Schupp Company Blog

Schupp Talks Super Bowl Ads

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Every year the handsome and well-dressed man at the helm of Schupp Co. hits the media trail to open up the commentary on the advertising industry’s biggest premiere, the Super Bowl. This year, Mark Schupp worked the so-called red carpet live on KMOV Channel 4, talking about the brands that won and the brands that lost with their commercials.

Mark was immediately drawn to images of Betty White getting trucked into the mud, noting that Snickers, Doritos, Bud Light and E-Trade would make the USA Today Top 10. Of course, his ad-prowess was proven correct as America mirrored his sentiment through the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter.

Mark also pulled the curtain back on the Bud Light brand, commenting on their new tagline and strategy.

KMOV_Mark

Additionally, Donna MacDonald VP Account Service and Jim Mayfield VP ECD at Schupp Co. made their rounds at St. Louis’s top news stations. Each talked about the super or not-so-super TV commercials that made their debuts during the 2010 Super Bowl.

KMOV_Donna

KSDK_Jim2(6-7am)

But this wasn’t the end of the insight given by the advertising experts at Schupp Co. Additional radio interviews were conducted by Mark Schupp and Anthony Simmons CD.

KTRS_Mark

KTRS_Anthony

Posted in Advertising, Culture, Television | No Comments »

So Much for Quiet Reading Time…

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

Recently I was interested, but also annoyed, to learn about what’s being billed as the first video advertisements ever in a print magazine.

Within the pages of the September 18, 2009 issue of Entertainment Weekly, a co-branded CBS/Pepsi insert featured a small video screen embedded inside. Akin to one of those ridiculous greeting cards that play music or yell at you when opened, the tiny video screen automatically plays when the reader opens the spread promoting the coming fall programming lineup for CBS. The video features pre-roll from the cast members of the Big Bang Theory before launching into CBS sneak peeks and obligatory Pepsi ads.

The battery powered technology, developed by Americhip allows the player to show up to 40 minutes of video. The insert was included in all copies of the issue, but the video version appeared only in New York and Los Angeles circulation, presumably because of the seemingly astronomical cost of such a contraption. Here’s a clip of the first few seconds after opening the insert.

Based on what you can see on the YouTube clip, the quality of the video player seems fairly good and features loud audio that’s sure to piss off the librarian or the persons sitting in your airplane row. From what I can tell, there are no volume controls – most likely an intentional omission.

This is not the first time magazine publishers and advertisers have tried to bring print pages “to life.” Most previous attempts have failed miserably, such as the e-ink cover in Esquire magazine last year to the horrendous DigiMarc and CueCat offerings.

I think this CBS/Pepsi attempt will be successful as a “publicity stunt”, but on its own, without additional interactivity, it’s a “dead man walking” for the future. I realize the technology is pretty impressive, but I just cringe when desperate steps like this are taken. Can’t a magazine just be a magazine? I know, I know, the industry is shrinking before our very eyes (PricewaterhouseCoopers calls for print advertising in North American consumer magazines to fall 18.7 percent to $10.8 billion), but if I want portable video content, I’ll fire up my laptop or use my iPhone.

What do you think?

Tags: Americhip, CBS/Pepsi, magazines
Posted in Advertising, Culture, Miscellaneous, Television, Water Cooler | No Comments »

Wired MetaPuzzle

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

I stumbled upon this article a while back and though my patience to figure it out was short-lived, I think it’s one of the most interesting puzzles I’ve ever seen. Not only is the concept fascinating (who thinks of this stuff, much less, is able to solve it?!?), but it has ties to one of my favorite shows, Lost, as one of its creators, J.J. Abrams, was a guest editor for the May issue of Wired and contributed to this puzzle’s inception.

A hidden metapuzzle threads through the pages of this month’s issue of Wired magazine, which is built around the theme of magic and mystery…Below the surface of the May issue lurk 15 puzzles, all of which combine into a giant metapuzzle, created for Wired.

Tags: interactive, popular, science-fiction, Television
Posted in Culture, Television | No Comments »

Holding vigil for a little Thrill(er)

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Many people find this difficult to believe, but I grew up in a house without cable. Cable was available, it was in our area, it was all the rage, but the Ojile girls were free of all MTV, History Channel, VH1, or TBS channels during our formative years.

It was something I never really noticed growing up. We were so busy with so many other activities; TV time was limited as it was. I was none the wiser to what I was seemingly missing out on. This included all the popular videos and songs during the 80s and 90s, and especially including the all-time great ‘Thriller’ video by Michael Jackson.

As with most important evens (pop culture and otherwise) I think today will be filled with stories about how shocked we were with his passing but it will also be filled with memories. And so with his passing yesterday, I started to think about where I was when I first saw the ‘Thriller’ video and how I can remember exactly when that was and how it made me feel.

I went to college in 1999 to a school in a very small town where cable was your only shot of getting anything close to a clear picture on the TV set. I still didn’t sit down to watch TV very much as I was rather preoccupied with my freshman year.

At the end of my first semester, MTV was promoting their ‘Top 100 Videos of the Millennium” countdown that would run at the end of December. So I would turn the TV on while studying for finals but still, didn’t pay much attention to the videos or who was coming out on top. But as the countdown got closer to the bottom and my attention span for studying became shorter, I realized there was a chance I’d be seeing the ‘Thriller’ video for the first time.
This realization may seem trivial to all of you who grew up with cable and had probably already seen the Thriller video a hundred times by the time you were 10. I was 18 and couldn’t wait for my first time.

The countdown continued and days went by while I stood in our little box of a dorm room, holding the remote and adjusting the volume at the end of every video, hanging on to the announcer’s teases about the #1 video coming up. I shushed my roommate. I kicked my hall mates out of the room. The books were officially closed for the semester. The buildup was killing me. The suspense and anticipation were high. I could not wait to see this video.

‘Here it is!!!’ I thought to myself. I will now know what everyone else is talking about. I held my breath…

But wait … What was this? Is this a movie? Why are these people talking and who is that girl?!’

I wanted to see Michael and the zombies and the music. I was slightly ticked because I wasn’t sure how much longer I could wait for the music to begin.
Then, as the familiar tune started in the background, slowly, and the zombies came out, and the music got louder, I knew what was coming. Everything was exactly as I thought it would be and I could feel the excitement swelling inside me.

“This is it! This is what I’ve been waiting for!’

The video did not disappoint. I was hooked. I told everyone about it and they, of course, looked at me as if I had two heads for being the oldest person to ever see the ‘Thriller’ video for the first time.

But I didn’t care. I was in the cable club and knew what all the hype was about. That video was truly remarkable, especially for someone who didn’t grow up watching music videos. I appreciated the art of it, the story, the dancing, the music… and I wondered if I would have taken all that way from a music video at age 7?

Nevertheless, it was a defining moment for me and I’m sure we all have stories about trying to replicate Michael Jackson’s dances in our parents’ living room, of his concerts, of which albums of his we loved the best, and of course, where we were when it all happened. (And I know this is true because it was all over Facebook statuses yesterday.)

I was at work when a news feed popped in my inbox that he had been taken to the hospital and was in coma. I searched around the Internet for news and then saw on Facebook that he had already passed.

So I want to know, where were you when you first saw the Thriller video? Where were you when you heard about Michael Jackson’s death? Leave your comments below.

Tags: facebook, michael Jackson, music videos
Posted in Culture, Music, Television | No Comments »

“I Should Really Get TiVo: Part 1”

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

As you may or may not know, back in May we bore witness to the yearly ritual where the broadcast TV networks unveil the upcoming season’s primetime lineups and announce the new programs that will fill spots left vacant by the previous season’s “casualties.” Some vacancies are from successful shows that just finished their run, like ER, and others by shows that weren’t renewed because of declining audience numbers, like Life on Mars…which I am still somewhat irritated over. I liked the show; it had an interesting plot, a good soundtrack, and an enjoyable recurring theme where modern-day methods of police-work were contrasted with those of the early 1970’s. And, it featured Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos) sporting the most impressive primetime TV mustache since Magnum P.I.

For my inaugural contribution to the world of blogging, I’d like to share a few thoughts on some of the new programs that have piqued my interest for one reason or another. I’m not a critic and I haven’t seen any of the pilots, so this is just my first impression of some shows that I find interesting enough to warrant a test drive this fall (or winter). There are quite a few of them, so I’ll have to tackle this in a couple of installments to keep everything manageable.
So, without further ado, here we go with ABC…

ABC seems to be taking a fairly aggressive approach to new programming this year. They plan to introduce eleven new programs throughout the 2009/2010 season (6 dramas/4 comedies/1 reality show); eight of these are featured on the fall schedule. In fact, five of the new fall shows have been slotted into the Wednesday lineup making it a night of 100% new programming. That being said, you’ll see a lot of familiar faces in the new ABC offerings (Patricia Heaton, Kelsey Grammer, Courtney Cox, and Ed O’Neill). Of all the new shows, there are three in particular that I am really looking forward to…a reincarnation of a classic miniseries, a serial drama with an interesting plot concept, and a detective show.

V

That’s correct, ABC has recreated the wildly popular 1980’s TV franchise (V, V: The Final Battle, and V: The Series) and will debut it sometime in early 2010. I am really excited about this one; I was a kid when the originals were airing (and re-airing) and I spent hours pretending to be Mike Donovan or Ham Tyler fighting off aliens and saving the planet. My childhood memories are causing a bias, but I consider this to be the crown-jewel of the new programs on the horizon.

Judging from the preview on ABC’s website (http://abc.go.com/fallpreview/index?pn=v) and some of the early reviews I’ve been able to dig up, it looks like the writers are trying to “freshen up” the story with themes that would resonate with present-day audiences while keeping the overall plot intact. In a nutshell, the series chronicles Earth’s first (and ultimately ill-fated) encounter with an alien species…The Visitors. The Visitors claim to come in peace, they seem nice…they need a portion of Earth’s water supply in order to survive, so in the spirit of universal partnership, the humans oblige. For their kindness, The Visitors offer to share their alien technology and advanced medical knowledge with the world to cure diseases and solve many of problems ailing human society. By doing so, the tables are turned and The Visitors begin to position themselves as the saviors and are quickly embraced by the majority of humanity. As the series progresses, it is learned that The Visitors are not our friends or saviors, but really an evil reptilian species bent on world domination. The series will ultimately follow our protagonists, an underground human resistance group, as they try to achieve their goal of uniting the human race against The Visitors and driving them away from Earth for good.
While I am skeptical that this version can live up to the originals (the bar is set pretty high), there’s a lot to look forward to here. As you can imagine, the special effects used in the originals are considered primitive by today’s standards. They were pretty good for a TV miniseries in the early-to-mid ‘80s, but the new version should benefit from a significant upgrade in this department. I am also pretty pleased with some of the cast choices in the new series. I’ll probably always be partial to Marc Singer (Beastmaster) and Michael Ironside (Top Gun); however, the creators have pulled together a pretty good ensemble for the new outing…Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), Alan Tudyk (Dodgeball), and Joel Gretsch (The 4400) among others. All of that said, I’ll admit that this remake has me scared for two reasons:

• The modernization of a TV show or movie is a bit of a hit-or-miss proposition with me…you can either get an Ocean’s Eleven (good) or you can get The Bad News Bears (bad, very bad).

• I’m afraid that I’ll immediately fall in love with the show, but I’ll be one of six people that feel the same way and I’ll be left steaming this time next year because it was cancelled due to its inability to sustain an audience (like Life on Mars).

Flash Forward

Next to V, the drama Flash Forward looks to have the highest potential for awesomeness. Here’s the description of the pilot from ABC’s website:

“A mysterious global event causes everyone to black out simultaneously for two minutes and seventeen seconds, and each person sees a glimpse of their lives six months from now. When they wake up, everyone is left wondering if what they saw will actually happen.”

That just “sounds” cool. Also, judging from the preview (http://abc.go.com/primetime/flashforward/index?pn=index), it looks like some crazy stuff happens during that two-plus minute blackout. The concept for the show is pretty interesting, but it has the potential to be a little on the complex side since it will tackle some pretty heavy stuff…like the idea of a “prescribed plan” vs. the ability to control one’s own destiny. It looks like ABC is trying to recreate the success that they had with Lost by creating another show that doesn’t neatly fit into one genre but offers viewers a little bit of everything…action, drama, mystery, science-fiction, etc.

The cast and crew assembled for the project is also quite good; somebody really swung for the fences during the development phase. The pilot was written by David Goyer (Batman Begins & The Dark Knight) and Brannon Braga (24) and was adapted from a novel by Robert Sawyer. It stars Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love) as the FBI agent investigating the event and trying to find out whom or what is responsible. It also features John Cho (Star Trek), Courtney B. Vance (The Hunt for Red October), and Brian O’ Byrne (Showtime’s Brotherhood).

The Forgotten

I’ll admit it, this one may be a bit of a stretch for me, but I’m a sucker for police procedurals and crime dramas…NYPD Blue ruined me forever, so now I’ll commit an hour to any cop show that can hold my attention for that long. The Forgotten revolves around a group of “dedicated, amateur detectives” that try to solve John/Jane Doe cases when they are no longer actively worked by the police. It sort of sounds like some crazy hybrid between Cold Case and The Hardy Boys. It’s a bit of a twist, but the concept isn’t too ridiculous…no more ridiculous than an NYPD detective being hit by a car in 2008 and waking up as an NYPD detective in 1973, right? Jerry Bruckheimer is the executive producer so if the CSI franchise is any indication, you can assume that it will be pretty slick on the production side of things.

That’s it for this installment. I was originally going include a new Mark Burnett reality show called Shark Tank on my list, but I read the show’s description…totally not what I was hoping for.

I’ll tackle a couple of the other networks in a bit.
KDM

Tags: science-fiction, Television
Posted in Culture, Television | No Comments »