Electronics-focused e-retailer Newegg and its agency, goodness Mfg., are taking an unconventional approach to back-to-school shopping with their Parent Persuasion Program. Unconventional in the sense that typically hidden tactics used by marketers are being openly handed over to students to use on their parents. Newegg’s Parent Persuasion Program gives students the chance to psychographically profile their parents, then serve up banner ads that track them across the Internet. Parents are introduced into the scheme through funny web films that use “authority figures” to persuade them to buy the latest tech products for school.
One such film is Parent Persuasion Professor in which a young man masquerades in the title role of the slightly zany, white-haired Ludwig who articulates a strong case for buying an ultrabook computer, citing its various advantages in offbeat fashion. For example, he shows a lightweight ultrabook weighing but 2.9 pounds. A student comes to the front of the class and takes off his wig, which is a comparable 2.9 pounds of hair. While the hair won’t help a student excel, the lightweight computer will. Ludwig positions ultrabooks as a savvy back-to-school investment, certainly much better than 2.9 pounds of hair.
Bo Mirosseni of Partizan directed the web films, including Parent Persuasion Professor. The other films also feature quirky characters–including a philosophy teacher and a gym coach–who consider themselves authorities in certain areas that convince parents to make the right purchases for their kids on Newegg.com.
“We wanted a wide range of characters without any being your stereotypical ‘computer expert’,” said Carl Corbitt, creative director, goodness Mfg.. “These films and the other Parent Persuasion Program tools use subterfuge to create the DIY feel that is at the core of Newegg.”
The back-to-school campaign is in keeping with the thinking Newegg is known for–such as offering expert consumer reviews written by loyal “geek” users (there are 19 million of them). The Parent Persuasion Program lets tech-savvy kids use advanced techniques to make sure their parents see their back-to-school wish lists and steers them to a secret section of the Newegg.com web site designed just for students.
“We wanted to go beyond traditional back-to-school advertising and ideas that have been rehashed over and over again,” explained Corbitt. “For the first time with this campaign, students are basically hacking the way their parents are being marketed to. Let’s be honest, kids and brands both use manipulative tactics to get parents to buy stuff. This time we’re handing over the secret tricks of the trade to students so they can get the tech products they need for school.”
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More