Van and Wife

I discovered this VW ad by DDB from 1963 today and I had to post it right away.
I'm a huge fan of old-style, long copy ads, and this is definitely one of those that gets my loins tingling.

The copy reads,

Can your wife bake her own bread? Can she get a kid's leg stitched and not phone you at the office until it's all over? Find something to talk about when the TV set goes on the blink? Does she worry about the Bomb? Make your neighbors' children wish that she were their mother? Will she say "Yes" to a camping trip after 50 straight weeks of cooking? Let your daughter keep a pet snake in the back yard? Invite 13 people to dinner even though she only has service for 12? Name a cat "Rover"? Live another year without furniture and take a trip to Europe instead? Let you give up your job with a smile? And mean it? Congratulations.

Now, even my Dad wasn't born until '66, let alone myself, but I find it very easy to imagine just how the long copy in this ad would have gone down well with the target audience back then. It creates a feeling of adventure and spirit, as well freedom and liberty, everything that was then synonymous with VW vans in the '60s and, debatably, even today.

I hope you guys like this ad too, just not as much as I do, because I think I like it a little too much...

Rip-off

This is a great ambient idea for the aptly-named ‘Lonni’s Punani Waxing’ by the Miami Ad School in Brooklyn. The idea of ripping the page off in a waxing motion is excellent, and to reveal only the first few letters of the original copy is brilliant. It’s such a simple concept, but one that works very well. It’s an excellent piece of communication that is both funny and interactive, as well as creative. Good job. 

 

Redhook, Line and Sinker

Now I'm all for ads that use 'edgy' copy in an attempt to be different and 'cool' but this set of ads are frustrating because half of them are great but the other two fall short. The design, humour and appeal of the U.S beer brand Redhook is great and exactly what I believe Frank Unlimited are attempting to create, but I just wish they'd spent a little more time crafting the copy on the 'party' and 'commando' ads. Also, another thing that annoys me, the "outdoor" ads are blatantly photoshopped onto a billboard. Why bother? I think the persona being created for this brand is brilliant, it's just hindered by a couple of pieces of mediocre copy.

   

Rubble Trouble

This Ambient ad from Bohan, Nashville on behalf of The United Methodist Church to help raise awareness of the state Haiti is still in is absolutely brilliant. A lovely, thought-evoking and attention-grabbing idea to get the message out that Haiti is still trying to recover even after a year has passed. A genuinely impressive and simple concept which I admire. Great stuff.

Re:Cycling

I was blown away by how excellent the copy on these ads are, along with such beautiful art direction. I'd never heard of Halcyon Bikes before these, but these ads make me want to visit, and actually make me really like and admire the brand. They were created by BOHAN, Nashville from the U.S and they are simply stunning. Every single piece of copy is just as excellent as the next, a feat we see rarely in a series of ads. Succinct, superb, classy and overall an outstanding campaign.

Making a Mountain out of a Molehill

This is a big campaign across outdoor and several print executions for Powder Mountain by the excellently-named Super Top Secret, USA. In case you don't know (how could you not?), Powder Mountain is a ski resort located east of Eden, Utah (Thank you, Wikipedia) and is apparently massive. Some of these executions I adore, yet some of these I hate. Some of these have excellent copy, yet some of these have terrible copy. And some of these look like they have been designed by an agency that deserves the prefix 'Super', yet some of these look like they have been designed by a child.
I'm confused as to why all of these executions have been released at once, as I'm convinced you can get at least 2, maybe 3, campaigns out of these.
The first lot of prints I think are brilliant. They take a light-hearted and amusing approach which I think would definitely resonate with their target audience. Really nice art direction and copy too.

The outdoor campaign is a nice idea but in my opinion only one of them is good. The copy of 'Less oxygen. More air.' is brilliant but the others fall behind by some distance which is a shame. It's also a shame that they are nothing like the above executions. Perhaps they could support them, but I remain unconvinced.

The second group of print ads I hate. They are trying to be funny but aren't, are trying to look good, but aren't, and are trying to get people to go to Powder Mountain, but won't. These should never have been released alongside the two above, or perhaps even should never have been released at all. I think these executions result in a good campaign becoming overcrowded and confusing.