Advertising Age: the JCPenney "Doghouse" Campaign Sucks! and it's Awesome!

Have you seen the JCPenney viral campaign "Beware of the Doghouse"? Many of you have I'm sure as it's been on the radar for viral video of the month. Such popular campaigns get evaluated by the big boys like Advertising Age and they give their opinion on its merit. Ad Age's grade? F! ...and an A!

Huh?

Beware of the Doghouse receives pomp and circumstance in Ad Age's "Top Work" section. Granted it is compiled by the editors of Creativity magazine, but it's a heavily trafficked section of their site which showcases great work from around the world. Called "Creativity Weekly Top 5", Beware of the Doghouse earns a #3 spot in the Nov 24 week edition. The applause subsides and we click onward to Ad Age's well-known ad critic Bob Garfield.

What do you say, Bob?

BOB: "The aspiring viral video from Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, for JCPenney is four minutes and 45 seconds of sloppy, profligate storytelling..."

Ouch.

[read Garfield's full article]
(By the way, Bob shouldn't read his user comments to his article if he wants to feel affirmed. Just sayin'.)

Am I reading the same publication here? I check the masthead. Yup. Advertising Age. So, if I'm Saatchi & Saatchi, I'm getting both a high-five and a kick in the backside.

What's my take on "Beware of the Doghouse"? Two sentences: It was very funny. It was too long.

...And that's my 2 cents as a back seat driver to the armchair quarterbacks of advertising.

Cheers,
CK