Lindsey’s Daily Deal: It Ain’t Rocket Science, Proactiv: It’s For The Acne-Less and Darling, I Thought You Were Going To Clean The House Today?

By Lindsey Campbell, Captains of Industry

Hey Captains’ readers,

Here’s your Thursday Deal:

1. It ain’t rocket science. It’s better.

Not only does Sony have amazingly innovative products, but they know just how to market them. According to Sony, their latest laptop, the VAIO notebook, has more computing power than the first rocket that went to the moon.

Let’s take a second to absorb that.

That’s bananas, right? It’s awing that the technology we use to screw around on Facebook and tweet what we ate for lunch actually has the capacity to catapult us off the planet. Naturally, the question that comes to mind after hearing all the VAIO can do is, “Can the VAIO launch a rocket into space?” Sony thinks it can.

To test their theory, Sony had Tom Atchison, founder of Rocket Mavericks, gather up the best and the brightest in robotic technology and engineering…eight high school students. After actually learning rocket science (the concept alone boggles my mind, never mind actually learning it), the students used nothing but their wits and Sony VAIO laptops to create a 29-foot tall, 1,100-pound rocket. To find out if they actually got her to fly, check out Sony’s The Rocket Project. Believe me, it’s a video worth watching.

2. Proactiv: It’s for the acne-less

For all those kids out there battling pimples literally the size of their heads, a Proactiv commercial starring an acne-free, fresh-faced Justin Bieber isn’t going to give them hope. In fact, it’s just going to piss them off.

As a teenager, I tried EVERYTHING to get rid of my acne. Creams, salves, I even smeared toothpaste on my face hoping it would zap those suckers into submission. So, I get it. I’ve been there. Having acne absolutely sucks. And as dermatology “specialists,” Proactiv might have a great product that clears skin, but as an acne survivor and a marketer, I think they’re pitching it all wrong.

When you have acne, it only adds insult to injury when you see a clear-faced celebrity like Justin Bieber tell you how great it is to be zit-free. We know, Justin. Now shut up and tell us the toll free number.

From a marketers stand point, I get where Proactiv is trying to go with this. It’s a “See how happy Justin is with his clear face? Look! He can even score 3-pointers with that glowing skin of his! If you buy Proactiv NOW you can be just like him!” angle. But when you’re 20 zits deep and you don’t want to go to school because you’re afraid the other kids will chase you with sticks, even Bieber mania can’t solve that one.

If Proactiv tried to connect with their audience’s true pain point, the absolute horror of being covered in pustules smack dab in the middle of insecurity central (AKA: teenagedom), I think they’d be able to market their zit-zapping solution without even trying.

What do you think? Does The Biebs get it done, or should Proactiv connect on a more personal level to get their target’s attention?

3. Darling, I thought you were going to clean the house today?

When you share a space with your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse, splitting up the chores can be tricky. In fact, I’ve had a few, “Oh, you wanted ME to put out the trash?” moments myself. But things can get even more complicated when one half of the relationship works and the other is a stay-at-home mom or dad. In fact, AdRants recently posted an Australian commercial for a cleaning service called My Local V.I.P. In the spot, a husband comes home from work and sees that the house is a complete disaster area. He asks his wife, who’s trying to feed her brothel of children, why she didn’t clean the house. Rather than answering, she hands him the baby, hops onto her computer and hires My Local V.I.P. to come clean her house. In AdRants’ post about the spot, their beef wasn’t with the commercial exactly, it was more so with the viewers who complained to My Local V.I.P. that the ad is sexist. Since AdRants wasn’t really sure if it was or it wasn’t sexist, they posed a question to their readers, “Is the ad sexist or does it properly represent the situation?” Personally, I think if the guy wants to avoid the couch, he should drop his accusatory tone and ask the MOTHER OF HIS CHILDREN how her day was before he starts complaining abut the state of the house. Priorities, you know? But, hey, that’s just me.

Until tomorrow,

Captain Lindsey