>> business news from the capital region, this is "washington business report" with national correspondent rebecca cooper. >> thank you for joining us for a look at busess and f finance in the washington region. this week, we saw the tv go down and unemployment go up. we saw no movement from congress to work out a deaand avoid automatic spending cuts under sequestration. that has big implications for the wawashington area. we also got news of the maser resignation -- of the major

resignatation. we will have those topics and more i in our roundtable. we want to focus on industry that gets more attention today than any other day of the year. not football, but advertising. the super bobowl game will cost $4 llion per spot. it is worth making your ad memorable. joinining us to talk a about what works and what does not, cary hatch of matt smith -- of mdb communications and matt smith of smithgifford communications. let't's talk about one add generating a lot of talk. it is the one by volkswagen. let's take a look. >>♪ >> sticky bun. wicked coffee. turn the frown around.

>> you are from minnesota, right? >> right, the land of 10,000 lakes. >> in conclusion, things are pretty dismal. >> do you know what this room needs? a smile. >> ♪ traveling along, the song we're singing c'mon, get happy ♪ ♪ make u happy ♪ >> thats the e power of german engineering. >> it is kind of cute. it is getting lots of f free media because it is controversial. some peoeople sasay the jamaican accent is racist. it doenot work for me for other reasons. in your mind, does it work?? >> it does not work for me either. the notion that this and wi make someone happy because of german engngineering, i doubt that.

>> it does seem a stretch.. does it work for you >> are loved it. if you go online, you will see the teaser for it. it is. genius. i wish i could have seen this during the super bowl. it is brilliant. the brand is aboutappiness. the work place where people are not happy right now. the most important thing is driving a beetle. those are key selling points for volkswagen. >> another reason why it wouldld not happen. [laughter] the mercedes ads wille running during the super bowl, i ththought they worked. the reason i i thought t this did not work because it took a long time to get to the car. the boss wit the accent did amuse me. this ad is called "deal with the devil."

when h he is in the mercedes, he suddenly becomes somebody a celebrity. to me, that is much more about the car than the vw ad. you have seen the mercedes ads. there is this one and the one with beautiful women at a car wash. i love whahat stephen colbert said. he said. demographic, region he said. dedemographic is 13-year-old boys wh make ls of money. perhaps this is every man's dream. the notion is the concept of being le to afford a mercedes under $30,0,000. >> that is ththe deal with ththe devil. hehe says i have this on my own. >> it is a huge mistake for mercedes to do this. the brand is not ababout that. they are saying mercedes is a status brand. it is an eineering brand.

that is what gives its stas. when i w worked on bmw in new york, it was a tactical mistake about making them a statu brand. a kigramor a w while. -- it killed the brandnd for a whilile. you do not want to be a status brand. >> therere dferencnces in how we see these. here is one that did not break down alongng gender ads. some of the ones you thoug were funny i did not like. let's show the one oethe girl with her dog and doritos. >> that is my toy. >> what is wrong? want a dorito? >> it is 9. >> here you go. last o. >> ♪

>> i gethat it is fuy and i am overdoing the pc being an animal lover. it freakede out seeinthe g haveto go out the wind. >> he is not speaking jamaican. >> there is anotother wewe will post on our facebk page. itit also kind of freaked me o out. my favorite is the dad that wantnts too outside and play with the gs andd instead plays dress up withh the daughter. why did this work for you? >> i loved the road trip. it has an adorable baby. it alsoo has a woman taking charge. > that did strike a chord wi me. the dog is flying out the car. it upsets me. >> i am a dog lover.

i amam citing with you. it is a great ad. the dog is cute. i would likeo see ift end with the dog out the window go for it. >> that is so wrwrong. aughter] let's go to one of your favorites. i have been of littltle bit distdibed by theoat and dog. this one has no crededibility and get it brought a tear to my eye. let's watch the clydesdale ad. >> ♪ ♪ to my love, to get down -- took it down. climbed the mountain and turned arouound

♪ i have been afraid of chchanging because i built my life around you ♪ but time makes us o older and children get older ♪ i am getting olderoo ♪ ♪ did my love take it downn did you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills? a landslide will bring you down ♪ > [lahter] >> [indiscernible] does it work? >> ththe genius of that is to know how it is going to end. geniusus part is gettingg people to name the horse through twitter.

it is cool they are using the pre-super bowl thing in an effective way. marketing and advertisising is about timing. you want to see the ad in the environment, in the social atmosphere. >> in a super bowl party, i cannot hear them. i like seeing them ahead of time. >> what is brilliant about this is it asks people to contribute ahead of time. >> i think it is the sweetest ad and it gets me. >> it makes you feel good about the ad and brand. that is a large part of what it is about. showing things early, some studies have shown therere are tons of increase in sales volume based on pre and postt

acactivity. >> we'rere going to post some of thtrendsds on our facebook pe. we're going to post some favorite ads on our facebook page. we're going to play this ad a as we go to break. it is another one that gives us goosebumps. let's go out with theetroit ad. >> ♪

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>> welcome back. george washihington university leads the list of the ve private employers. michael has gone through the annual financial reports and found george wasashington is in second place. washington hospital is in third place. howard uniniversity is the fifth largest t employer in the district. stay tuned. our roundtable will be back after the break on the economy.

>> the dow hit t 14,000 on friday. that did not disguise bad news bring for the washington area and national e economy. we f found out the gdp shrank due to cuts in defense spending just as reports came out congress is no closer to deal to avoid sequestration cu. we saw the number of jobs created is not grong fast enouough. more peoplple are filing fo unemployment.. herere to discuss this are twtwo of our favavorite contributors, j josh boaknd sahil kapur. welcome. there are plenty of ways to see a bright side in the economy. there are plenty of ways where people are worried as well.

we have some breaking news on friday that the district financial officer is resesigni after last year he agreed to another fi-year term. what do you make of that? >> most voters saw him as the one official they y did not want toto see leave the governmt. > you are rightht. many a are noot popular right now. >> this is s a prty good one with the d.c. government having the surprplus. >> foror all the praise for him ovover the yea that he has taken on the job of fixingg d.c. nances, there were some cocontrorsies that the e city cocil were looking into. what is your take on his resignationon? >> may gray credited him for a store near work. he was mired in contversy on

internalal auditi and other thinings. >> he is independent. this is nott someone bng forced out, we do not think. he does not answer to the mayor or city council. he had said before he wanted to continue on. we still have to see what our friends might say aso why this happened t's turn to things you have been following closely. what has been going on at the white house and catol. it is our underststandi, not much in terms of getting closer to a deal. do youou see any signs of le for a deal? >> it is not like they are prpreparing valentine's for each othein anticipation of the middle of the month. at this stage, paul ryan says the sequester is going g to happen. if pau ryan says it, that is a big deal. he campaignened sayiying thehe sequester should not a and cannot happen. >> at the e book of lisists party,

people spend a lot of timime talking about ngress. everyone was talking about it because they are discouraged foror what wld mean for r the washington area. bodyhinks theyy will get a de. do you see any reason for hope? >> i see reason to not be helpful, especially after the paul ryan comments. he sai republicans w will nonot make compromises to stop i ththe compromisese the democrats want our new r revenues and tax loopopholes. the e fact that paul ryan and republicans have said the'rere willing to see this happepen, they will not agreeee to new revenues. it suggests there e is very little room for agreement. >> is it inevitable we will see cuts in defense spending one of the reasosons the gdp shrank is we're spending l less money figing wars overseas. i am not a big fan of spending money unnecessarily on defen butt this region wildefinitely

take a hit if the automaticic spending cututs come in. do you thihink they would be just as significant in the defense industry eve if they reach a deal? the deal wilstill have too entail c cuts in spending. >> that is right. you will see a slowdown. you see evidence of the anticipaon of the s slowdowown in the joeying for the fbi headquarters. >> even if we didid it deal, people will need to brace for big cuts. >> absutely true. thpentagon h agreed to a budget that cuts spending. the sequester cuts it by $500 million. its hard to imagine a bill that does not include jor cuts. the difference is what people want to do it wi a scalpel and not have to. they do not wantnt to cut

prprograms becauseome are more valuable than hers. >> the s shut down is s separarate from the issssue of s sequestration. they still have to get an agreement to avoid a governmenent shutdown. do you think we're lookingt possible shutdown? >> no chchance for a shutdowown. paul ryan id this past sunday that republicans are more than happy to continue speing at existing levels and continued the debate on e budget. at is a massiveve change from the fiscal brinksmanship we saw st year republicans used the deadlines to advance their ecological goals on spending. >> do you think paul ryan speaks for e party? i know there arere republicans that would not mind seeing the government shut downwn. >>e is an effective mouthpiece for the party. he said there it is not going to be shut down. you have to te th at face value. we hea that plan b was going to pass.

the probability of a shutdown has decreased substatantially. rerepublicans do not see any windd from it. john boehner saiwe wilill not fight battles where there is a chance we will lose. >> some people got firired by y the white house. the jobs council got elimiminated.d. a lot ofeoplhave c criticized it for not being much more than window dressin. what is your take on it? was it effective? what does it mean that is no longer in existence? >> about a year ago, they came out wi the proposal. they said we want a territorial tax systemem. obama quicklturned around and said of what a minimum tax on foreign earnings. they saiaid we need to maximize our natural resources. >> perhaps he was looking out for himself in running the jobs council? >> there was that kind of tension.n.

the jobs cououncil was obama'' sounding board with corporatate america. in manany recommendations, the administration wiwith the other waway. any outage will be more informal. >> he rarely met face to face with them. what do you make on the outlook for jobs? >> the bs council w was a talking popoint for thee white house. ththey have now giving -- they have now given it to the republicicans are shutting it down. republicans say this is proroof the white house does not care about jobs. threvised numbers from november and dember indndicate room for optimism. the econonomy is growing at a slower pace. there are a lot of uncertainties. what is not going t to helplp is the payroll ta increase. they w will notelp the economy. >> i am not happy at all about a

payroll tax increase. >> smuch for the promise that taxes would not go upup. >> we have less than one minute. i want to touch on one person looking for a job ththat did not get help from the white house.. chuck hag trying to be the secretetary of defense. it would h have an impact in o our area with defense dollars. he h had a tough grilling on thursdsday in the senate.. john mccain welcom him and ththen blasted him. on friday, jay carney said the presesident tnks he is great and wants s him to be defense secretary. do you think he wille? >> the expectation is he i going be. it is not le the white house would abandon their guy. not at thistage when you have ready put him up before t senate. yoyou haveve already had to deal wiwith susan rice. >> this is how you treatat your

friends, i dodo not want to be enemy. will he make it? >> hwill >> thank you. we will be back after the break.

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"washiton business report" will have links to trends and some of the best super bowl