Legal Marketing & PR

Dr. Evil Appears in Law Firm Marketing Ad

By Larry Bodine, Esq.

When I first saw the law firm advertisement in American Lawyer magazine I had the following impressions:

1. Omigod! A law firm has used Dr. Evil from the the Austin Powers film series in an ad!  How much did they have to pay to get comedy actor Mike Myers? Wait a minute...why would a law firm want to depict themselves as finger-biting terrorists who want to take over the world?  Where is his cat Mr. Bigglesworth and his side-kick Mini-Me?
 

2. Then I looked closer and noticed that a creepy alien worm had wriggled under the man's skin.  Omigod! A hideous larva has slithered subcutaneously next to his brain, just like in horror movies.  Why would a law firm want to depict itself as a writhing invasive creature? What's the branding message?

3. Then I pulled away and notice that the bulging blue blood vessel resembled the filament in a light bulb. The man's head shape resembled a light bulb, kind of. Maybe the image was meant to suggest the "light bulb" that goes on in cartoons when a person has an idea.   So how does that connect with the firm's tagline, "Consider it solved"?  It appears to me that this man needs treatment at a varicose vein clinic.

Ahh those wacky Finns.  It was an ad for Borenium & Kemppinen, attorneys at law in Helsinki and cities called "Espoo" (are you kidding?) and "Tempere."  Established in 1911, B&K lost its mind in 2008 and is one of the largest law firms in Finland.  For more bizarre images I recommend you visit their website.  The flash video features flying insects hovering around Dr. Evil's head.

I am not making this up.

Full post as published by Larry Bodine's LawMarketing Blog on January 21, 2009 (boomark / email).