‘89 Promises More Entertainment, Emotion, Animals on Madison Ave.

Pepsi is about to give glasnost a taste of Madison Avenue razzmatazz.

Forget those Pepsi commercials that featured Michael Jackson moonwalking and Michael J. Fox rain dancing. This week, the soft drink giant’s New York advertising agency has sent a crew of 23 to Moscow to film a flashy Pepsi spot--portions of which will be filmed at Red Square.

By jetting halfway around the globe to film this ad, literally, in Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s backyard, one of the nation’s most closely watched advertisers seems to be sending a signal that could echo throughout much of the ad industry in 1989.

Those anxiety-ridden commercials for companies such as AT&T; and Wang computers featuring brief glimpses of tense, corporate conflicts may be on the way out. Indeed, advertisements that sometimes looked more like commercial wakes than commercial breaks may be upstaged next year by spots charged with entertainment.

“Enough of the gloom and doom,” said Philip B. Dusenberry, chairman of the New York office of Pepsi’s longtime ad firm, BBDO Worldwide. “Sure, advertising will continue to reflect real-life situations in 1989, but it will be real life made exciting.”

The story line of the Pepsi commercial is simple: Russian kids drink Pepsi--and wear blue jeans--just like their American counterparts. Pepsi, after all, has been sold in Russia since 1974. The commercial, among the first by a major American advertiser filmed entirely in Russia, will not be seen until the Grammy Awards air in late February.

Of course, this more upbeat look to advertising will not occur overnight. And some advertisers, like Wang, will continue to present stark slices of corporate life in their ads. “Changing tastes don’t happen on a calendar-year basis,” pointed out John M. Connors, Jr., president of the Boston-based ad firm Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos, which creates ads for Wang.

But there is a growing feeling among some of the nation’s top ad executives that consumers have begun to grow tired of the advertising more intent on depicting reality than on entertaining. That trend became especially popular after last year’s stock market crash.

Although the nation’s economic picture remains fuzzy, advertising executives say their clients--more than ever--are demanding breakthrough advertising that grabs attention. What’s more, executives say, the public is hungry for commercials with some kick.

“The gloom and doom is doomed,” said Theodore Bell, president of Chicago-based Leo Burnett Co. His company created the current “New Generation of Olds” campaign for Oldsmobile that features children and grandchildren of high-profile celebrities like Elvis Presley and painter Norman Rockwell. “The Olds campaign will get even more upbeat next year,” said Bell.

In February Seven-Up Co. will kick off a “far more passionate” ad campaign, said Russ Klein, the soft drink maker’s senior vice president of marketing. Replacing the current mellow ads of people prancing around in the rain drinking 7-Up, the new commercials--also created by Leo Burnett--”are the kind that will give goose bumps,” said Klein.

One 7-Up ad features Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee celebrating a long jump win by passionately hugging her husband Bob Kersee while holding a cup of 7-Up. Another emotional ad focuses on a teen-age couple who--while sipping 7-Up--settle a heated argument outside a loud party.

Even the ad agency generally credited with starting the trend of stark advertising expects to back off from it in 1989. “I don’t think you can go on with that style ad nauseam,” said Norman Berry, chairman of the New York office of Ogilvy & Mather. As a result, Ogilvy’s upcoming ads for AT&T--which; have mostly featured executives whose jobs depend on choosing the right phone systems--will likely be lighter in tone next year, he said.

If brighter commercials are on tap for 1989, experts say, it’s about time. “People are so bored with the commercials on the air right now that it wouldn’t take much to get them excited,” said Dave Vadehra, president of Video Storyboard Tests, the New York firm that monitors the success of commercials. “The door is easier to open now than it’s been in years.”

In fact, people had a tougher time this year naming “outstanding” ad campaigns than they’ve had in many years, according to a new study by Video Storyboard. In the second quarter of 1988, nearly half of the 5,500 people surveyed couldn’t even name a single “outstanding” ad campaign they’d recently seen. But in 1987, nearly 72% of those surveyed named an outstanding ad campaign--and the majority picked the California Raisin Advisory Board’s so-called Dancing Raisins ad. Even then, the ad was more than a year old.

“The full press is on for ever more creative advertising,” said John S. Bowen, chairman of the giant New York firm D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, which creates ads for such clients as Pontiac and NBC. “The Wall Street crash is well beyond us, and I expect you’ll see an economy that is moving ahead, “ he said. “That means you’ll see ads based less on hard facts and more focused on how to get attention.”

Well, the best way to get attention is to entertain, said Rick Levine, who is regarded as one of the nation’s hottest commercial directors. His 1987 ad for Pepsi--with Michael J. Fox running through a rainstorm to get a Diet Pepsi for his gorgeous neighbor--won more of the industry’s top awards last year than just about any other commercial.

“With all the bad news that’s out there right now, people are now looking to be entertained by ads,” said Levine, who predicts that commercials chock-full of emotional appeal may make a comeback in 1989. In fact, Levine has just finished shooting a heart-tugging Pepsi spot co-starring three chimpanzees and a female trainer “that is one of the most emotional commercials I’ve ever directed.”

Similarly, Pacific Bell’s advertising will become ever more emotional in 1989, said Abbott C. Jones, president of the phone company’s Chicago-based ad agency, Foote, Cone & Belding. The firm, which created Pacific Bell’s popular series of “Rain People” commercials has a new story line in mind for its 1989 advertising that will be even more emotional. “What’s more,” said Jones, “I suspect others will soon be doing the same sort of thing.”

With that in mind, what plays on viewer emotions more than their pets? Not much. So, look for more animals--especially dogs--in advertisements next year, said Vadehra of Video Storyboard. After all, four of this year’s Top 10 rated ad campaigns featured dogs in starring roles--even though the dogs had no real relation to the products. Besides Spuds MacKenzie hyping Bud Lite, there was also the clever canine Alex burying Stroh’s in his owner’s backyard and Michael J. Fox in a Pepsi ad getting locked out of his car by a devious dog. Even 7-Up has featured a barking dog in a recent ad.

Despite these successes, less than 5% of all advertisements in 1988 featured dogs, said Vadehra. But in 1989, he said, “the airwaves may end up a commercial kennel, with virtually every dog having it’s day.”

Slogan Sparks Round of Verbal Volleying

Here comes the “new” generation gap.

While Pepsi calls itself “the choice of a new generation,” Oldsmobile recently began referring to itself as “the new generation of Olds.”

So, whose new generation is it? Well, the agencies that created these slogans for Pepsi and Oldsmobile are starting to verbally volley for that phrase.

The first shot was fired last month by Philip B. Dusenberry, the chief creative officer at BBDO Worldwide, the agency the penned Pepsi’s slogan. Dusenberry sent an angry letter to Oldsmobile’s agency--Leo Burnett--accusing the firm of stealing the Olds slogan from Pepsi.

“That’s been our motto for six years,” said Dusenberry in an interview last week. “I felt ripped off.”

Well, said Ted Bell, president of Leo Burnett, that’s a lot of hooey. The phase “new generation” has been kicking around for years, he responded. In fact, Bell said that back in the mid-1970s, he created this ad slogan for Volkswagen: “A new generation of VW for a new generation of drivers.”

And before that, Leo Burnett credits John F. Kennedy with using the phrase “new generation” in a number of his speeches. Said a Leo Burnett spokeswoman: “It is standard nomenclature.”

More Ad Agencies May Turn to Stealing

It’s almost 1989: Do you know where your clients are?

That is a question that advertising executives should be asking themselves. Because the economic picture remains cloudy, ad executives say that much of their corporate growth in 1989 will be the ugliest kind of all--stolen.

“If you want to grow your ad agency next year,” said John M. Connors, Jr., president of Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos, “you’ll have to steal it from someone else.” Witness, agencies are lining up to steal away the $200-million Burger King account from the ad firm N W Ayer. Among those said to be in the running: Foote, Cone & Belding; D’Arcy, Masius Benton & Bowles; J. Walter Thompson and even Los Angeles’ Chiat/Day has recently shown interest in the fast-food giant.

It’s nothing new for agencies to grab business from each other, but because of the uncertain economy executives say that attempts to steal business from other agencies may reach new lows in the new year.

“Everyone will be battling for a bigger piece of the same pie,” said John S. Bowen, chairman of the New York ad firm D’Arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles.

What’s more, a growing number of clients are handing their agencies “contingency plans,” said John C. Kraft, vice chairman and chief financial officer Leo Burnett in Chicago. “They don’t want to get caught with their pants down if the economy turns sour.”

Overall, U.S. advertising agency billing growth in 1989 should be a rather modest 6% to 7%, projects Fred Danzig, editor of the trade publication Advertising Age.

That’s about the same annual U.S. ad growth that executives at Foote, Cone & Belding have projected for 1989. At the same time, however, “things look much better for us outside the U.S.,” said Abbott C. Jones, the agency’s president. The company’s international ad revenue could jump 12% next year, he said. “Of course,” he added, “who know’s what’s really going to happen?”