You’ve probably seen the U. S. Postal Service’s ads* proclaiming “If it fits, it ships.” The actor entrusted with that tagline is former Second City comedian Mike Bradecich, whose boyish charm combines with his unflappable postal efficiency, soothing the jangled nerves of every worried customer he encounters.
Which is ironic, because you’ve probably also seen Bradecich in his other breakout commercial role — as the gallingly desperate yet pathologically untrustworthy Verizon FiOS guy in a series of anti-FiOS commercials created by Comcast.
Kudos to Bradecich for being able to make a name for himself by playing two characters with polar opposite personalities. But I can’t be the only person who’s noticed him in both campaigns, and I also can’t be the only person who’s wondered this:
What happens when your company hinges its campaign on an actor’s qualities, which are then immediately subverted by that actor’s work in a different campaign running at the exact same time?
Or, in layman’s terms: are casual TV viewers confused about why that nice mailman is patronizing people while gleefully lying to them about FiOS?
Side note: while Googling, I came across Bradecich’s acting reel and personal blog (which happens to be called EgoCock, a fact that’s amazing all by itself). If you just can’t get enough of the world’s most affable mailman / least scrupulous FiOS guy, enjoy.
* If you’re wondering why I didn’t also embed a Post Office ad, it’s because I couldn’t find one online. You’d think that a keyphrase like “If it fits, it ships” would be Google paradise, but alas, the Post Office either hasn’t seen fit to release any of their ads on the intertubes, or else they’re in serious need of SEO asisstance.
Tags: audience, branding, Business, common sense, perception, Sociology, tv
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Ian M Rountree
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doogle
