, teams are getting creative with new ways to sell tickets and advertise. For example, “several teams, including the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, are offering fans the chance to buy cardboard cutouts that will take their place in the stands. MLB will also use virtual crowd noise that will be audible to fans watching at home.” 

A bright spot in the sports industry right now is the player’s pay in the MLB. Although their season has been cut short, players will still receive their full salaries. “When weeks of negotiations failed to yield an agreement, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred mandated the 60-game season, with players receiving the full prorated salaries they wanted.”

Although COVID-19 caused quite a sticky situation for the sports world, many organizations stepped up to the plate in order to continue to advertise and pay their players. The MLB is just one example of how teams are adapting to the challenges this pandemic created, and how creative advertising can really be. Hopefully, sports will be back in full swing this time next year.

Targeted Advertisements Becoming Normalized

Written by: Sydney Villanueva

Let’s talk about creepy advertisements. It happens to all of us, all of the time. Just last week I Googled IPSY, the subscription box brand, because I was researching it for a project. I exited my browser, pulled out my phone to go on Instagram, and what do you know? There was an ad for IPSY. I find that this most frequently happens to me on Instagram and Facebook.

Companies have taken targeted advertisements to a whole new level in recent years with something called cookies—and no, I’m not talking about the kind that you eat. 

According to Privacy.net, “cookies are used to remember things about websites: your login information, what you have in your shopping cart, and what language you prefer.” The cookies that make those creepy ads pop up on all of your social media accounts are called third-party persistent cookies/tracking cookies. Other websites can access cookies they didn’t necessarily create in the first place, making cookies a powerful tool in advertising.

Although targeted ads can seem creepy, your name isn’t attached to the cookies in any way, shape or form; however, they do categorize you in groups for targeted advertisements. 

Companies are well aware that targeted ads can persuade people to buy items that they were initially not going to purchase. That’s why they use them.

I have been on the verge of buying an item online and decide against it plenty of times, but ads that continually pop up on my social media accounts eventually make me want to purchase the item after all. 

Users can take action to avoid these types of cookies, but it’s getting harder and harder to avoid them all together these days. One way to prevent these stalker-like ads is clearing all of the cookies from your web browser often. If you’re really concerned about being targeted by ads, the New York Times has a great article on free tools you can use to help it stop.

Picture source: https://digiday.com/media/know-cookies-guide-internet-ad-trackers/

Power of Advertising During The Super Bowl

Written by: Gabriella Morales

There are two major aspects to the biggest sporting event in America: football and commercials. The Super Bowl presents a unique opportunity for companies because it is one of the only televised games of the year where audiences actually look forward to watching the commercial breaks. Companies and TV networks realize this; in turn, ad spots sell for staggering amounts of money. This year, with only 77 slots available, FOX charged $5.6 million for each 30 second ad slot, with total sales estimated at $400 million. With a high price, high impact and low availability, companies pull out all the stops for their coveted 30 seconds. This year, all the ad slots sold out by November 2019, proving that preparation for this event is no joke. Viewers anticipate the originality and creativity of the upcoming commercials after seeing previews and teasers of the advertisements. But - I’m wondering if the cost, publicity and hype is all worth it in the end.

Super Bowl LIV commercials didn’t disappoint. A star-studded line up with artists like Post Malone and Lil Nas X lending their acting talents to companies - Bud Light and Doritos, respectively – proved effective. Ellen DeGeneres appeared with her wife, Portia, in an advertisement for Amazon Alexa, Bill Murray made audiences chuckle in the Jeep Groundhog Day commercial, Google made us cry with its “Loretta” commercial and Oikos made audiences laugh out loud with its bubble butt ad.

There’s always an angle behind these commercials. Some are political, some are inspirational and some pull at our heart strings. For example, the “Loretta” commercial was based on a true story about a Google employee’s grandfather and his late wife, Loretta. The grandfather performs the voiceover himself, and the pictures are real pictures of his grandfather and his wife Loretta. Talk about a heartwarming story! Michelob Ultra took a stand to help non-organic farmers convert their land to organic farmland with each 6-pack sold. Who knew drinking beer could be for a good cause? Kia inspired many young athletes who live in poverty that there is something better for them; if they work hard, they can achieve anything, just like Josh Jacobs. All of the commercials will stick in our heads for days and weeks to come. Since the show featured good advertising across the board, I believe all the costs associated with production, casting and getting a spot during the game is worth it.

The football game was definitely entertaining to watch, however, I’d have to say the commercials will have a far bigger impact on the viewers, like myself, than the game ever will. I’ll remember the Loretta commercial and how sweet an old husband’s love is far longer than who had the most passing yards in the game. The game didn’t make me cry or inspire me to choose a company that has vowed to make a difference, but the commercials did. So, the next time I’m debating between two different brands at the grocery store, I know I will remember these advertisements and purchase the product that made an impact on me and that is the whole goal of advertising.

The Future of Advertising

Written By: Eighmy Dobbins 

Experiential advertising has become the new way to create memorable connections between a brand and their consumers. Over the past few years, more and more companies are turning to experiential ads instead of traditional digital advertising. According to Rich Ord, Digital advertising has become over saturated and boring to consumers.  Many consumers claim it has become too invasive into their search history or past clicking habits (Turow, 2009). Others do not like the fact that they can’t get on social media without seeing multiple advertisements each minute (and usually the same ones over and over again). Advertisements on YouTube are also ineffective because viewers press “skip ad” as soon as possible. Advertisers are realizing the struggle of digital advertisements as well. The human attention span is  only about six seconds, which makes it harder to create a memorable advertisement that will stick with consumers. Now, experiences are becoming the trend companies are investing in.

            Experiential advertising creates a natural relationship with consumers by recognizing the memory of their personal experience with the brand and their product. This, in turn, creates a high level of loyalty and gives brands  an edge over their competitors. It’s impersonal and does not have much impact when someone scrolls by an advertisement on a page. When a consumer goes to an event and gets to see/taste/smell a product, it creates a memory and they will be more inclined to buy the product in the future. Consumers get to talk with brand employees and influencers and engage personal dialogue about the product, as well as get their questions answered. The same goes for brands, because they get feedback from consumers about what they like or dislike about their product.

            One of the first advertisement experiences I remember was the Red Bull “Stratos” jump. This advertisement took place in 2012, but to me, it feels like yesterday. Red Bull is notorious for partnering with extreme sports athletes, but they took this event in 2012 to the next level. Red Bull  hired skydiver, Felix Baumgartner, to do the world’s highest skydive. The entire event was live streamed on YouTube and had the highest viewing traffic ever with over eight million people watching. Although viewers didn’t skydive with Felix, they felt like they were in space with him as he jumped.

            South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas has more and more experiential advertisements each year. This past year, two of my favorites were: HBO and Casper. HBO created themed escape rooms for SXSW goers to try and solve. The escape rooms were themed as some of HBO’s hit shows, like: Veep, Silicon Valley and Game of Thrones.

Casper is a mattress company and they partnered with an app called One Night, which lets travelers book a hotel room after 3 p.m. for that night. Consumers who downloaded and used the app received a discount price at the Austin Motel, one of Austin’s trendiest hotels. On top of that, Casper had refresh rooms on site with Casper beds and pillows. Visitors signed up for a time slot and spent 45 minutes of relaxation on a Casper mattress. This experience was my favorite because consumers had the opportunity to sleep on the product before investing in it. Now the next time they are in the market for a new mattress, Casper will pop into their heads. There is a new wave of advertising approaching us, and we will see more brands allocating their budget to create experiences for consumers instead of the same digital advertisements we are accustomed to now. 

Ord, R. (2018, August 28). Experiential Advertising - Where Live Advertising is Exploding. Retrieved from https://www.webpronews.com/experiential-advertising-where-live-advertising-is-exploding/

Turow, J., King, J., Hoofnatle, C. J., Bleakley, A., & Hennessy, M. (2009). Americans Reject Tailored Advertising and Three Activities at Enable It. h ps://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1478214l

When Advertising Goes Wrong

Carefully crafting a brand image is a key focus of advertising.  But what happens when a brand missteps?  Morris+Mitchell recently took a look at a case of advertising gone wrong.  Guest blogger Dylan Owen shares a specific example from Dove beauty products.    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJssvw1LQbI

Dove recently released an ad which came under fire and could lead to some customers boycotting the brand.  The problem?  Quite simply, racism.  In the 3-second video Dove posted to its Facebook site, a black woman was shown removing her top to then expose a white woman underneath followed by another woman. Many perceived this clip to be suggesting that a black woman could be found more attractive should she lighten her skin. One question that viewers kept bringing up was, how did Dove overlook the racial context of this video?  This is not the first time Dove has made this type of mistake, and at what point will they learn?

The social media outcry over this ad escalated into a public relations disaster for the brand.  Making matters worse, Dove’s apology and statement came across as insincere for many women. Dove declined to say how the ad was produced and approved but the company did state that they are “re-evaluating our internal processes for creating and approving content.” If Dove’s main goal is to represent “diversity of real beauty” then they need a better strategy.  Because of the recent controversy, similar ads have resurfaced involving race, including Dove’s Visible Care body wash ad as well as a debacle over the packaging on Dove’s Summer Glow Lotion.   

In 2011, Dove apologized for an advertisement for Dove Visible Care body wash, which appeared to portray a black woman as the “before” photo and a white woman as the “after” photo.  The ad then asked consumers which had “more beautiful skin?” According to Dove, all three women were meant to represent the benefits of using the lotion.  But when viewing the ad, it is easy to see how it could come across in a negative manner.  

In 2012, Dove encountered criticism for labeling of its Summer Glow body lotion.  The company printed “normal to dark skin” on bottles of lotion. Dove angered its 'real women' as the brand's Summer Glow suggests that dark skin isn't normal. While Dove has already apologized for its choice of words, stating that the product should have been labeled “medium to dark skin,” Bottles of the “normal to dark” lotion can still be found on the shelves. Dove did state, however, "We take this issue very seriously and are sorry for any offense caused. These bottles were discontinued in 2012. Many of our lotions focus on moisture as the key benefit and in some cases, we label them 'normal to dry skin'. This product should have been marked as 'fair to medium skin' or 'medium to dark skin'. There was a mix up with the batches, and we labeled the wrong product."

One may question Dove’s marketing strategy and approval process.  Taking such a big misstep in marketing is certainly not making real women feel beautiful.

International Stereotypes in Advertising

Spending five months abroad taught me a lot of things, many of which were to be expected. However, I learned a few things that I wasn’t exactly seeking out- namely, not to believe everything that I’ve been told about the people in other countries. I didn’t realize just how deeply advertising affects not only what we think about certain brands or companies, but also what we think about whole groups of people. By promoting certain services or products, advertisers shape what consumers believe about their fellow humans across the pond and elsewhere- just Google what’s advertised as “American” in any other country and you’ll see what I mean. There were a whole slew of pre-conceived notions that I didn’t even know I had until they were proven wrong, such as:

• All French people smell bad- deodorant brands have explicitly advertised that you “don’t want to smell like the French” in order to sell their products

• All Italians eat mountains of pizza and pasta- songs, TV shows and restaurant chains are just a few of the things that characterize this nationality into a costume

• All English people have bad teeth- from gum companies to toothpaste brands, the image that Brits have poor dental hygiene has been painted into our heads

• All Swedish people are blonde- ok, this one is MAINLY true...but still, there are plenty of non-blonde Swedes, but you wouldn’t know it from the way they are advertised and played in the U.S.

None of this is to say that advertising is inherently harmful to people of other cultures. It helps us understand an aspect of each other in a way that is easy for our minds to grasp, and it’s a quick way for advertisers to make their points. However, it was an enlightening experience to have some of the stereotypes in my subconscious shattered, and it was interesting to note just how much advertising had affected me- even when I left the country they had been reaching me in.

The Desire to be Creative in Advertising

My imagination has never just been in my head… it has always been active. I was the kid that would wet the bed after hearing of the bad guys my dad’s bedtime stories brought to life. As I got older, I used my active imagination to fuel my creativity in writing a short story at eight-years-old that was published in The Rising Star, a Texas state magazine for young writers. I went on to pursue music, recording Taylor Swift-inspired, angsty teenage songs when I got to high school. Coming into college, I decided to pursue a major that capitalized on my “on-set” creativity.

Unfortunately, with age, I have found my creativity harder and harder to hone in on, activate and use to my advantage. My to-do list motivates me more than the idea of finishing that last chapter of the latest thriller I’m reading (and no, I no longer wet the bed).

I find that I mesh better with my team at Morris+Mitchell by being the administrator, the planner and the task master. I am confident in my ability to get things done and get them done well; but when it comes to taglines, slogans and the creative process of advertising, I hide. I shiver. I fear. I’m not sure when I began to shy away from the innovative process, but it has become crippling to put myself out there.

What I tend to forget is that everyone is creative. That term tends to exclusively describe artists, designers and copywriters, but in advertising everyone on board has a creative spirit in their heart. It’s why they’re in the business that creates something out of nothing.

“If you’re alive, you’re a creative person,” says author Elizabeth Gilbert in her book, Big Magic. To be creative means to have a good imagination, original ideas or produce artistic work. It doesn’t require having “Creative Director” on your resume. It may mean you’re good at working on teams that reach a seemingly impossible end goal, strategizing your day with your planner and to-do list, rebranding a company from the ground up or simply brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand. Being creative is an innate gift in every single human, desiring to be manifested from the inside out. I may pursue a career as an account coordinator/manager/director, but that won’t stop me from playing with the "creatives." I hope it doesn’t stop you, either.