I have been searching the web lately looking at great ads of the past and present. In particular, ads that were/are unique—not just the ad creative, but also the way it is produced. This ad for Johnnie Walker, shot in 2008 and airing in 2009 is a good example of what I am talking about. The unique part of this though is that it was shot in one continuous take. The final ad you see was take #40, and considering the distance one can walk in five-plus minutes, there was a lot of travel involved to restart the takes. This ad was developed by BBH (in the UK).
Sometimes the story of the ad is just as fascinating as the the story the ad itself is telling!
Do you like the Old Spice commercial in which the actor Isaiah Mustafa ends up riding a horse? Care to know more about the creative? Leo Laporte, tech journalist for the world and self proclaimed Chief Twit interviewed the men behind the ads; Craig Allen and Eric Kallman of Wieden + Kennedy. This 20-minute interview gets a not always seen, look into the creative’s heads. Enjoy!
Congrats to the Saints for the win tonight, but who was the real winner in the ad war? Well, my opinion may not matter, but what do you think? Even if you didn’t see the game, you can still see the ads at youtube. Below are my thoughts and who i think were the winners this year.
First, I noticed that Sprite and 7up were not in the ads at all this year. Hyundai had a strong showing this year, and there was only one U.S. car maker in the commercials, Dodge (I assume the U.S. government-owned GM needed to spend its money a bit more wisely, so no Cadillac this time.)
Another trend that I piked-up on this year was the one of lifetime progressions. Cars.com, Dove, Dodge, Google and Monster.com all used the lifetime progression to sell their products.
Last thing I thought was that Bud Light seemed to be running on empty. One, there were fewer ads from them and nothing really hit me as great. What did you think?
Now for my winners. Bud Light, Budweiser, Coke and Doritos seemed to have the most ad dollars this year and to me, Doritos (Underdog), Budweiser (Bridge), Doritos (Snack Attack Samurai), Hyundai (Brett Favre), Coke (Hard Times), Budweiser (Fence) were clear winners. And for the loosers . . . Boost Mobile, Go Daddy, Taco Bell and 2010 Census (thanks for spending my money wisely though).
Please note that I did not consider any CBS or Movie ads in my thoughts, although the Leno, Oprah, Letterman ad was a good laugh.
In all, the days of crazy, great ads like the lat 90’s really seem to be over with. Please feel free to share your thoughts. What were your favorites and the ones you pan—and were you really offended by the Focus On Family ad that had Tim Teibow and his mother in it? One thing for sure is i registered to get a free pair of pants. I’ll let you know if I actually won a pair tomorrow.
Every once in a while public service announcements (PSAs) actually grab your attention. This PSA for Sussex Safer Roads in the UK is artfully done and rather simple in the message; “Embrace Life. Always wear your seat belt.” This simple style also tugs at a personal level which I think is the most effective way to get this style of message across to a broad audience. It is rare to see such well done PSAs, but this one is a clear winner!
Burger King (BK) is known for having . . . well some dumb ads. Recently BK introduced their BK Super Seven Incher with a print add that I would find a bit funny, albeit offensive too. In any light, BK has drummed up some controversy in the food and ad world, but will it be for the good or the detriment to BK and their sandwich? It has me talking about it. Personally, I think the ad will end up being forgotten, and so too the sandwich. But I will say, I would love to have been in that ad pitch and see the reactions on some faces. Priceless. Make sure to read the copy too. It sure helps in supporting the visual of the ad.
This morning a co-worker of mine sent me this classic Charlie Brown remake depicting ad agency life. Being an ex-agency art director, I can most certainly attest that much, if not all of this is true! Please enjoy this special presentation of A Charlie Brown Ad Agency!
A little advise to all of us men out there season. This retailer, which I had never thought of making a viral marketing type video came through in a rather effective way. Thanks to Jamison for sending me this link. As always, enjoy the short show, and remember to stay out of the doghouse this year!
Those people at Ikea are working hard to get your attention, and some of the commercials they make are banned or otherwise un-seen. Below are some of the better ones I have seen. Enjoy!
Advertising is a game of good looks and knowledge. The knowledge is part is needed in order for your good looks to speak to the right audience. Clients increasingly are looking for quantitative research on how their product or service is compared to the competition. Sometimes, a client asks for help, or needs help getting data for a project, and on the cheap. A little, but powerful and flexible site is out there to help you called Wufoo.
Deep down, Wufoo is an on-line “web 2.0” form maker, but with a data gathering approach. Yes, a form! Not too excited? What are those web surveys you fill out after a service call from a vendor? They are forms. What Wufoo does, is make the form design easy and better yet, the data collection almost transparent. Wufoo is so flexible you could use it for surveys, registration forms, job applications, inventory log or well, just about anything you can think of.
Best of all, it is free to try (3 forms) or monthly price of $9 to $199 a month (more forms and options).
Try it out and let me know what you think of the service: www.wufoo.com
The Triple B 