Thursday, August 24, 2006

Oopsie or Bold Ad Campaign?

While thumbing through the latest issue of Living Bird put out by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, this full page ad by Wild Bird Chow caught my attention:

So, on the left we have a blue tit usually seen in Great Britian and on the right we have an American goldfinch, typically seen in the eastern half of the United States. Underneath is the headline "Birds of Different Feathers will Flock Together". I am wondering if the idea is that Wild Bird Chow is so awesome tasting that birds from across the Atlantic will fly over to eat this wonderous mix or if it was a matter of someone in the art department doesn't know a thing about birds and just picked two pretty birds with colors that compliment each other. If it's the former, why put that in the Lab of Ornithology publication that hard core birders love to read--why not put that ad in Reader's Digest where people aren't thinking about bird accuracy? Blue tits aren't migratory, if you see one in the United States like I did last year, it's more than likely an escapee.

Wild Bird Chow, what were you thinking? Perhaps this was even a more clever ad campaign to put two birds together that you would never see and then get bloggers like me to talk about it, further spreading the word about their brand of bird seed...

7 Comments:

Blogger Peggy said...

I get Blue Tits in the garden all the time. They breed in our nest boxes and are very successful. I wonder if I ordered this stuff, I'd get American Goldfinches. There is nothing nearly that yellow over yere.

8/24/2006 10:53 PM  
Blogger John said...

I think its meant to be a joke.

8/25/2006 8:47 AM  
Blogger Amy said...

Biting my tongue... biting my tongue...

8/25/2006 9:36 AM  
Blogger Peggy said...

I know it was a joke. I'm not thick.

8/25/2006 11:20 AM  
Blogger birdchick said...

I'd like to hope this is a joke, but I have seen so many birds placed on product and ads that were made by a designer who knew little about birds.

My favorite was a product to keep your bird bath clean that had an oddly shaped cedar waxwing sitting on a bath. Closer inspection revealed that the original photo was a mourning dove given cedar waxwing colors--right down to the yellow tail tip and red spots on the wing. A funky little crest was added to.

8/25/2006 5:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You're wrong about one thing: hardcore birders don't read Living Bird.

8/26/2006 1:54 PM  
Blogger birdchick said...

I don't believe a thing the above Anymous commenter writes because they don't have the guts to leave their name.

c

8/26/2006 2:01 PM  

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