A medium isn't an idea

Maybe the big idea is just some old paradigm relic these days, but I’m sorry, effective persuasive communication will always depend on a good idea, well executed. As my philosophy profs liked to say, it’s a necessary, though perhaps not a sufficient condition.

This is true regardless of the medium. Take, for example, an ad I came across the other day while walking down the street in downtown Chicago. I don’t know what the term is for this particular form of communication, so I’ll just describe it. It was a plexiglass box, maybe 3’x5’, attached, if I recall correctly, to a light post. The box was divided vertically into two compartments. Each compartment contained a bunch of actual popped popcorn, labeled Orville Redenbacher on one side, brand X on the other. And printed across this container was some line to the effect of, “See the difference?”

Problem was, although the Redenbacher side was slightly more full, which might imply larger kernels (which, historically, has been the benefit they claim), this advantage is not clearly stated, nor was the amount that much different. Other than that, both batches looked about the same, and it was not, to me, a very appetizing context. Old popcorn looks old. The whole presentation merely invited the question, “What difference?”

A side-by-side comparison of two competing products that reveals the clear advantage of one over the other is a time-honored approach that will probably always be with us. But this was not that. And the eye-catchingness/engagingness/call it what you will of the plexiglass box only contributed to the failure of this communication.
With all due respect to Marshall McLuhan, in advertising, the medium is not the message, at least not by itself. The message is the message. And a medium isn’t an idea, much less a good idea, much less a big idea.

You could argue that this popcorn diarama was a good idea, badly executed, but I don’t think so. I think it was a pretty good execution of a bad idea. A side-by-side comparison can be a good idea, or at least the basis for a good idea, but only if you take into consideration the particular product, and the particular message regarding that product. Whoever did this Redenbacher ad didn’t seem to do either.