E = mercedes2

You've probably seen this illusion before, it's been knocking about the internet for quite some time, and I'm surprised it's never been used before. But this ad by Saatchi, Spain for Mercedes new Viano Van, have used it ingeniously. You'll need to click on the ad to get the full picture, and the copy works superbly with the image and it's been applied to the qualities of Mercedes excellently. I think this ad is meant for the internet otherwise the illusion wouldn't work, but it really is a great ad. Again, it's also nice to see a car brand not showing the actually product in its ad. How many people haven't seen the illusion or would bother clicking on it to see the whole package I'm not that sure, but the copy on this ad and its conception is first class, and it's another one of those where I think, it's so simple, why didn't I think of that? 

Unbelievable Tech-ers

I'm unsure as to whether these are great ads or not. I do have a soft spot for a copy-led ad, and so I've included them anyway. They are created by Saatchi London and are for Dixons' online store. These have a sense of the good ol' British humour in them, ripping it out of the expensive London stores and saying that Dixons sell all their products but for cheaper. And I really do love the line 'The last place you'll want to go.' It's excellent. It's a negative well-known phrase that's been turned on its head to become positive. I don't really like the art direction that much, it's boring and bland but I don't think it affects the ad too much overall. The intention is there but I'm really not sure if this is a great idea with average copy or just an average idea with great copy. I'm leaning towards the latter.

Got a feel for the Ambience? Pt 4

Another happy helping of ambient ads from around the globe for you now. I think most of these ads are excellent ideas, you may not agree, but they're here to create debate. Have a look and let me know what you think.

The first ad is a hard-hitting and purposely invasive ambient ad from TBWA/Johannesburg for the charity Feed SA. It creates guilt and is a brilliant idea with an excellent choice of media, which combine to make a really great ambient ad. This is both simple and engaging and I would love to see how many donations they gained because of it. However, if I was supermarket owner, there's no way I'd allow this in my stores. Surely this would discourage customers from shopping and cause their shopping time to decrease? Although the image of supporting the charity may counteract this. Either way, a really fantastic idea.

This next ambient ad is for Amnesty International in Portugal and is by McCann Erickson, Lisbon. The purpose of the ad is to encourage those who know about domestic crimes to report them to the police by suggesting they are an accomplice to the crime. A mild scare tactic. The ad carries the message of 'wash your hands of it' i.e. the crime, and this is conveyed by using soap in public toilets that resembles blood, which means you literally do have to wash your hands of it. A good ad with a great message that forces social interaction. Very thought provoking and I'm sure if this was in a bar you'd share it with your friends. Great work.

This is a unique and quite peculiar (and maybe even eccentric) ambient idea from Deadline Express Couriers by BBDO, Auckland. They wanted to highlight the efficiency of their service so decided to blow up a billboard. Bear with me. I'll explain.

They thought that because they are able to blow up a billboard at an exact time, then everyone would think they would be able to deliver a package at an exact time. This logic makes perfect sense. Right? It may have been seen by over a million people, but I guarantee the majority of these are just viewing it because explosions are way cool maaan. I'm not arguing with the fact it's a great idea to get brand awareness, but most won't remember who did it, and most sure as hell won't remember why. And also, placing it in the middle of nowhere does seem counterproductive to me. And yes I know there's health-and-bloody-safety issues, but that could have been controlled. Still, it's different, and that's why I'm writing about it.

This is a really nice and simple idea for DHL's new online tracking system in China by Ogilvy Beijing. They stuck a cursor to a DHL van as well doing the same to several delivery men across the city to highlight the fact you could track orders via mobile and online all the way to your door. Very eye-catching and you can't fail to miss it if it drives by. Excellent conception and excellent execution.

And finally, you can't have a selection of ads without a slight focus on the female anatomy. This ambient/outdoor ad was created by Publicis Frankfurt for Wonderbra and is such a simple conception. We all know what Wonderbra are about and this is conveyed quite superbly in this ad.

For previous parts:
Got a feel for the Ambience? Pt 1

Got a feel for the Ambience? Pt 2

Got a feel for the Ambience? Pt 3

Guitar Villian

I like these ads from a few years ago from Canadian agency Rethink for guitar brand Sparrow, rebelling against Guitar Hero and encouraging you to go and learn the real guitar.

However, this puts you in the dilemma of either-or. The ads say you should play guitar and not Guitar Hero. Why can't you do both? Surely there's loads out there who do? It's a dated stereotype suggesting that those who play these games are lazy, and can't be arsed to learn guitar. And in my opinion surely these types of games have encouraged kids to pick up an instrument?
What I do like about these ads is that they are almost bravely mocking the 16-24 year old age bracket, and this doesn't happen at all nowadays for fear of lost sales.
Although, these ads say 'Stop playing games. Start playing Guitar', which in its own right is really excellent copy, but it doesn't say 'Play Sparrow Guitars.' So what's stopping you from going out to buy a well-known brand? The idea of these ads is great, but I personally don't think positioning yourself against a toy is anything special, and doesn't say anything about your brand, and therefore would have done nothing for the sales of their products. A shame.

Breath of Fresh Air

Great ambient idea from Ogilvy Auckland raising awareness of Asthma sufferers. Inserts were put inside the plastic covers of 10,000 subscription magazines, and this is certainly one where the choice of media and the creative execution work so well together to create a really great ad.  

It's very shocking, which is what social awareness issues need, but it could be confused with child abuse. I get that Asthma is difficulty with breathing, and that is conveyed, but it's not what I immediately think of. Still (excuse the turn of phrase), it's a breath of fresh air when it comes to using media in a different way. Good work.

New Post

I thought these two ads were pretty good from Publicis Brussels for Post-It.
Although, if you think about it, sellotape and paper seem to be doing a great job instead. Maybe they don't need them afterall?
Joking aside, I'm sure this idea has been done many times before but I just think its simplicity wins me over.
However, this is definitely not a base for a whole campaign. This is simply the same ad done twice.
It also niggles me that it says 'Post-It' rather the plural, and the fact that the keyboard is blurred but the pen isn't. And also, who actually puts Post-Its on a fridge? It's what magnets are for!
The more I write about these the less I like them, and I want to like them, so I'll stop here.
Nice idea.
Maybe.

Bloody Good Work

This is a hard-hitting set of ads by Indian agency Mudra Group from Bangalore Traffic Police.
Absolutely stunning art direction with great execution in controlling the splatter. They're simple, emotive and most of all memorable. I think this communication works excellently as it's not only targeting the caller rather than the one driving, but it focuses on a specific type of phone call i.e. to your partner, not just a general 'Don't call people whilst they are driving.'
And from my 'extensive' Indian knowledge, the henna tattoo in the first ad on the lady's hand, and the fact she has a Bindi on her forehead, means she is newly-married. This I'm sure heightened the impact of the ad in India.
Perhaps there could be more work on the copy but, ignoring that, this is probably one of the best creative pieces of 'shockvertising' I have seen.

Smokin' Hot

This is a superb piece of copy from TBWA/Vancouver for an anti-smoking ad for The British Columbia Lung Association. Marvelously simple execution and really clever, and actually pretty hard-hitting if you think about it. I love an ad thats copy is so strong there is no need for images. This ad proves that so often is the case in advertising that less is indeed more.

Great Delivery

Not much can be said about this print ad by DDB Berlin for IKEA. It's just a simple and superb ad to tell consumers about their new home delivery. Great art direction, and an excellent idea.

Don't Get Cold Feet

I like this set of ads for Valenki the 'Original Russian Footwarmer' by Ogilvy Moscow.

The copy in all the ads is simple, witty and smart. In the first ad, using the phrase of not being seen dead in something and turning it on its head by taking it literally is a nice idea. I also think the typeface choice is excellent and the way they are almost taking the piss out of the look of their product is novel, and makes the ads much more appealing and approachable. It's great that this brand is going down the practicality route, which doesn't happen very often nowadays. It's a great insight, they don't look amazing, and they know that but they're the best product to keep your feet warm. And in Russia where temperatures are astronomically cold, it will certainly resonate with consumers.

Fluorescent Adolescent

This is an intentionally sinister and creepy campaign by EURO RSCG São Paulo, Brazil for CERCA, the Children and Adolescents Reference Centre warning about Pedophilia. Printed with fluorescent ink, when the lights are on the top image can be seen, but when they are off, the bottom image is seen. A great message in 'Pedophilia, you might not see it, but it could be happening.' How well the fluorescent image lit up I don't know but it's an incredibly unique and novel way to convey such an important issue. Great work.

 

Well Suck a Duck

This ad is a few years old and comes from Publicis Frankfurt and is for the Rowenta Silence Force Vacuum Cleaner. Good art direction which means there isn't a need for additional copy.
It conveys everything it needs to and makes me smile everytime I look at it. Great conception.

What a Ride

These ads are absolutely stunning. Long copy is on its way back, people. It comes from Saatchi and Saatchi Manila, The Phillippines and they are for Vespa, the scooter brand.
The copy, and to a lesser extent the art direction, really are truly magnificent. Granted it's the type of ad that you'd expect from a motorcycle brand, but I think this is what Vespa are going for. It's almost a Harley-Davidson style ad. It's the journey, the feeling of actually riding with the one you love, with the tagline 'Our ride' perfectly conveying this. These really capture the essence of what the Vespa brand is about.
Well executed, well crafted and beautifully simple. The first ad's final line of 'Against the wind' is mind-blowing. They are genuinely inspiring and they are an ode to the art of copy.
These ads are the exact reason why I want to be a copywriter. Breathtaking stuff.

I'd Tap That

This ad, sadly, excites me. Such a simple conception to communicate Isca's big idea of 'Beautiful Taps.' Made by South African agency FoxP2, Cape Town, it is really so simple yet so so clever, the type of ad which really inspires me. Wonderful art direction and simple copy combine excellently. A really great idea in personifying their product. I love this ad and hope you do just as much.

That Sinking Feeling

Now this ad really is brilliant and comes from Publicis France for Homeless charity Samusocial. It's so shocking which is exactly what it's supposed to do. Beautiful art direction and a great tagline which, when translated, reads "The longer you live on the street, the harder it is to get off it."
I can't compliment this ad enough. It's excellently conceived and formulated, and that visual is just phenomenal. Remarkable stuff.

Got a feel for the Ambience? Pt 3

Part three of great ambient advertising is here, with ads from past to present. Granted most of these could be classed as outdoor, but it's always a grey area, and what has impressed me by these ads is the way they have used the outdoor space they have been given. Look at these and be wowed. Really innovative and clever ads.

This ad is exceptionally executed and it delivers it's message perfectly. A really great ad from Amelie Company based in Colorado. Being an outdoor ad you only get a few seconds to grab attention and I think this would do it brilliantly.

This next one is a great ad for Hot Wheels by Ogilvy Mexico, and deservedly won Bronze at the Cannes Lions last year in the Best Outdoor category. Really simple idea that says everything it needs to.

With this ambient idea for Coca-Cola from French agency Marcel I'm not sure how effective it would be. If the aim is to purely tell people about their new better grip bottle then it is a great ad. If, however, the idea is to sell more Coke, which I'm sure it is, then I don't think it's such a good idea. If this happened to me, I would come away with a slight distaste towards Coke. Everyone in these photos are smiling, but I'm sure the majority of us queuing up for a bus (which is probably late) after a hard day's shopping would not find humour in this situation. A novel idea however.

Good idea from Kolle Rebbe, a German agency, for ZDF an erotic movies channel. Great use of an old and tired medium in a novel and unique way. 

This is next set of ads were crafted by Canadian agency WAX Partnerships and advertises SAIT Polytechic, who offer courses in energy, media, manufacturing, health and public safety. It really is a great idea. The billboards change so that each person gradually ages, but are wearing the same clothes. The strapline 'Get a career you'll never want to leave' appears and sums up the ads perfectly. How fast they change and what percentage actually see all three stages I don't know, but still a really nice idea.

This is a really innovative use of outdoor for Friends of the Earth in Hong Kong by JWT. Over time, dust and dirt particles get stuck on the poster; gradually revealing the message. And as FotE put it "we let polluted air speak for itself.” Nice, right?  I can only imagine The post-campaign coverage is what they were really looking for as this is a very slow process. However, the whole idea of letting the problem speak for itself is extraordinarily powerful.

 

This is a humourous outdoor billboard for Panasonic's new nose hair trimmer by Saatchi & Saatchi Indonesia, using electric wires and poles to dramatise the idea of long nose hairs. Very well executed, and amusing art direction. Nice.

For previous parts:
Got a feel for the Ambience? Pt 1

Got a feel for the Ambience? Pt 2

The Font Is Strong With This One

I came across these print ads and thought I'd share them for all you Star Wars and typography nerds out there.

Cool and straight to the point self-promo ads from Milan design agency H-57 Creative Station, these really are brilliantly simple and clever executions, and they look great. It's an execllent way to promote themselves, by using what they do best; design, typography and illustration, and combining the three neatly, and to great effect. These posters proved to be so popular that H-57 are actually selling them right now. 

At first glance it's actually hard to tell they are made from nothing but typography. 

I love stuff like this, it really gets my (creative) juices going, and totally inspires me. Great work.

 

One For The Road

This is a beautiful ad for Audi's new Quattro, by DDB Barcelona. It really is visually astounding, with the details of each brick so intricately crafted. The image represents the copy perfectly. 'Make your own path' is a superb piece of writing that inspires me to go out and drive, something that, for a car ad, can't do it any harm. And it's nice trying to sell a car without doing the obvious and showing the car. Excellent stuff from DDB, and another stunning print ad from Audi, who certainly have racked them up over the years.

A Little Hoarse? Stop Smoking.

This comes from Ogilvy India and is an exceptional idea for an anti-smoking ad for Cancer Patient's Aid Association. It won two Gold Lions and one Silver Lion at the 2002 Cannes Lions Festival and rightly so.
A brilliant idea using such a well-known advertising character against itself.
I can't praise it highly enough, and this really is one of those ideas I wish I'd thought of myself. A great ad for a great cause.

Xcllnt, Clvr and Inspird

Now, I don't usually add things that aren't to do with advertising, but this I just HAD to add.
I appreciate it's long, but please do read it. Talk about inspiring:

This paragraph is not ordinary. Look at it. At first, it won’t look too odd. Just a normal paragraph – you may think. But look at it again and you might find it a bit unusual. Just a tiny bit. What’s wrong with it, you may ask? Nothing wrong at all, in fact, as I said, it’s just slightly unusual. It’s difficult to put it in words. Look again. Is anything not right? Can you spot it? Is anything . . . missing?

What you’ve just read is a lipogram – a text written without using a particular letter of the alphabet. It's the hardest kind of lipogram, as it doesn’t contain the letter E – the most common letter in the English language. Try writing one yourself, even a few sentences, and you’ll see it's pretty difficult. Now imagine the task faced by the French writer Georges Perec, when a friend challenged him to write a whole novel without using E – a letter that is even more common in French than in English.

Perec was a frighteningly clever writer. He was a lover of word games and puzzles, and a master of the Chinese board game Go. He wrote crossword puzzles for Paris magazines. He had already written a 5,000 word palindrome – a text that reads the same forwards and back, like the well known ‘A man, a plan, a canal – Panama’. But his friends thought that this task would be beyond him. Indeed, they staked money on it.

He took up the challenge. He was unable to use more than 70 per cent of the words in the French language. The most common articles and pronouns, most of the French verb endings, and nearly every feminine noun were off-limits. Imagine a French writer not being able to use ‘une’, ‘le’, ‘je’, ‘elle’, ‘est’, or ‘et’. Surely enough to kill any writer’s ability to create.

But Perec was not just any writer. He discovered that, on the contrary, this ‘impossible’ rule unlocked his imagination. He later claimed that he wrote his novel faster than any of his other books. He was forced to think. He had to fight for every sentence. He had no choice but to be original.

The result was La Disparition, a surreal detective story about the mysterious disappearance of a character named A. Vowl. (Get it?) The only Es were the four in his name on the cover. He placed dozens of clues in the book about the fantastically difficult rule he was working under. (For example, the chapters are numbered one to 26, but there is no chapter five, E being the fifth letter of the alphabet.) Despite the clues, many of the original reviewers failed to spot what was staring them in their faces – the missing letter. Embarassing for the critics; hilarious for the writer and his friends.

Fortunately, the game Perec was playing did not destroy the book itself. It’s not just a novel without the letter E, it’s a good novel in its own right – very funny, if you know its secret; and rather disturbing if you don’t. Every sentence seems twisted slightly out of shape, and the resulting style is unique. It’s like chaos theory, which says that a butterfly’s wingbeat in South America might cause a hurricane in China. Remove a tiny thing – a single letter, that you’d hardly notice – and the whole world is changed.
After he finished his novel, Perec decided he needed to use up all the Es he hadn’t used in the novel, so he got rid of the As, Is, Os, and Us – and wrote a short story in which E is the only vowel.

Perec was given his ‘impossible’ task by a fellow member of OuLiPo (Ouvroir de littérature potentielle – the Workshop of Potential Literature). This was a group of experimental writers in Paris in the 1960s, whose leading figures were Perec, Raymond Queneau, and the Italian Italo Calvino. The OuLiPo group developed the theory that writing under constraints and rules was a way to achieve true originality. Perec liked the paradox – the more you limit yourself, the freer you have to become.
All you need is a pen, paper and a dictionary.

Wow.

via British Council

Sex Sells If You Can Keep It Up

These ads are from suit company Suit Supply, and believe it or not, are currently up in Westfields Shopping Centre, and are all 8 feet tall.
As you can guess, they have indeed caused quite a stir, with the ASA currently investigating and the public calling for them to be ripped down immediately.
And to highlight the controversy these ads have caused, even the Dutch found them offensive.
In my opinion I think it's hard to tell whether putting these ads up where children and families can see them is an error, either on Suit Supply's or Westfield's part, but I do think the viewpoint that 'all publicity is good publicity' is both flawed and now majorly outdated. Social media will probably tear this company apart, and after browsing a few blogs myself, I can see the onslaught that is building. However, who had heard of this company before this? I certainly hadn't. In the short-term this publicity may well be beneficial, but in the long-term I think they may have shot themselves in the foot, ruining their ridiculously expensive loafers.
I'm all for controversial ads, and even encourage them (especially those involving nipples), but it appears somebody did indeed think of the children on this occasion, and I believe Suit Supply will have a lot of apologising to do in the near future.

Thin Measures

A nice visual, a good idea. This ad by McCann Erickson, Tel Aviv has caused a certain amount of controversy in Israel, and I think this is exactly what is needed. It's not only shoving the ugly issue of anorexia in our faces, but opening our eyes to it and forcing us to look and take notice.
I think the ad is brave because surely McCann knew they would come under fire by those who find it distasteful. Or perhaps, they didn't think about the consequences? Either way, sometimes this type of advertising is required; it forces communication rather than mildly suggest we might consider the issue.
I'm a fan of shock tactics for topics that many people pussy-foot around. They're extreme measures but sometimes extreme measures are the only way.

Folkin' Social Media

I like these print ads for Kent State Folk Festival in the U.S, crafted by agency Marcus Thomas, encouraging you to experience live music rather than using social media to access it. The copy really is excellent, as is the design to give it a folky-feel, for want of a better word.
Its attack on social media is a good route to go down, and as it's a folk festival, I'm sure it will resonate with most of the people who attend, who haven't grown up with social media in their faces.
However, it's a shame that Marcus Thomas have made these ads a tad hypocritical by using social media to promote the festival. I know using social media is a must nowadays, but I feel the impact of them has been slightly tarnished because of it.
Still a great campaign, and without them using social media people like me definitely wouldn't be talking about them, so perhaps a wise decision...