4 ms·

I had a very hard time taking the company seriously after seeing this ad. I don't know if it was the amateur production quality or the actors that seemed to be

I had a very hard time taking the company seriously after seeing this ad. I don't know if it was the amateur production quality or the actors that seemed to be some college kids eager to get back to their frat house, but the whole thing had a local car dealer quality to me. There's a reason professional ad agencies get paid for what they do.

tptacek 14y ago
I thought the video was of high quality relative to most online videos. Also, I don't know how many of these you've done, but it is extremely hard to do scripted video content convincingly.
- jaysonelliot 14y ago
  Relative to most online videos, yes. Relative to videos by commercial agencies, even the videos that are meant to look like UGC, no. You're absolutely right, it is extremely hard to do this kind of thing. Which is why we pay agencies instead of trying to do it ourselves, unless we want to be in the same league as Crazy Al's House of Chryslers.
  - tptacek 14y ago
    I don't think it's fair to ding young startups for not paying ad agencies to produce online video ads for them. That would be a tremendous waste of money, whereas this ad seems to have had the intended effect.
    - darkxanthos 14y ago
      What does "fair" mean when you're a business courting customers? I share the commenter's reaction. It's valuable feedback for lawdingo.
      - tptacek 14y ago
        You appear to have stopped reading at the word "fair".
SkyMarshal 14y ago
It may not even matter whether it's good or bad, just that it's memorable. And it's not quite "I am on a horse" memorable, but I think they'll get their money's worth from this.
justhw 14y ago
Spilled my iced tea at the local car dealer.
steele 14y ago
Maybe you're not the audience. There are worse, completely serious legal ads on television. dollarshaveclub had a fairly incredible video but they're not doling out legal advice. You can't help judge the company based on youngish males in a video attempting at humor, but maybe the cognitive dissonance is that they are trying to pitch legal services. Missed opportunity to out-do Saul Goodman.
nirmel 14y ago
We recognized people not taking it seriously as a risk, but we think the bigger risk is people not remembering the service when they need it. With no budget (we're but a young YC company), and an founder who's bad at annunciating (me), this is what we came up with!
- mbesto 14y ago
  I remembered it. Thought it was hilarious. For any tech startup with a limited budget I found it extremely impressive.

tptacek 14y ago

I thought the video was of high quality relative to most online videos. Also, I don't know how many of these you've done, but it is extremely hard to do scripted video content convincingly.

jaysonelliot 14y ago
Relative to most online videos, yes. Relative to videos by commercial agencies, even the videos that are meant to look like UGC, no. You're absolutely right, it is extremely hard to do this kind of thing. Which is why we pay agencies instead of trying to do it ourselves, unless we want to be in the same league as Crazy Al's House of Chryslers.
- tptacek 14y ago
  I don't think it's fair to ding young startups for not paying ad agencies to produce online video ads for them. That would be a tremendous waste of money, whereas this ad seems to have had the intended effect.
  - darkxanthos 14y ago
    What does "fair" mean when you're a business courting customers? I share the commenter's reaction. It's valuable feedback for lawdingo.
    - tptacek 14y ago
      You appear to have stopped reading at the word "fair".

SkyMarshal 14y ago

It may not even matter whether it's good or bad, just that it's memorable. And it's not quite "I am on a horse" memorable, but I think they'll get their money's worth from this.

justhw 14y ago

Spilled my iced tea at the local car dealer.

steele 14y ago

Maybe you're not the audience. There are worse, completely serious legal ads on television. dollarshaveclub had a fairly incredible video but they're not doling out legal advice. You can't help judge the company based on youngish males in a video attempting at humor, but maybe the cognitive dissonance is that they are trying to pitch legal services. Missed opportunity to out-do Saul Goodman.

nirmel 14y ago

We recognized people not taking it seriously as a risk, but we think the bigger risk is people not remembering the service when they need it. With no budget (we're but a young YC company), and an founder who's bad at annunciating (me), this is what we came up with!

mbesto 14y ago
I remembered it. Thought it was hilarious. For any tech startup with a limited budget I found it extremely impressive.