Chase What Matters

For the past two years (or somewhere in that neighborhood), Chase has employed the tag line "Chase What Matters" which always reminded me a little of the old American Express "Do More" campaign in that it felt aspirational. While it's a clever use of Chase as a verb, it's otherwise not quite as compelling to me. (Mind you, as an ex-Amex girl, I may be biased.) If I understand correctly, if I bank with Chase, I will have the right resources behind me to follow my dreams. Sounds good, right?

With that said, there is a Chase commercial on the air lately that drives me absolutely batty. I want to smack the smug ass ad agency executive who developed it. It features a guy who is trying to talk his wife/girlfriend into using their Chase points for a vacation for two. He's dreaming of walking along the French Quarter while a jazz band serenades them in the background, boating along a palm tree-laden coastline and dining in an elegant restaurant overlooking a panoramic cityscape. But nope: he cannot chase his dreams because his wife already blew through all the points on one, I repeat, one dress. (And I wonder: where the heck is she planning to wear that thing? Not to the Cub Scout camp out . . . )



In this case, the husband should chase what matters: divorce. Imagine the points he can accrue by charging all his attorney's fees to his Sapphire card. Imagine the trips he could take then!

I think Budweiser should follow up with this same man and film the empty 12 packs that begin littering his coffee table when he finally allows himself to get that stupid, I've-been-duped grin off his face and actually digest the fact that his wife would make such a selfish purchase without consulting him.

Enjoy the in-house "staycation" with your beautifully dressed wife, sir. And don't forget to thank Chase!

We're Too Cool to Fool

My mom and I went to the Clothesline Festival at the Memorial Art Gallery last weekend. It's remarkable how a) the artwork doesn't really change year-on-year and b) a lot of the entries probably shouldn't be called art. (Note: I thought it was called the Clothesline Art Festival but it's not. Did they remove the "art"? Or was it always sans "art"?) Anyhoo, it's just fun to stroll around outside on a warm, sunny day with my mom and people-watch.

We came to a stall where a photographer was displaying pictures from all over the world. I commented on one and he responded, "That was taken right here in Webster -- where life is worth living."

I said to him, "Love that. Is that the only town in the area that coined its own tag line?" and he said, "No, Irondequoit has one: Home of the Irondequoit Mall."

Compelling. And no longer true.

As I was driving to a client this week, I noticed that the town of Chili is "Home of Little Guy Soccer." Wow. What on earth? With a big claim like that, it just has to be something that other towns don't have (i.e., like the 1,300 kids ages 5-12 in the Pittsford Mustang Soccer Club), so can it be (fingers crossed) midgets? Inquiring minds want to know.

I think I want to start working on a tag line for Pittsford.

Some of my initial thoughts include:
Pittsford. Puts you there where things are hollow.
Pittsford. What you like is in the limo.
Pittsford. What you get is no tomorrow.
Pittsford. What you need you have to borrow.
Pittsford. Nien! It's mine!

But I think my favorite is:
Pittsford. I reject you first.

Thoughts?

Taglines Revisited

If the handful of you who actually take the time read my blog (thank you!) know of any interesting taglines, I would love to hear about them.

I was trying to find interesting or noteworthy tags for a client and came up woefully short. Which leads me to the same conclusion I posted about recently: people just don't get it!

Here were a few that I found funny mainly from sites I've mentioned in the past:

someecards: “when you care enough to hit send”

The “blog” of “unnecessary” quotation marks: “misinterpreting bad punctuation since 2005”

Gizmodo: “so much in love with shiny new toys, it’s unnatural”

And last but not least --

The Crack Team (concrete repair specialists): Mr. Happy Crack says . . . “A dry crack is a happy crack”

Please tell me there are actually some valuable taglines out there somewhere. Bueller? Anyone?