Thanks, Captain Obvious

I've mentioned before that when it comes to advertisements directed at me, I can't see the forest for the trees. Most of the time, I'm unable to follow through with an advertiser's desired response because I'd rather focus on trying to answer questions like, “Hey, how’d they do that?”

This happened most recently while I was watching a few episodes of a television series streamed on Hulu Plus. This particular show lasted about 45 minutes and allowed for three or four 1-minute ad breaks per episode. I was very impressed when I noticed the following ads for Hotels.com spread out in succession during the breaks:

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

• Obviously, how'd they do that?! These three spots played in the proper order, if you will.
• I like that the Captain acknowledges the low probability of viewers actually paying attention to the spots.
• Searching for the best deals on hotel rooms is something I don't do often. With that in mind, I’m amazed that there's enough competition in the world of hotel booking to warrant this level of advertising.

OTHER TAKEAWAYS

I was happy to hear daylight isn't in any danger, and does not actually need saving.
— Captain Obvious (@CaptainObvious) March 8, 2015

• According to this article from Adweek, the Captain Obvious campaign is fairly new. The videos above were posted to Hotels.com's YouTube channel a few days before this post.
• I’m a little leery of Captain Obvious's Twitter account. It seems odd that a highly desirable Twitter handle the likes of @CapatainObvious would be available for such a new character and account. Perhaps it was purchased? Or maybe the ad agency that created the character smartly claimed the name before Hotels.com came calling?
• Also, for an account that was created in November of 2013 and only follows 10 accounts, the Captain's 94,000+ followers seems awfully high. Perhaps they were purchased?
• Then again, maybe such a skewed following is perfectly explained by Hotel.com’s affiliation with over 240,000 hotels from around the world? Like I said, I’m certainly not up-to-speed on the hotel booking industry.

So thanks, Captain Obvious, for being a new, fictional spokesman on the scene - for all the reasons I mentioned in an earlier post. Where will we find you next??

{Top Photo: Unsplash}