A promise is a dangerous thing

How can a great ad actually damage a brand? When it highlights that it is just that, an ad, and the brand doesn't care...


The other day I saw an advert that really made me stop and think we're progressing... it had a sense of authenticity and was product relevant...
...but what really got me was not that it heavily pushed the URL, but that it did so in the same authentic context of the advert, written in Biro on the back of a ticket... Now I was excited.

I logged on expecting a website of the same ilk, some tales of travel, priceless photos from off the beaten track, the most conversation orientated people on the planet talking to each other; influencing each others travel plans and more... (I've been there you know, traveling, indulging each other in our unique experiences, U-turning to go somewhere 'completely insane')...
So I typed away with the ad's flavours still whetting my appetite...
m a s t e r c a r d . c o . u k / t r a v e l [enter]

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And there we are, delivered straight to the corporate mastercard website that I was so evidently driven to turn on my computer for... congratulations I am the fool who dared to believe... believe that mastercard does care about the experiences they can help facilitate... silly me.
As a result I am now pretty confident that the advert was just that, an advert, even if it was beautifully made... and yes, I know that they get that the web is the first point of call from offline awareness, well done, but as for continuing the emotional experience??? not fully grasped I think...
But what is really sad is that by failing to continue the experience online when it is promised the brand is actually damaging itself... exuding a 'we can't be assed ethos', in fact why not just direct every believer to a single webpage: 'sucker you dared to believe'...