In response to my prior post on the Census ad campaign, my in-the-know daughter Alyssa commented that some of the ads are directed by Christopher Guest (Best in Show, Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman), and feature his usual ensemble cast. You can watch them all on the Slash Film blog. Here's one example:

The marketing issue is this: Yes, the census targets everyone - by definition (all 300 million of us, as the ads point out!). But should the ad campaign? Or should the ads target those less likely to fill out their census forms? In other words, shoudl this be a niche campaign?

As always, the answers lies in the business objective. if the main goal is increasing general awareness that the census is coming and counts everyone, then this campaign can do a good job -- assuming that a broad audience "gets" Guest's quirky and satirical humor. If the goal is getting people who like sarcasm to laugh, the ads are great. But if the goal is to get the people who usually don't out the forms to do it, then I'm afraid the message is misplaced. 

My bottom line is assessing ad campaigns- and most any communication - is to ask what should people think, feel, and do, after watching the ad. So Christopher... what's the "do?"