Besides my own group, Crispin and Porter, which I obviously feel should get a gold medal, there were two presentations that stood out to me as excellent. Those groups were Saatchi + Saatchi and TBWA.
Saatchi + Saatchi followed the same format as our video presentation but I had profound respect for the video editing. Since my contribution for our group was working mainly on the video, I watched this group's video analyzing how much time they must have spent piecing everything together. Personally, we spent over 20 hours editing our video! We could have used 3 or 4 more weeks to get it to perfection but we simply ran out of time. Great job Saatchi!
TBWA was by far the best presentation in my book. Even better than my group, which I will reluctantly admit! Their concept was out there creatively but it totally worked. I understood the metaphor and was just thoroughly entertained by the whole thing. The biting sarcasm added great entertainment value as well, ha! Take a bow TBWA and company, take a bow.
Two Thumbs Up
Advertising To Kids
One of the most debated topics in advertising has to do with the target market that hasn't even hit puberty yet. That target market, of course, is kids below the age of 12. Specifically, Sugared cereal advertising is right up there with alcohol on the list of things that are close to being banned as far as advertising is concerned. Self-regulatory bodies are keeping a close eye on it and have done an OK job thus far but there's no telling what might happen in the future.
Ultimately, parents are the purchases and have the final say in the matter. But, kids nag and nag and nag so much that I don't blame any parent that gives in to the cereal aisle and walks away with a couple boxes of nothing but sugar just because their kid threw a tantrum over it. It's just easier to give in!
And is it really all that bad that a ban must be placed? Bonnie Taub-Dix, a nutritionist that is keepign a close eye on this, doesn't think it's something that should be as closely monitored as it is. She makes a good point in saying that cereal and a glass of juice is better than nothing for breakfast. Statistically speaking, only 40% of kids ages 6-11 even eat breakfast on a consistent basis. For her, there are much worse things is world. But, as a starting point, she suggests teaching kids to mix cereals. Her own kids mix Trix and Cheerios, where the Cheerios have 9 grams less sugar than the Trix do.
I agree with her but also see the frustrations of a parent trying to keep their family on a balanced diet. It's hard to find a middle ground, that's for darn sure.
Richards Group
Here's a little ode to some of the print ads out of the Richards Group agency, located in our very own Dallas, TX.
Not the most mind-blowing ad you'll ever see but it sends a good message. Besides, I wouldn't want to be put on a shoe polish account. I wouldn't have the first clue on how to get that stuff to fly off the shelves!
"When you're sleeping, we look just like those big fancy hotels. Motel 6"
Ha! But, it's quite true. What difference does it make when your eyes are closed? Although, I must say the beds make or break the hotel for me so this ad could be completely false to someone who feels that same way.
Another thing I would hate to advertise, furniture! I get a real kick out of things that are totally different but look really similar. That's why I think this ad is really effective. To the right, it says, "Thomasville, so you." That makes sense, considering people's furniture is usually a clear reflection of their personalities.
While the other three were all ads I liked and thought really worked, this one... not so much. They kind of went off on an Axe/Linx tangent for a minute with this one. It's a bra for heaven's sake! What does it matter what kind of animal you look like in it? And why is her hand so awkwardly posed? She looks like she has something wrong with her... not like a tiger.
Bartle Bogle Hegarty
New York:
As per usual with Axe, this commercial should be offensive to most women with a brain. I seriously, seriously hope some guys don't automatically do this to every girl they pass. They partially redeemed themselves at the end by doing a little role reversal but still... I'm not a fan. What's the point of the Axe Bullet anyways? Was there a big mobility problem with deodorant in the first place? It's like Go-Gurt, I don't get it! Yogurt isn't that hard to transport. Bad song choice also, just as a sidenote.
Singapore:
This campaign was to raise awareness for the indoors smoking ban that went into effect in the summer of 2007. If you can't tell by the picture, they made planters into huge ash trays and filled them with green plants. Kind of an, "in your face, now the air can be clean again" deal going on. I like it.
London:
I love the visuals in this ad. The concept of grip doesn't connect to a car in my head, until now. It was a neat way to bring a product benefit to the surface without just throwing a bunch of numbers and statistics at you. I love the different objects they used, especially the fish versus carrot. Ha!
I give mad props to this organization. Based on their tag-line and the ads the have put out, through BBH, they really have a heart for kids that aren't exactly on the right track. The smaller copy on this ad makes a really good point in saying that 10,000 kids expelled is 10,000 futures put at risk meaning kids with behavioral issues should be given help and hope, not simply punished to the point of no return. Great message!
Neogama:
"Meanwhile, you were cleaning your freezer." HAHAHAHAHAH!!!
Weiden + Kennedy
Portland:
I think this ad is awful. I don't get the connection or the association between PlayBoy and this particular brand of vodka but the picture alone is just not appealing. I love how they still had to put boobs on the cartoon but since the bottle ran through the middle, they had to awkwardly put them to either side. How sill is that? Why did the bottle have to try and take the shape of a PlayBoy bunny anyways? Again, not a fan.
I love this campaign by Alta Vista. We saw a few of the TV ads in class; the ones about radar guns and testicular cancer. I haven't visited the site but from what I've seen in ads such as this one, they are trying to send the message that they have answers for everything, even obscure questions that you may not have even thought of on your own. Otherwise, it would just be another google or yahoo search engine, and who would choose a no-name over one of those without ads giving them a reason to?
New York:
Here's the link for this since I'd be willing to bet you can't read the words. http://wk.com/?#/works/391/ I'm a sucker for great copy that looks boring and tedious at first but slowly and pleasantly surprises me. I'm quick to judge, because, let's face it, I'm in college and hate reading anything more than I absolutely have to. I also enjoy copy that feels more like a conversation than a lecture and this did just that. Besides, I love football and pizza. Great, now I sound like a dude..
London:
This ad confused the heck out of me for a good 5 minutes. The first line reads "Have you ever written on a banana in biro?" I understood every word except biro. I was thinking, why doesn't it just say pen? Don't they mean pen? I have written on a banana in pen and it was glorious, but what's biro? Does that really say biro? Moral of the story: I finally looked it up, found out that it did indeed say biro and that it meant ballpoint pen and had an English origin. Then it all made sense, the ad was made in London, duh. Anyways, just a prime example that where the ads are made and displayed has a lot to do with the content and style of the ad and especially the copy within the ad.
Tokyo:
While we watched circa 30 awesome and heartfelt ads for Nike by W+K, this one was less than impressive. no music, no copy besides "Just Do It" and no amazing feat of athleticism. Am I missing something here? Sure, it's cool that they made it look like he was skateboarding in some crazy direction that look like up one way and sideways another, but that commercial was boring. Period.
MDC
Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami:
This is an ad for one of CPB's smaller clients, Domino's Pizza. My group used this ad for our agency presentation and I just thought it was a light spot that was a funny intro to a new product.. even though Pizza Hut came out with the whole pasta idea first. This is definitely not on the same page with other CPB ads like the German engineering ones we saw in class, sometimes they are just really off the wall but I loved learning about them!
This promo for the Ad Council, also by CPB, is more along the lines of the agency's personality. It's obviously meant to be a play on words and my first reaction was, "what the heck does that have to do with Ad Council?" But, as I read the fine print, I was shocked at the statistics for what the message was really trying to convey. On a totally different note, if you haven't seen the Ad Council spot promoting fatherhood and involvement in kids' lives with the cheerleading dad, you have to go watch it! I absolutely love it and thing it is so poignant.
VitroRobertson, San Diego:
Again with the golf ads, I'm sorry but most of them are either spot on or brilliant so either way, I have to use them. Having David Fehrety is always a plus and if you don't know who he is, well, he's the guy in this ad with a wicked awesome accent that makes everything better. His other commercials for Cobra are hilarious but I liked the golfer in this one. Pretty self-explanatory.
Cliff Freeman & Partners, NY:
Even though Cliff Freeman does work for two of my favorite eating establishments, Quizno's and Baskin Robin's, I wasn't a huge fan of a majority of their current work on the website. So instead, I found this throwback for Little Caesar's. And by throwback, I mean, holy cow this was when delivery was a big deal. Now, we expect Jimmy John's to have someone bike over one lousy sandwich because we're too lazy to haul our butts over there. I really dig the uniforms shown here too.
Kirshenbaum Bond, NY:
Nothing like a strange viral video to start your day off right. This one actually made me jump a little, not going to lie. Although the Guitar Hero video will probably always be my favorite viral ad, this one was pretty cool too. They never mention Wendy's (even though the burger used is really distinct) forcing you to give in to your curiosity and visit the website of whatever these so called, "meatatarians."
HAVAS
Arnold, Boston:
I think this ad for Tyson chicken is really neat! It's simple, straight to the point, and really drives home the product benefit of building strong muscles. That kid has pretty good form from what I saw in the Olympics, too. I mean, that's just an observation.
Euro, Chicago:
Ha! I just thought these ads were clever. I would be willing to put money on the fact that the company named their vodka Effen for the sole reason of the ad campaigns that could stem from it. Still unique, but pretty 'effen' transparent if you ask me.
McKinney, Durham, NC:
I thought this ad, but more so the campaign behind it, was really interesting and unlike any fully integrated campaign we've looked at in class. McKinney worked under the theme of "Love from Above" for Virgin Atlantic. I was interested for one because our group project coming up is on Crispin Porter and they used to do the ads for this company so it was neat to be able to make that connection as soon as I looked at the McKinney website. The campaign specifically, though, was really really cool. They turned NY City into London the week before Vanetine's and had free cabs running on a 35,000 foot stretch of the city. Besides all that, they places ads like the above all over the place and included a number to text for special treatments which included directions to pubs giving free drinks away and bars giving free food away and raffling off prizes. The week ended at the famous Love sculpture where representatives were giving away free bouquets of roses! The idea was to treat people like they are treated 35,000 feet in the air when they travel with Virgin Atlantic.