Comments

Personally I don't think it's that effective because it only works if you realize that there's been consolidation occurring in the funeral business. If you don't know that, then I think you'd just be scratching your head trying to figure out if it's some obscure reference to Soylent Green and Kraft Foods or similar. :-)

Posted by Dave Taylor at January 8, 2005 7:56 PM

Wrong tone. It comes across as darkly humorous and flip. How many clients want this attitude from a funeral home? As such it completely loses the advantage small town operations have over corporations: the personal touch.

Posted by Joseph Freynik at January 8, 2005 8:41 PM

The message is all about them. Not about the person or family experiencing the loss. Wouldn't make me consider them even though the personal touch is implied, it is not expressed intimately in a way that touches my heart.

Posted by cc cooper at January 8, 2005 9:07 PM

I like the humor. Something is "singing" to me. I like the straightforward honesty. I need to see the visuals though. It's hard with just the words, but for someone who just hammered the Dove ads, I like this one. It is what it is...I like that.

Posted by Wendy at January 8, 2005 10:38 PM

Generally, people are sick and tired of dealing with large corporations. I think, their message is direct and effective. It kind of paints a picture that dont let big corporations (funeral industry or not) have the last laugh (pardon the twisted humor).

Posted by Anand Jain at January 9, 2005 12:05 AM

The ad is neither simple or relevant (could be misinterpreted as a slam against insurance cos.) and produces a negative emotional connection to me. The best headlines are provocative, humorous or witty - this is none of the above. (cc cooper nails the ad coffin shut above.) psr

Posted by Paul Ross at January 9, 2005 12:15 AM

I think the ad is trying to express that in those special moments of life you need an experience of intimacy and that intimacy can be provided much better by a small company. Or perhaps the ad does not intend that. It is not clear at all.

I think this company has some advantages with big companies. First is that they are Jewish funerals specialists and I suppose big companies offer funerals but cannot provide that religious and cultural element. This is a strong quality they should employ to leverage the Brand.

The other one is the affect side of those moments. They belong to the close community of the customer, they want to appear as an extended family, people who understand those difficult moments and can provide the neccesary intimacy.

I would build the brand based on those elements. The communication should not be so ambiguous and reflect the core essence of that company, needing no reference to big or small but to intimate or bureaucratic.

Posted by felix gerena at January 9, 2005 11:17 AM

I'll reveal: I like this ad. (Wow! Steve likes an ad!) I think it clearly creates a meaningful, differentiating, discernible brand benefit.

Here's a description of the whole ad.

There is a large picture of David Jacobson, founder of the company, sitting in chairs that look like they're set up for a funeral.

Underneath is the copy.

Headline:

Big corporations are part of our life.
Do they need to be part of our death?

Body copy:

We know about corporate greed. It's all around us.

We live with it. But to die with it?

Today, in Chicago, every Jewish funeral home is owned by a big corporation.

Except for one. Chicago Jewish Funerals.

It's the only locally-owned Jewish funeral home in Chicagland.

At a time of grief, who will you turn to?

Who will provide you with sensitivity and dignity?

Chicago Jewish Funerals.

The way it should be.

This ad passes both the "I get it" and the "So what?" tests.

Posted by Steve Yastrow at January 9, 2005 11:52 AM

steve, it passed the "so what" with me too.. I actually thought about this like this.. if I die and if the money would go to some rich corporation, I'll be rollin in my grave and lamenting and cursin ..but then if it went to a small sweat shop.. I'll be resting easy.. with a smile on my face..the very last thing that my physical body did would be to better the life of some common man.. I think thats whats the msg is all about regardless of death or life.. if Ad's (any) can get that msg across, then its a good thing...

Posted by /pd at January 9, 2005 11:59 AM

I think it's effective. It causes us to think not only about our death, and our legacy being inhaled by some villainous conglomerate, but also about, when we're mourning someone we've just lost, whether a large corporation is something we even want to be thinking about, much less contending with. Death is a personal experience, and in the funerary realm, we want to be guided by people, not by Georgia Pacific or Disney. We want a warm, caring funeral director, not Eliot Spitzer.

Posted by David Gottlieb at January 9, 2005 12:20 PM

Interesting. Before Steve revealed the rest of the ad and that he likes it I found it a bit tasteless - like slamming the competition without providing but only succeeding in creating a bad feeling aobut the whole business.
Given the copy it became much more likeable

Posted by Thomas B at January 9, 2005 3:13 PM

I like the ad.

Big corporations are part of our life. Do they need to be part of our death? NO!

Posted by Troy Worman at January 9, 2005 11:08 PM

Ad must have been written by a Greenpeace protester outside the last meeting of the World Bank.

They use their mis-understanding of the corporations as a basis for hate and violence.

Those of us who are getting wealthy owning shares in prosperous corporations don't see a problem with funeral homes owned by thousands of ordinary people called shareholders.

Posted by Erick Blackwelder at January 10, 2005 1:10 AM

MEANING BEYOND WORDS

1. Great lines, because they convey meaning beyond words, striking a chord inside without you having to think about it.

2. Sorry Guys, Logical deduction won't work, when you evaluate Ads. "Part of life" and "Part of Death" are great frames which convey meaning beyond words.

Jay, from Bangalore

Posted by Jayakumar.T.H. at January 10, 2005 4:01 AM

I curious about a slightly different angle on these posts. That is nationality. I am guessing that many posters on this board are in the US. Is this right?

One thing I have noticed (I am English) is that US ads tend to be less edgy than European ones (i.e. play the safer saccrin sweet card more - less provocative, cynical?). I would be curious if there is a cultural aspect to who "gets" these great and not so great copy examples?

Posted by PaulH at January 10, 2005 4:29 AM

For a dramatization of the family-owned vs. corporation difference see the TV Series '6 feet Under'
http://www.hbo.com/sixfeetunder/
See also Thomas Lynch's essay'The Bang & Whimper and the Boom' in his book 'Bodies in Motion and at Rest' which deals with this topic.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0393321649/
Lynch, poet and undertaker, is the real life inspiration for the TV Series.

Posted by Avi Solomon at January 10, 2005 9:31 AM

Avi, Thanks for the bit of trivia about Six Feet Under—one of my favorites. I like the ad, too, Steve. The De Vitos have been providing this service to my family for many years. I don't know what we'd do if we went to De Vito's Funeral Home and found a corporate employee rather than a man we'd known (or known of) all our lives. Fortunately, the De Vitos seem to be having enough children to keep the business in the family for many years to come. That's always up in the air on Six Feet Under, isn't it? Does Nathaniel really want to continue the tradition, it's a hard choice.

Posted by cathy at January 10, 2005 12:37 PM

It reminds me of an 18-wheeled truck I saw once. The truck was owned by a casket company, and on the side it said "Please drive safely. We can wait." I thought it was hilarious, yet was shocked that such a somber industry would have such a light ad on the side of their 18-wheeler. Did it work? Well I remember it these many years later, but I cannot recall the name of the casket company.

Posted by Ben Bond at January 10, 2005 2:52 PM

Well it is what it is, No it is not. The copy is the intentional brief.
These are times where we try to avoid that big corporations but some are just necesary imposed to us.
The headline should be more emotional created when one goes around life looking for a experience with personality and service that cares for one , big does not exist.
beacuase big does NOT CARE, big is SLOWER, big does NOT BUILD RELATIONS,big has no clue of MEMORABLE MOMENTS as this one.

Posted by steve at January 10, 2005 4:48 PM

I don't care for it. It's clear. I "get it." But I don't like the tone. It has a slight superior flavor to it.

I understand their message, which mainly is: Cold, Corporate America doesn't care about you, but we do.

Fine. Show me you care by solving my problem. I've got a loved one I need to bury and want a smooth, pain-free process because my heart is already torn out. How are you going to help?

I would have liked to see them focus on how they provide sensitivity and dignity. I think if they had placed that concept in the headline and then, incorporated the "Big Corporate" attitude later, it would have caught my eye. The headline was an immediate turn-off because frankly, I'm tired of corporate bashing.

Posted by M.R. Maguire at January 10, 2005 6:03 PM