To have any lasting impact, the Net is going to have to make the transition from plaything of the technofetishist to utilitarian tool of the common man. Such is the patter of pundits and industry analysts alike, cognizant of the simple math that suggests more people equals more money. Unfortunately, mass audience is easier said than won. And when community outreach fails - as it often does - the only ones who hear it are the ones who've already heard it, over and over again.
I wonder, for example, whether anyone not yet up to their ankles in SCSI tangles will take note of the new TBWA Chiat/Day-produced Prodigy ads currently airing all too often in altogether too many venues. The first one, a masterpiece of confused intentions, shows garbage men on duty, commenting on their previous day's recreation: "I was up all night surfing the Net." "Oh drat, I was stuck in the park playing ball!" Next thing we know, they've cut to a scene of a grown-up Urkel, fixated on his monitor, oblivious to his wife - who beckons in negligee. The slogan? "Get on, get your information, and go live a little. Prodigy Internet - now that's living."
Let's recap: a pitch to Joe HeftyBag for an unobtrusive, time-saving Internet experience. So he can get "his information" quickly and go "live a little." Thud. For starters, what is this thing they call "information"? And what makes the populists at Chiat/Day think a message promising more time playing ball with the kids and less time talking like truckers in the chatrooms will motivate actual truckers to dial the 800-line? After all, isn't the real target audience a few million folks watching multihours of late-night TV? Now that's living!
The second variation in this campaign is aimed at the extreme-sports crowd - presumably, those four Spicolis from the Mountain Dew commercials. "Get on, get information, and use it! Go somewhere, build something, get up!" Build something? As in Build-a-Big-Mac? These spots are like vitamin ads without the GNC bicep shots - a thimbleful of helpful hectoring without the sweet cherry flavoring. I'd guess that the innocent bystanders - the ones who need to get sucked into this Internet pileup if the jig is to persist - are probably a few steps shy of wanting or needing less filling when it comes to their online experiences. They're still waiting for that first big, great Net taste.
This article appeared originally in HotWired.
