Throughout the hours and hours I have spent going through my Instagram feed, I see an ad pop up in the midst of it all. However, I noticed that many of these advertisements have begun to draw their focus to something millennials hold near and dear: memes.
Upon further inspection, I took note that this isn't an uncommon marketing technique. It's really just the latest attempt by advertisers to be hip. Merchants of Cool are pushing out the trend of meme culture and taking advantage of its ever-growing presence in the lives of modern youth.
Take this ad by diagram software creator program Lucidchart:
"What is a Pupper? What is a Doggo?" advertisement
They utilize the internet phenomenon "doggo" as an alternate name for dogs, as well as its surplus of variants. It's organized into a diagram in order to advertise their services. Doesn't it just make you think, "Wow, this company is really in with the cool kids!" In my own opinion, it just kind of seems like they're trying to hard. That's my problem with these ads, and I believe many other teens feel the same way.
However, the advertisers may know this. Teens really aren't the target market for a 'flowchart and diagram creator' it would likely be twenty-somethings and those in their early thirties: the young professionals of the workforce. This group are the type to try and grasp for straws at their teen years. They're just exiting the young and free age range, and becoming true young adults. Now, its their business that this campaign in particular is aimed towards. They want these young adults to still feel as if they're in the "in crowd."
This company isn't the only example of this I've seen; Just take one little internet stroll and you're bound to find a plethora of them. A few weeks ago, Gucci let out a campaign that received a lot of criticism for its use of memes.
When manufactured by a brand, they lack the essence of the meme. Youth consumers can see right through it.
Upon further inspection, I took note that this isn't an uncommon marketing technique. It's really just the latest attempt by advertisers to be hip. Merchants of Cool are pushing out the trend of meme culture and taking advantage of its ever-growing presence in the lives of modern youth.
Take this ad by diagram software creator program Lucidchart:
"What is a Pupper? What is a Doggo?" advertisement
They utilize the internet phenomenon "doggo" as an alternate name for dogs, as well as its surplus of variants. It's organized into a diagram in order to advertise their services. Doesn't it just make you think, "Wow, this company is really in with the cool kids!" In my own opinion, it just kind of seems like they're trying to hard. That's my problem with these ads, and I believe many other teens feel the same way.
However, the advertisers may know this. Teens really aren't the target market for a 'flowchart and diagram creator' it would likely be twenty-somethings and those in their early thirties: the young professionals of the workforce. This group are the type to try and grasp for straws at their teen years. They're just exiting the young and free age range, and becoming true young adults. Now, its their business that this campaign in particular is aimed towards. They want these young adults to still feel as if they're in the "in crowd."
This company isn't the only example of this I've seen; Just take one little internet stroll and you're bound to find a plethora of them. A few weeks ago, Gucci let out a campaign that received a lot of criticism for its use of memes.
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| Gucci's attempt at an "Arthur fist" meme |
The campaign took popular memes and made advertisements from them. In Merchants of Cool, it was mentions that consumers get wise to the companies that are trying to insert themselves into youthful culture. A wave of this realization came around to these memes. Millennials didn't react well because they can see clearly the lack of authenticity that this meme contains.
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| An original, tried and true Arthur fist meme |
Companies using memes to sell their products is a 'wit appeal,' but millennials don't seem to latch onto it very well.
I think the main problem with this is that memes die out so quickly, once a company latches on to one that they think works, its irrelevant. Just like in merchants of cool, as soon as they're able to find that aha moment of attention, its gone as quick as it came.
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