What is up with insurance commercials?  Nationwide has the ones with that really annoying girl on them – you know, the one who just ignores all social conventions.  And Allstate just introduced a new one comparing canceling one’s old insurance policy to breaking up with a girlfriend!  It’s pretty over-the-top!  I don’t think I would say that I recommend these guys for life insurance quotes (somehow, life insurance just seems a lot different than car or renter’s insurance and seems best kept separate), but I know I wouldn’t recommend them for advertising!  (Nothing is as bad as the Head-On commercials, though.  *groan*)

Beer commercials, on the other hand, are usually well-done.  (Maybe they have a larger advertising budget?)  I like Target’s commercials, too – there’s an art to them, even when they’re weird.  One of our favorites was the Gap commercial a while back, with Audrey Hepburn and “Back in Black.”  That was amazingly well-done!  That was actual dancing from the movie Funny Face!  The cultural familiarity necessary to put together that movie and that song with their current promotion indicates a top-notch ad designer.  (So what is the company doing using that stupid mannequin family and cheesy made-up songs for the Old Navy commercials?)

So here’s a question (and it could potentially make an interested homeschool assignment): what makes a likable advertisement?  And is it the same factor(s) that make(s) an effective advertisement?