Yahoo's True Romance

In last week's column, I made an ill-timed joke about media casualties of war. As it turned out, that weekend, among so many other casualties, several journalists died tragically in Iraq. One was NBC's David Bloom. I didn't know him well, but he interviewed me a couple of times on the weekend Today show. Though he looked slick, like your picture-perfect, pretty-boy-style talking head, he was not a TV guy who just read questions from the prompter. Once, when I was on to talk about Super Bowl spots, he started the segment with, "You don't really like any of these ads, do you?"?a refreshing change from the usual boilerplate blather. Most live-TV anchors are pretty distracted?their immediate concerns are what they're hearing in the earpiece, how the hair is holding up, and what they have to do right after this interview. A former White House reporter and disaster-coverage man, Bloom, on the other hand, had the self-possession and nimbleness of mind to be focused and present for every segment. He was smart and direct, and just plain nice. What a devastating loss. Given the war, the economy, fears of terrorism and the breakout of SARS, it's hard to know what to put at the top of the worry list these days. That's why I like this Yahoo! personals campaign. Low-key and sweet, almost poetic, it exudes a gentleness, a feeling of connectedness, of we-are-all-human-and-in-this-thing-together-ness. And that's really appropriate and encouraging for these parlous times. With its distinctive name and a yodel for a logo, Yahoo! is one of the few portals that made it through the Internet boom. Two years ago it got into the now-crowded online-personals business, and it now ranks second after Match.com. The company has always been smart (but fairly cheap) about its image advertising. As part of a new campaign for the personals division, a 30-second TV spot broke on the Oscars, and a longer version was released more recently. The commercials, and accompanying outdoor messages, are delightfully quiet and charming, in good taste in any context. Online personals are so commonplace now that they're almost respectable (Match.com ads show that you can be loud and proud about doing it). But this campaign totally avoids showing any actual hookups or Sharon Stone moments?it has a surprisingly PG-13-ish, sort of "No sex, we're Yahoo!" positioning. Instead, the spots address the universal fears and hopes and yearnings that come with first dates, and the belief in fate and all the stuff about love that is pretty much covered in Cher's lyrics. But the commercials would just be a bunch of cliches were it not for the superb casting, direction and editing. In quick cuts, each "single" is shown preparing in front of a bedroom or bathroom mirror for a rendezvous; they are all ages and body types and colors and ethnicities, and the diversity seems unforced. Together they present an opera of individualized "hellos" and a portal into the bizarre and often poignant rituals of preparing to date another human. The spots were directed by Melodie McDaniel, who also did Nike's "If You Let Me Play" and MasterCard's "Sea Foam Green Bridesmaid's Gown" (she doesn't shoot only estrogen-related stuff, but is great at it). There's a masterly eye for detail here, along with some cool stage business exhibited in all the brushing, scrubbing, shaving, plucking, smoothing and changing going on. One African American woman makes broad, joyful gestures and then elects to pull it back; a dorky guy decides to shave his beard, leaving a semi-goatee with odd lumps. I also like the Latina in low-rise pants who covers her back with her hand as she sits down and rehearses to the mirror. The spots end with the yodel, the line "Believe" and an animated flower popping up. Planted and blossoming in five cities, the outdoor ads look great?there's something about symbols of birth and renewal surrounding a pay phone that gets me. They are also low-testosterone?the idea is if you build the site with females, the men will come. The work, with lots of white space, minimal copy and primitive line drawings, is so delicate and personal, it looks like it sprang from someone's dreams or unconscious. (The drawings and copy lines are by Amanda Hughes, a natural who works at Black Rocket as a receptionist.)All kinds of women will relate: One ad has a fluid, lyrical picture of a daisy's petals being plucked and the copy, "He emails me. He emails me not." Another has a skimpily drawn telephone with the line, "How soon is now?" The most representative merely shows a hand with fingers crossed. It's honest without being depressing, optimistic but still credible. Ironically, at a time when Fox is running Married by America?during which the female TV-wannabes/exhibitionists (er, fiancees) stick their hands through holes to get diamond rings from narcissistic TV-wannabe strangers (I mean, future husbands)?these Internet personals seem as healthy and wholesome as can be.

Brand Marketing

Yahoo's True Romance

Barbara Lippert

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Barbara Lippert