Wisdom.Applied Wednesday: Animation and Advertising

Animation isn’t just for children’s movies; it also works well in advertisements. From Snap, Crackle and Pop to the Geico Gecko, brands have used animation in their ad campaigns since the 1940s. The graphic appeal and humor of animation is appealing to consumers, so on this Wisdom.Applied Wednesday, we will be looking at the variety of ways animation is used to make an ad campaign effective.

To make the message of a PSA more attractive to viewers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGsqpDOT3q8

The Truth campaign aims to end teen smoking by exposing Big Tobacco’s marketing practices. In 2008, Truth debuted their satiric “Sunny Side of Truth” commercial. By using song, dance and a few magical animated friends (unicorns and leprechauns, to name a few), the commercials sarcastically points out the “hidden positives” of smoking and tobacco use. Although smoking is a serious health concern, the use of humor and cheeky animation prevents the ad from being too preachy to its teenage audience.

To give a new spin to a consumer favorite

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrcmm_diiU4

I dare you to try and not smile when watching this Oreo commercial. The fully animated ad features the voices of Owl City singing about classically “bad” characters who are able to turn into positive figures with the help of an Oreo. The “Wonderfilled” campaign, which mirrors the simple, fun nature associated with the Oreo brand, “starts with a very simple premise, about how something as small as an Oreo cookie can bring about a positive change in perspective,” said Janda Lukin, Brand Director for Oreo.

To draw attention to banner ads

http://youtu.be/IUh3yaXbkEM

Adnimation is a start-up that creates animations for brands to layer over standard online banner ads. The start-up provides a library of animations to choose from, so brands and advertisers don’t have to spend extra time and money on creating animations themselves. Rather than being another way to annoy consumers with banner ads, founder and CEO Tomer Traves believes that the animations will draw people into clicking through the banner ad “with a smile.”

To make uncomfortable topics easier to address

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqoykQ5804M

Pharmaceutical companies are no stranger to creating animated characters for their ads; for example, Nasonex has their allergy-ridden bee and Mucinex has their personified mucus characters. In the Myrbetriq commercial, the animated bladder character “brings to life a woman’s inner dialogue” with her condition, says Walt Johnson, Vice President of U.S. Marketing and New Product Planning at Astellas. It might seem a bit lighthearted to some to have an animated character talking about a health problem, but it can make a condition seem more approachable and manageable, encouraging an individual to actually talk to their doctor about treatment options they see in ads.

Do you have a favorite animated ad campaign? Share with us in the comments section below!

Cover Photo Source: Champion studio

Jenny is a Junior Executive at SJG. She earned her BA in Psychology and a minor in Educational Studies in 2014 from Colgate University. Outside the office, Jenny loves to travel (usually to Disney World), bake and watch copious amounts of TLC.