Ads Stand Out, but the Company Doesn’t

Advertiser: L.A. Cellular

Agency: Deutsch, Los Angeles

Challenge: Demonstrate the value of cellular phone service in everyday situations.

The Ads: In a series of documentary-style commercials, actors portray customers who’ve found their cellular phones handy. Each ad is in black and white and consists of a testimonial from an actor seated alone at an empty table. In one spot, an elderly woman relates how she used the cellular phone in her car to call a reckless truck driver and give him an earful. In another ad, a man explains how he used his cell phone in a grocery store to ask his wife which feminine product she preferred. Other ads tout specific aspects of L.A.Cellular’s service. There’s an ad in which a man says he used L.A. Cellular’s 24-hour help line to find out why his cell phone wouldn’t work. (He used a regular phone for that call). Other ads promote services that provide traffic reports and sports scores.

Comment: These quirky ads demonstrate the usefulness of cellular phones, and, thanks to the use of black-and-white and the documentary format, stand apart from other ads on TV. But the actors’ narratives give consumers little reason to choose L.A. Cellular over a competitor. And some spots--like the feminine product ad--try too hard to be funny. The documentary format has worked well for another Deutsch client, Ikea. In those ads, Ikea shoppers talk about themselves or their families, as the camera pans to their furniture--giving viewers a good look at a distinctive, affordable product. The technique doesn’t work as well for L.A. Cellular because there is nothing distinctive to show. $$+

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Ads are rated from $ to $$$$, based in tastefulness and probable effectiveness, with $$$$ being highest.