Six Flags Commercials (1 Viewer)

[Jason_Els]

The makeup looks just like someone with some form of progeria. TV Guide asked the advertising company if this was the case and they didn't receive a reply.

I think the ad is pretty creepy myself and I read somewhere that MSNBC reported that Six Flags has canceled the ad campaign but I can't confirm it on MSNBC's website.

 

[Malcolm R]

It's still featured prominently on the Six Flags website.

Don't know why they'd cancel it. It's their first national ad campaign in years and it certainly got people's attention.

 

[Jason_H]

I'm with you 100%, man. I hate the song, I hate the old guy, I hate everything about it. It makes me want to enter a sensory-deprivation tank for the sake of my sanity.

 

[Scott Van Dyke]

Put me in the same club as Adam and Jason.

The first time I saw that thing I wanted to kick the guy's ass.

My buddy and I feel the same. Wish he'd break a limb.

 

[Malcolm R]

New Halloween intro and commercial available at the Six Flags website featuring crazy old dancing guy.

(I guess his name is Mr. Six)

 

[Andrew Bunk]

Count me in as another who loathes this commercial, What is the point anyway? It seems this weirdo looking person is there for the sole reason of sticking in your head for better or for worse. He certainly doesn't make me want to go to Six Flags. I have to say if I was at Six Flags and actually saw this character, I'd likely kick him until he's dead. (Overdramatized for effect )

 

[Erik.Ha]

Would somebody who LIKES this commercial, please explain the concept behind it?

I mean, I want to like Mr. Six, but I don't understand why a young guy, dressed up like an old guy, dnacing to loud music, would ever, under any circumstance, make me want to go to an amusement park.

Don't get me wrong... I like amusement parks... There are a lot of things I associate with amusement parks that make we want to go shell out $50 to go to one... like roller coasters, popcorn, churros, etc... But never once, have I seen an old guy... even a DANCING old guy, and said to myself, "MAN! That makes me want to go to Magic Mountain!"

 

[Philip_G]

the funny thing is, you're all bitching about this ad, yet you can remember it plain as day.

sounds like a smashing success to me

 

[JasonMC]

The concept behind the commercial is that their parks make you feel like a kid again, regardles of age.

 

[JustinCleveland]

For brand recognition, but it sounds like everyone here had no problem with that to begin with. The problem is these ads are elliciting reactions of confusion (thus muddling a previously clear brand) to disgust and anger that we're seeing here. These commercials rarely, or only minorly, sell the parks and instead attempt to sell what Jason says, that it makes you feel young at heart. The problem is that they fail at setting a target for the commercials and only create a new, undefined character. Seems pretty silly for an organization that has access to the WB library.

 

[Philip_G]

the simple fact that you're thinking about 6 flags is a victory. 6 months ago how often would 6 flags cross your mind?

 

[JustinCleveland]

But you're assuming that branding is going to translate to patronadge, and I assure it you it's not. It's the same issue with the creepy Burger King commericals... just because I remember them doesn't mean I'm going to go there. There's good branding and bad.

 

[Philip_G]

there is, but with the creepy BK commercials next time you're thinking "where to go for lunch" is that creepy commercial going to creep into your head and make you think of BK? I hardly ever remember there's a BK like 3 blocks from my house...

 

[Scott L]

Subliminal messaging is more powerful than you think. Like Sony's AREUE campaign with the PSX. It was confusing at first and got people asking each other what it meant. All it was supposed to do was to get people talking about the system, which it successfully did.

 

[TonyD]

i think the six flags commercials are a riot.
but it is obviously some younger guy in makeup.

 

[MarkHastings]

That's true too.

 

[Seth Paxton]

I assure you it does.

The problem people make (and I used to think more this way) is that it is supposed to work on some 1 to 1 level. It doesn't. You don't see the old man and say "yeah, I want to go to Six Flags now".

Instead it simply establishes a general feeling you are supposed to feel about a product. Later when it comes time to choose, you buy because its a name you now recognize and/or because you feel like it has a certain reputation, most of which has come to you through advertising.

Sure Mt. Dew might be annoying with its extreme sports ads, but at the same time it has clearly positioned itself as a product that provides energy boost for people who want high energy. The rest is just to get you to pay attention and/or remember.

For the Six Flags spot there are 2 things you remember - high energy (music and dancing) and that an old man is dancing (the "feel like a kid" angle). As the specifics fade from your memory you still think of Six Flags in this high energy model rather than, say, some more stoic "traditional" sense you might have with a campaign that simply says "we have roller coasters".

Also remember that its not just establishing a feeling, its establishing a feeling with a target audience. In the case of Six Flags who cares what people under 30 think? Better to make 35+ year old parents think of it as a fun place for both young and old that kids will see as hip...but hip in this case is hip in the minds of the parent not the child. Maybe Jay-Z or Blink 182 on the ad would appeal to the 10-15 year olds, but the parents might be shocked and see it as an anti-family park.


People won't buy Miller because its more American, but for people who see themselves as traditional, down to earth, Americans the appeal of the Miller commercials is there.

The Bud frogs established a common-man appeal based on the type of humor in the commercials. Their commentary reflected the general attitude they believed appealed to their core buyers. They weren't just funny, they were funny with a type of humor that said "common man" rather than elitist snob or eccletic individual.


Companies want you to know their product and think of their brand in a certain way. It is especially effective on products that you have no experience with.

For a test simply pick any product line you are unfamiliar with and then ask yourself about the brands, what they do, and what they represent. If you have ANY idea at all, then the commercial (or competitors) has worked (even if the image is incorrect).

Red Bull - I've never drank it, but apparently it gives you a big energy burst. How do I know? Only by commercials.

Stay-Free Maxi-Pads - if my wife sent me out to buy pads I'd figure these were a decent choice, and I sure as hell have no real idea.

And so on. Then later when I need a product that fills a role I remember these brands. Most famous ends up equaling best to most of us. After all how many of us would rather take a chance on the local homemade cola instead of sticking with a Coke or Pepsi? Who wants to fly an airline you've never even heard of over American, Southwest or Continental?

And THAT'S why advertising continues to be a big money industry. You don't have to like the commercials for them to be effective in branding.



On a political sidenote, not intended for debate but only as a point to the true power of commercials, the Daily Show was interviewing an undecided voter. One thing he didn't like about Kerry was that he lied about his war service, or something like "those guys came out and said he lied".

Think about that, despite the well-documented facts that indicated that the entire campaign was just BS smear by guys who had little or no knowledge of Kerry's service (even Bush's team agreed that the spots should end and disavowed any knowledge of them prior to their running) there are still people that hear it and it sticks.

There you have a commerical that is more powerful than the news, especially when its the first thing a person hears. No matter how far news agencies go toward debunking those (or the fake Bush document ads) many people still absorb the intial commercial enough to alter their perception of reality.