Ads Tap Into US Bitterness

Seeking to key into the national mood, the latest spots from Madison Avenue are uncharacteristically angry, the New York Times reports. “We’re turning up the volume in relation to what our customers are feeling,” says the marketing head at Kodak, whose new printer ads slam the “$5 billion dollar stain” on the economy caused by overpaying for ink—a long way from your typical Kodak moment.

Miller High Life shows a blue-collar man pulling beer from upscale bars he thinks are a rip-off; JetBlue ads welcome aboard CEOs who’ve lost their private jets. “You need to walk in the shoes of the average consumers today,” says the head of an ad agency. “They’re a little beat up and their wallets are lighter, and the people they trusted stole from them.” Marketers “have got to rebuild that trust.”
(More advertising stories.)