I love beer commercials! Of all the advertising I am bombarded with on a daily basis, the marketing of beer has always stood-out as a shiny beacon of wit and entertainment in an otherwise dreary ocean of uninspiring advertising material.

The interesting thing is that the reason beer commercials are so good is because legislation prevents them from demonstrating their product being used for what it was originally intended. For instance:

• Beer advertising and marketing materials should portray beer in a responsible manner
• Beer advertising and marketing materials should not portray persons in a state of intoxication or in any way suggest that intoxication is acceptable conduct
• Beer advertising and marketing materials should not depict Santa Claus (not important for the point I’m going to make, but I just wanted to include this one)
• Beer advertising and marketing materials should not convey the impression that a beer has special or unique qualities if in fact it does not
• Beer advertising and marketing materials should contain no claims or representations that individuals cannot obtain social, professional, educational, athletic, or financial success or status without beer consumption; nor should they claim or represent that individuals cannot solve social, personal, or physical problems without beer consumption
• Beer advertising and marketing materials should not contain any lewd or indecent language or images
• Beer advertising and marketing materials should not portray sexual passion, promiscuity, or any other amorous activity as a result of consuming beer
• Beer advertising and marketing materials should not refer to any intoxicating effect that the product may produce
• Beer advertising and marketing materials should not depict the act of drinking

The list goes on and on, but basically the only way to advertise beer is to not advertise beer.

The motoring industry also suffers similar restrictions and in many parts of the world, (among other things) you cannot give the impression that cars are capable of being driving at high speeds. That’s the key selling point for a sports car - the fact that it looks sexy and goes fast.

Imagine what it would be like if you couldn’t demonstrate your product when advertising? Let’s say you made blue widgets… you could tell people that you make blue widgets, but you couldn’t show people what a blue widget does, how it is used, what it is designed for, how it would make your life better if you purchased said blue widget… etc. etc.

It would certainly make you be more creative with your marketing.

You’re probably thinking that this isn’t really an issue for most online marketers because our main aim is to rank for specific keywords that generate traffic and convert well into sales. While watching a beer advertisement might be funny when we’re flicking through the channels on TV, it’s not as likely that someone will do a search for the worlds largest domino effect to create a huge pint of Guinness when they simply want to decide which beer to buy for a party on the weekend.

But we would be insane neglect such advertising because of the viral nature it has - due to the humour and entertainment value of beer ads, they find their way onto YouTube, blogs, people’s inboxes and rss feeds. This not only re-enforces ones brand and drives traffic, but most importantly (at least from an SEOs perspective) it creates links which then help make your organic rankings sky-rocket.

So next time you’re reviewing your online marketing campaign and thinking how well it’s performing - just imagine how much better it could be doing if you had an advert that may not relate directly back to your product, but was virally doing laps of the world building you traffic, links and exposure without you having to lift a finger to spread the word.

Not demonstrating your product could turn-out to be one of the best marketing campaigns you ever run!

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