Tag: advertising

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What I Think

Can’t Beat This

Ever since the mysterious “Can’t” poster campaign started appearing about a week or so ago, it has reminded me of the ad below. Stunningly simply, immediately communicative, irrefutably hilarious and time tested.

As per the credits; created by Alan Crew and Darryn Devlin with photographer Michael Corridore – won Bronze at AWARD in 1996 and Folio Best of Year in 1997.

The client was Ford Pills and the agency was the now extinct BAM founded by Rob Belgiovane, Phil Atkinson and Reg Moses.

This is reproduced without permission from anyone but I do thank Campaign Brief for printing the ad in their 1997 publication ’10 Years of Creative Australian Advertising’

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What I Think

A life changing moment

While procrastinating instead of job hunting this evening, I searched YouTube for this ad. It was made by Clems and won Australia’s first Gold Lion at Canne in the early 1990’s. I’m willing to stand corrected if it was not the first but it was surely before the new metal they give out these days; the Platinum and the Titanium.

In all my time in advertising I always wanted to make an ad this brilliant. Not for the metal but for the emotional impact. I still cringe slightly at the last line but that is my only criticism. I love the single long shot, timed to perfection (before computers) so that we hear ‘speared‘ and then start to see the smash.

And while searching for this clip I discovered one of its creators, Mike Dowd passed away this year. I wish we were turning out ads just as good these days; something with an idea instead of the pretty, lifestyle, appeal to the masses shit we have thrown at us now.

In full disclosure: I chose to buy a very old Benz. Because of this ad. If I could, I’d own a very new Benz. Because of this ad.

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What I Think

Truth told not so well

In late April of this year two young creatives from the advertising agency George Patterson/Y&R created the attached video. It’s all very funny. Their premise is that by taking an ordinary item on eBay and reselling that item on eBay but by adding ‘creativity’ they can increase profits.

So that’s what their little video proves. But we’re also asked to suspend reality because there is no way in Hell that any of the statements made in their eBay ad could be applied or translated in any way whatsoever to a real world product. And not get fined by the relative governing authorities or ridiculed by the public. Contrary to the belief of some PR hacks, controversy does NOT create cash.

Rather then demonstrating how ‘creativity’ can help sell, I think all this exercise does is to further portray advertising as a profession based on telling falsehoods; that we lie for a living. Real advertising is so much more and it’s a pity that these two kids, and their bosses at what was once the largest agency in the country, think lying is what advertising is all about.

McCann-Erickson have a great corporate motto which I have always tried to live up to in my advertising days; truth told well.

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What I Think

I could not think of anything worse

I have always looked for ways to avoid advertising, even when I was on the side of the coin and making it. Now, with downaloadable TV, podcasting and AppleTV my exposure to advertising is approaching a mere million images a day – better than most at 20 million, or so.

Recorded inbound calls from the PM at the last elelction made me vote for what turned out to be a crazy man (not Mr Howard, the other guy).

So this is my kind of hell. Kiddies – I hop you enjoy it; or at least find a way around it.

Link: Gotta go Mum, it’s a message from my sponsor – Technology – smh.com.au.