Santa Rita. Good old-fashioned water. Since 1954 pure, clean and light.

Nice try for Santa Rita, but the woman is less 1954 than 1967. Had she channeled Marilyn Monroe in billowing dress, the woman could have convinced print ad sticklers otherwise. No, geometrically shaped dresses and bright colors don’t belong in the 1950s.

Instead, this quaint advertisement invited us to relive the Swinging Sixties. Clearly, the Santa Rita girl is wearing that decade’s hallmark, the all-hallowed Mini Dress. Specifically the model wore a sleeveless shift dress, something you would aptly see on Audrey Hepburn, Jackie O, Jean Shrimpton, and of course, Twiggy. If the photo would go just a bit lower, one would surely see a hemline that rose, dangerously, four to eight inches above the knees—and the conservative Fifties.

This look became in vogue in the mid-60s onwards. The instigator was primarily shop owner Mary Quant, who had the gall to sell mini skirts in London. From Great Britain, the “London Look” became full-blown contagion, after which no fashionable girl on earth would be caught dead with long skirts. At that point in history, it was safe to say the full skirt had run its course.

If anything, the hairstyle just screams “60s!” The flip, as the haircut is called, could easily have been worn by your mom or granny back then. Even the girls of The Jetsons, a 60s cartoon, reflected the hairstyle of the decade.

Inadvertently, designers Pierre Cardin and Andre Courreges, the era’s other mini skirt instigator, created lines with space age themes. It was not unusual for Sixties women to pair their mini dresses with go-go boots.

Austin Powers, a funny send-up of that decade, samples Sixties fashion profusely. If you still don’t have any idea, then get one here.

As for the Santa Rita man, well he nailed it right. This print ad just smacks of 1951’s A Streetcar Named Desire, tight-fitting white shirt and all. I mean, the guy could just pass for a James Dean impression.

In the first place, I don’t think people would give that much a shed about old water. “Vintage water”— that would be another ad altogether.

Advertising Agency: LS&Partners
Creative Directors: Rubens Coppi, Paolo Restifo
Art Director: Paolo Restifo
Copywriter: Rubens Coppi, Gabriele Puzzilli
Account director: Giovanni Lamorgese
Photographer: Winkler&Noah
Published: August 2008

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IFlops, your same music, but smoother.
Speakers for iPod.

By “smoother,” Cozy Tunes means hard rock could sound fluffier.

That’s the danger of this whole print advertising campaign. Either rock loyalists could get offended and stay away from the speakers, or denser people could take it literally. If IFlops ever flopped, the campaign must have been such a shame for Cozy Tunes, because they do have a masterful knack for manufacturing speakers. But then again, the advertisements are understandable, having come from the same brand that produced cutesy “pillow speakers.” Cozy Tunes has oft-shown its penchant for everything cutesy.

But being cute represents a damnable threshold to hardcore rock fans. The last thing counterculture people need is a rock band dancing like the Backstreet Boys. Jewel, the country artist, is a cautionary tale. She was virtually crucified for turning into Christina Aguilera on her fourth album.

Look at these ads: they’ve blasphemed guys whom people have otherwise made shrines of at home.

Exhibit 1: Pink Floyd

It derides the cover art of Pink Floyd’s opus, The Wall, which contains such tunes as “Another Brick in the Wall.”

Exhibit 2: Kiss

This image spoofs Rock and Roll Over, the fifth studio album of arena rock progenitors Kiss. A laughable one, because these guys paint their faces in every other color than in a rainbow.

Exhibit 3: Guns N’ Roses

Famous for such noisy hits as “Welcome To The Jungle,” Guns N’ Roses are presented here in a warped logo with daisies, something they haven’t sung about. Apparently the guys are more interested in violence, as evinced by the original logo.

Rock mavens may find these unlikely adverts for their idols right away. Not everybody could see the irony though. I suggest they put up two more images, something with ‘N Sync, dressed like metal rockers, and a goth Britney Spears. Anybody would figure the ads right away.

Advertising Agency: La Argolla, Costa Rica
Creative Director / Copywriter: Paulo Chacón
Art Director: Edgar Mora

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Horse is the animal king. Equidia. The horse riding channel.

Advertising Agency: H-Paris, France
Creative Director: Gilbert Scher
Art Directors / Copywriters: Nicolas Poillot, Philippe Boucheron
Photographer: Joseph Van Os
Retouching: Asile

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