The boundaries of advertising continue to be pushed, or should I say blurred. These McDonald's ads were embedded into the editorial of a Canadian newspaper by changing the color of the text. Perfect execution by Cossette Atlantic/Canada. Simple, but I'm sure hard to pull off. While this approach succeeds in cutting through the current clutter, and while its novelty might make the consumer "smile" (for now), I have to wonder what kind of backlash we will see when newspapers, magazines, movies, music, video games and all forms of media become just part of another ad. Oh wait, we might have already reached that point.
via AdPunch
McDonald's in the Paper
Written by Littlejohn on Tuesday, January 30, 2007 16 comments
Veja Magazine
Copy: Get both sides
Another impressive use of typography for Veja magazine done by Almap BBDO. I'm glad to see they are keeping the campaign going. However, I must say it's incredibly hard to follow up the genius previous ads they did in the last installment. Great work.
via adverbox
Written by Littlejohn on Monday, January 29, 2007 10 comments
McDonald's
Copy: Don't make big decisions on an empty stomach.
McDonald's. I'm lovin' it.
At first glance these ads seem pretty smart. The ad space was purchased next to the house listings in a paper or magazine. The messaging is relevant to the consumer's mindset. But the visual execution is too subtle. You barley catch the volcano, and nuclear power plant off in the background, and, even if you do, it doesn't really feel like a negative. The more I think about it, the more these ad break down. Someone bought a house next to to a rocket because they were hungry? This is an example of a good first thought that never made it all the way around the corner, and in the end just tries too hard. I appreciate the idea but would have saved it for another client. Agency: DDB, Stockholm, Sweden
via ads of the world
Written by Littlejohn on Sunday, January 28, 2007 12 comments
Drink Coke for the kids
I've said it before, if you drink Coke you need to start donating those coke codes under the cap to the Donate Your Coke Rewards blog. The site has collected over 1,500 codes and is donating all the prizes from the rewards to needy kids at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. I think it's a brilliant idea. All you have to do is email in your code (from bottles, 12 packs, etc.) and then sit back and enjoy the delicious taste of helping people. The site makes a strong case:
"Alone we can't earn jack from MyCokeRewards. But if we pool our caffeine addictions, we can earn a cool prize for some needy kids."Coke has extended the program to April so there's still time to help score some of the top prizes for some seriously sick kids. Now we can actually put the Give into "Give. Live. Love."
Donate now at Donate Your Coke Rewards
Written by Littlejohn on Thursday, January 25, 2007 10 comments
Toyota Cruiser
Translation: Keep in touch with nature
These posters were printed on banana leaves. I imagine the creative team had to fight for this one. Several people along the way probably told them "No - we can't do that." But persistence pays off. Almost anything can be done. Just don't take no for an answer.
via 24
Written by Littlejohn on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 23 comments
Heavy Head
My first experience of this ad was discomfort. I though it was another one of those depressing ads that shows the trying life of a paraplegic or a person with severe handicap. I almost Xed out of the ad completely. But something seemed, well, off. Just strange enough for me to stick around till the end. And then. After several seconds. I laughed. It's for National Geographic Channel. Ridiculous, possible insensitive, but I like it. A good ad should make you feel...something. Thumbs up to Saatchi & Saatchi Australia.
via adme
Written by Littlejohn on Tuesday, January 23, 2007 11 comments
The Ad Saints
Saint Alex Bogusky. Creative Director Crispin Porter & Bogusky
Saint Marcello Serpa. Creative Director AlmapBBDO
Saint Erik Vervroegen. Creative Director TBWA\Paris
As part a campaign for a Young Creatives Competition in Switzerland, these brilliant advertising figures were elevated to saint status. If advertising saints are anything like Catholic Saints, then these men must have performed three advertising miracles. Anyone care to try to name them? I don't know all the details on these magnificent works of advertising inspired art, but this has to make Bogusky, Vervroegen and Marcello smile.
via adme
Written by Littlejohn on Monday, January 22, 2007 33 comments
Travel Agency
Apparently last winter was a pretty rough one for Munich. So, this travel agency decided to take advantage of the frozen spirits and snow covered windshields of the city's citizens. In this brilliant, and very cheap, guerrilla campaign, flight rates to warmer, happier regions were written in the snow next to the typical flier under the wiper. Big impact. Great, simple and smart thinking by agency Serviceplan Munich, Germany.
via ipub
Written by Littlejohn on Sunday, January 21, 2007 29 comments
VW Phaeton
Quite the impressive display of hand puppetry. While it's a bit of a stretch to compare hand puppets to handmade car craftsmanship, I like the simplicity and elegance of this VW Phaeton spot. But I've always wondered, what exactly does a car company mean when they say it's handmade? And why should I care? I imagine a lot of cars are in many ways handmade. Regardless, commercials like this one work because they make you feel gooey and smiley on the inside. It doesn't really matter what constitutes something as handmade. Let's sell some cars. Splendid execution by Grabarz & Partner Werbeagentur, Hamburg, Germany.
credit info via
Written by Littlejohn on Saturday, January 20, 2007 22 comments
Honda ASIMO
I know I'm a bit late on this but I just really dig robots. This knew Honda spot features ASIMO, that 4 foot cute little stair climber. The spot features Garrison Keeler, who's becoming a regular voice over talent for Honda. If you dig robots too and want to know more about ASIMO you should also watch this video. I can't wait 'til these funny little buggers completely take over the world.
Written by Littlejohn on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 10 comments
Electric Bike
Here's an outdoor/guerrilla campaign for Electric Bikes, which were hung at the top of electric poles. While I like the thought here I can't help thinking there's something lacking in execution. Can't put my finger on it. Regardless, smart thinking by Taxi, Toronto.
via ad nerd
Written by Littlejohn on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 15 comments
Axe
Check this Axe guerrilla campaign. Great work by Lowe, Belgium. You can see the second (less impressive) execution at iyi fikir.
Written by Littlejohn on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 26 comments
Milky Way
Click here to watch.
More hilarious strangeness abounds from Reginald Pike. This new creamy, odd milky way spot was directed by the Pelorian Brothers. Don't know the agency. I guess everyone could use a personal cheerleader wrapped in a candy bar wrapper, a.k.a Milky Way.
Written by Littlejohn on Monday, January 15, 2007 18 comments
Cancer - 1 out of 500
Copy: every year 1 out of 500 people will suffer from cancer. 1 out of every 500 Caretas magazines includes this warning. It can happen to anyone. Get a checkup.
A powerful ad. But I imagine the media guy started sweating when he heard the creatives wanted to cut his reach by 99.8%. Let's say, for easy math sake, that Caretas magazine has a 100,000 subscriber base (I have no clue). If that were the case only 200 people would have seen this ad. However Caretas is a weekly magazine so as the ad continues to run the odds of a person seeing it go up. What I like about this ad is that it sacrifices reach to achieve impact. They could have churned out another "go get a check up" ad which most people would have flipped right past. Instead they created a an ad that hits you hard if you are lucky (or unlucky) enough to see it. Some might argue that the audeience for this ad is too small, but I bet it convinced more people to go get a check up, which is really all that matters. Excellent thinking by Pragma DDB, Lima, Peru.
via ads of the world
Written by Littlejohn on Friday, January 12, 2007 14 comments
Mentos Mystery
Copy: Mentos - Helping people get ideas
Mentos ads in the past have been weird, hokey, idiotic, in the coolest possible way. But these mentos ads are a complete mind freak. I don't know anything about them (found them on a Chinese blog), and I can't stop scratching my head. Let's start with the tag line, "helping people get ideas." I don't know how such a claim could ever be substantiated, but it's genius. And the complete ridiculousness of suggesting that the greatest minds in history somehow benefited from a minty white candy (that didn't even exist yet) is not only ballsy, and moronic, it's hilarious. For some reason I love these ads. But where did they come from? Are these from an ancient Mentos campaign, are they spec, perhaps from some agency in Amsterdam, or has everyone already seen these? Someone please help me solve this curiously minty ad mystery.
Written by Littlejohn on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 20 comments
Budget Hotel
Copy: Unique Design - Hans Brinker Budget Hotel, Amsterdam
Simple and minimal or a cheap, dirty and naked. It all depends on how you look at it. Nice spin job by KesselsKramer, Amsterdam
via adverbox
Written by Littlejohn on Tuesday, January 09, 2007 21 comments
Sansui Widescreen Plasma
Copy: Widescreen Plasma
Surely there is something more impressive to feature about these Sansui TVs than their super "wideness." But if a lot of widenss is really important to you, these are at least simple (although a bit easy). Done by Ambience Publicis.
via 24
Written by Littlejohn on Tuesday, January 09, 2007 6 comments
Mashup of the Month
This is December's AdMashup of the Month over at Admashup.com. Brilliant and hilarious. The original ad, which you can see below the mashup, was for windex. But it makes an amazing Viagra ad––an older gentelmen "magically" suspending a beautiful young women in front of his mid section––too good. This mashup was created by Peter Josefsson from Sweden. Congratulations and great work.
Attention all procrastinators: Submissions are starting to get a little slow at Ad Mashup, so if you've been thinking about creating your own mashup, but just haven't got around to it, now is the perfect time. Send them in to AdMashup.com
Written by Littlejohn on Monday, January 08, 2007 11 comments
Play Station
Copy: Be somebody else
I love these visuals. Creepy. Mysterious. Subtle and startling at the same time. But I'm not a big fan of the line. It's a bit see-and-sayish (where the visual and the words are redundant as opposed to complimentary). Don't you think? I'm assuming these are older since they are for the playstation 2, but I don't have any details - comment if you've got info.
via elmaltshift
Written by Littlejohn on Monday, January 08, 2007 17 comments
Kleenex
I would argue that this Kleenex ad represents an emerging new school of advertising. The old school, or the old new school, was the highly visual, minimalist style of advertising, taught at most of the ad schools, where the ads merely tells you what the product does (which you already knew). No copy, no product shot, just put the logo in the bottom corner and submit it to the award shows. This type of work was supposed to be smart but in truth was really nothing more than a glorified visual pun targeted at other advertisers. But I digress.
What you see above is The Agony Aunt column in a magazine (the section where teenagers write in and cry about their love problems). The thing is, it's printed on Kleenex tissue paper. Simple. Brilliant.
This new school of advertising is smart but it's also relevant, it's true, it actually sells the product and best of all it's not really even advertising. You can argue schools of advertising with but this work by Ogilvy & Mather,Mumbai, India is superb. The type of work we should all be trying to do.
via ads of the world
Written by Littlejohn on Sunday, January 07, 2007 10 comments
Carlsberg
This new campaign for Carlsberg beer, which recently launched in Britain, does a beautiful job of parodying those vintage, illustrated animal track and field guides that almost everyone remembers flipping through as a child at Grandpops. As these posters point out, England is definitely not known for its variety of colorful or adventurous culinary dishes. It's as if by order of the Queen food must be either deep fried, stuffed into a tube or baked in a pie. Luckily for everyone in Great Britain you can wash it all down with several Carlsbergs. Cheers to that and this enjoyable campaign done by Saatchi & Saatchi, London.
via ad punch
Written by Littlejohn on Thursday, January 04, 2007 14 comments
Harvey Nichols
Copy: Must Have Harvey Nichols
As always, luxury has it's price. Keep in mind Stella Artois pretty much has the "it's expensive" angle locked down, so this is just a new take on an old thought. But we get a bit more of a narrative here, an insight into the life style of some of the obsessive consumer types out there. The end thought, of course, is despite starving your cat or having no life, still, "it was so worth it," making this ad kind of funny and at the same time kind of sad, because it's kind of true.
via reklamfeber
Written by Littlejohn on Wednesday, January 03, 2007 7 comments
VW Polo
Copy: The Polo. Just a little bit wilder. The Cross Polo.
Sometimes a very small product difference is really all people want. To feel normal but, of course, still like your very own, special, unique (vastly interesting) person. These under-promising VW ads do a wonderful job of promising just a little in a very big way. Obvisouly the polo is not just a little bit wilder, it's also a little bit cooler, a little bit hipper, smarter, trendier, plugged in, happier etc. Lesson: Sometimes when you're struggling to find the key differentiating product benefit that sets your client apart from all the rest, you can instead just aim slightly to the left. Stand out by being just a little different.
via 24
Written by Littlejohn on Tuesday, January 02, 2007 38 comments
Reynolds Highlighter
Click the images and you will notice something very small within a much larger context. A unique approach appealing slightly more to the left brained highlighters in the world. Simple. Smart. Elegant. Done by JWT, Mumbai, India.
via ads of the world
Written by Littlejohn on Monday, January 01, 2007 11 comments