R.I.P. UGC Ads 2006-2007
This is just terrible. User-generated ads were a dubious proposition from the start, but if you’ve ever needed a reason to doubt them, this video is your best reason yet. As long as it’s clear that in this context “best” means “worst.” Worst worst worst.
“Axe teamed up with David Spade and people just like you to create The World’s Dirtiest Film. We shot some of our footage, and you submitted the rest. Now it has all come together in a film so dirty, you’ll beg for a shower.”
For the record, we don’t think all UGC is worthless, as BusinessWeek surmised yesterday. Rather, we’re inspired by Yuri Baranovsky of Break a Leg:
“Just because we have an easily accessible place to showcase our talent doesn’t mean we should focus on making EVERYTHING cheap, easy and viral. If I wanted that, I’d get syphillis already.”
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Yeah, that campaign is not very impressive in concept. But I am impressed with how much money they must have spent to get David Spade on board and build that lavish set. Pretty wild.
We’ve been trending away from pure CGA and more towards a “prosumer” model for creative advertising. Brands are telling us that those big, crazy Heinze-type moves aren’t for them, but they do like the quality they can get from a more focused approach. Not opening it to the whole world to make ridiculous Axe films, but more targeted to people who want to actually make a career in advertising, but who aren’t yet pros.
Perhaps Andy Dick wasn’t available for this one?