Description: Upstate New Yorkers are agog at Alec Baldwin’s completely unironic TV ads for a local grocery chain, Wegmans. There’s a cute backstory about why Baldwin is doing these ads — his mom shops there — but they illustrate one of the more charming new trends in advertising: to cast a famous person against type in a commercial, have them play it straight, and then leave consumers to guess what the heck is going on.

Source:  BNET.com

Date: 11/24/2010

Link: http://www.bnet.com/blog/advertising-business/alec-baldwin-for-wegmans-8217-supermarkets-now-it-8217s-hip-to-be-unironic/6693?tag=mantle_skin;content

Questions for discussion:

• Who is the target audience for these advertisements?
• What message are they sending out about the business?
• Do you think the advertisements are successful?
• What is it about using a celebrity in this way that works?