While the thought of consuming concrete is distressing, the aftermath is a heavy thought.I have done my research and can confirm that properties in concrete will definitely make its digestion problematic.

The concept from Memac Ogilvy is quite good. Food made concrete undoubtedly communicates digestion tribulations.

However I do believe that the execution isn’t all up to the plate. The black and white photography translates “dull” a little more than “heavy.” They could have been a little more heavy-handed in communicating this metaphor.

I also believe that the art direction doesn’t convey the exact use of Eno. I confess that initially I believed Eno was a laxative that helped release concrete from the bowels. Accordingly I discovered that Eno is not a laxative, but a powder for heartburn and indigestion (this made my initial assumption rather embarrassing as it appears I have a liking for products that aid bowel release). Eno will find greater benefits from the campaign provided they have adequate brand recognition.

Overall it is a good concept. I appreciate the attention to the heavy food rather than grossing us out with tales of digestion. Yet, who doesn’t like a little digestion humor. Its only natural. I once saw a T-Shirt with “volcanoes are just mountains with bad digestion.”

Advertising Agency: Memac Ogilvy, Dubai, UAE
Executive Creative Director / Copywriter: Till Hohmann
Creative Director / Art Director: Dalbir Singh
Art Director: Rafael Rizuto
Photographer: Jimmy Fok
Prop Maker: Jay Hammond

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“When one door closes, another one opens”, so the saying goes. Michael Phelps may have lost his Kelloggs contract but he’s straight in there with another endorsement, albeit in a slightly different direction to the “family friendly” cereal. After being photographed by the News of the World using a $150 water bong at a college party, the worlds greatest swimmer was forced to seek the publics forgiveness for all those people he had “let down”. While many of the sponsors were unhappy with his behaviour, Kelloggs are so far the only ones to have dropped him from their campaign.

Calgary hemp store Grass Roots have decided to spin the whole incident in their favour, plastering these posters across the city to promote their brand. Its a smart campagin, topical and humerous. I particularly like the third poster in the set. What better endorsement can the water bong makers of the world have then someone who spends half their life in the stuff.

I can’t imagine Phelp’s will go after the makers of these posters, I would assume he has slightly more demanding pressures at the moment. All in all it makes for a good move by the Grass Roots store. I’m glad to see that some people don’t view a 23 year old smoking from a bong as overly shocking news.

Advertising Agency: TAXI Calgary, Canada
Creative Director: Trent Burton
Art Director: Brad Connell
Copywriter: Nick Asik
Released: February 2009

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We shall examine this baffling campaign one step at a time.

First of all, let us discuss the Roman Holiday and One Day in Paris. Depending on the time it takes for you to notice the miniature 1 and 2, you may appreciate this concept from China Airlines.

For the print depicts two separate routes, and China Airlines ensures an enhanced overseas experience. The Roman Holiday communicates this well, as clearly we will never be stuck on a bus. While you may struggle to grasp the relationship between Duty Free and Paris, I suggest we ignore it, as perhaps the people of Taiwan do. However we must ask, why does the trip to Paris conclude with a bed? Is there not a more renowned Parisian landmark?

Overall we could say Roman Holiday and One Day in Paris are trying, but not quite there. They have stopped short of a bed.

Now let us move on to the Five Day Tour of Italy and Australia. Boys and girls here is where you frown. You may find yourself double checking the key over and over. Are they saying China Airlines only circles Rome/Sydney? Do they think we would prefer one city rather than the ENTIRE country?

You may also note that the Rome bus tour is “air-conditioned.” How is this inferior? Why would we prefer China Airlines over an air conditioned bus through Italy? Pure idiocy.

Now if you thought the message was ridiculous, perhaps the lack of schooling in geography will enhance your thrill. Not only has China Airlines confirmed an inability to visit Australia’s vast landscape, they declare that the coastal cities are in fact, not on the coast. Please take a moment to study this map.

Nonetheless, this fault in geography may offer the key to this campaign; China Airlines circles only Sydney purely because they can’t find the other seven.

Advertising Agency: David Advertising, Taipei, Taiwan
Creative Director: Akae Wang
Art Directors / Illustrators: Brian Chiang, Aska Chuang
Copywriters: Eva Cheng, Ethan Wei
Published: February 2008

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Theres a fairly well known email chain that has done the rounds countless times that goes something like this:

How would you advise a mother who is pregnant with her fifth child based on the following facts: Her husband has syphilis. She has tuberculosis. Their first child was born blind. Their second child died. Their third child was born deaf. Their fourth child had tuberculosis. Would you advise the mother for an abortion? Oops! If you said yes, you would have just killed the great composer Ludwig van Beethoven! We cannot know what God has in mind for every individual…

Its one of those emails designed to make you step back and take a look at what you really believe in. Then you go and research further and find out that none of these “facts” are actually true. Then you feel a bit disheartened. I can’t help but feel the same about this ad campaign.

I understand, and am completely all for the message this campaign is trying to send us. Showing us a list of major political, musical and sporting heroes and then surprising us by telling us that they were adopted. I found that aspect interesting and attention grabbing. However, I just don’t see the need to throw in a comparison against people who were not adopted, as if this was the key factor in them becoming (in most of these cases) infamous. I don’t think Hitler did what he did due to the fact that he was raised by his parents. I don’t think Mike Tyson’s penchant for biting ears came from his mom and dad.

Its not comparing like with like, and I find that a bit patronising to say the least. If this is how they judge the merits of adoption, then I’m sure you could just as easily retort by placing a list of famous criminals who were adopted and then comparing them against Mahatma Gandhi.

I think this campaign has the right idea, I just wish it had been executed a little differently. Sometimes less is more.

Advertising Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, India
Executive Creative Director: Piyush Pandey
Creative Director: Sumanto Chattopadhyay
Art Director: Mayur Varma
Copywriters: Roma Dcruz, Karn Singh

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It seems like we cant get away from product placement these days. Whether its E.T. eating his Reece’s Pieces, Harry Potter wearing Converse, or the four hour marathon commercial that is the SuperBowl, we’ve come to expect that we’ll have products flaunted at us from almost all angles of life. And now it seems that the even the hallowed world of S&M is no longer safe from corporate intrusion.

Massad, the oldest S&M magazine in the Netherlands, have introduced Spankvertising. The basic premise is that during S&M parties, Sofia Valentine, the Tiger Woods of porn (so I’ve been told…from a friend…) walks around with the “Spankvertising Whip”. Upon receving a spanking from the paddle, the recipient is then left sporting “Massad, the S&M Magazine” on their rear end for all to enjoy.

Its an interesting concept, although I do question what was going through the advertisers head when they were deciding which pictures made the final cut for the poster. The booty used in the top right image is far from the conventional concept of “sex sells”. I’m guessing thats what appeals to the fetish crowd however.

It proved to be a worthwhile campaign, as it got picked up by various media channels and received plenty of free publicity. Aside from the fee to Ms Valentine, it was a low budget, high reaching campaign.

Next we’ll have Durex sponsoring maternity wards.

Advertising Agency: New Message, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Creative Directors: Hugo Rütter, Lennart Wienecke
Art Director: Joppe Andriessen

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I love this advertisement.

Firstly, there’s the way in which the images are created with the shillouettte of the trees, leaves, lamp or birds and the musical notes creating the well-known images of the man-made infrastructure of the city. It is so aesthetically pleasing and it’s simplicity emphasizes the radio station logo. It’s beautiful.

Apart from the aspects of the advertisement that are inherent within itself there are my own personal preferences. I love lamps. I think that they are some of the most intricate and astounding man-made structures. I travelled around Europe once and I often found my camera straying to focus on the lamp illuminating the ancient buildings. There’s something romantic about the light-giver in the darkness… I don’t know. But I really like the presence of the lamps in these advertisements.

Secondly, this advertisement depicts the reason why iPods and other mp3’s are so popular. The world is made of music. Just like a smell can sometimes cause the mind to return to a fond memory from the past, so too does sound return us to places, people and emotions of a time once long ago. And so, our world is made up of a cacophony of musical notes and rhythm that we often can’t see and sometimes we’re filled with a sensation that we can neither describe nor fathom without the aid of a musical melody that lifts us to the heights of the angels. That’s what I  think anyway.

Advertising Agency: Bates141, Kolkata, India
Executive Creative Directors: Anurag Hira, Souvik Misra
Creative Director / Copywriter: Arjun Mukherjee
Art Director: Biswarup Nath

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I had a pet mouse once. In fact she looked just like this one. She was white and a little on the bony side, but when I took away her running wheel she just got really depressed and fat, so I had to give it back to her. She died. She had been my pet for three to four years and I loved her. She was always really quiet and she really made the expression ‘Quiet as a mouse‘. When I let her run around in the hallway she always walked on her tippy-toes with her tail held up high in the air, as if she was afraid that she might get dirty.

Like I said, she died. In winter I used to leave the heater on for her when I went to school and hoped that my parents wouldn’t find out and that the house wouldn’t burn down. I found her after school one winter lying on her side breathing deeply. I sat with her cupped in my hands until the final breath left her. That night I cried.

So I don’t care much about frogs or fluffy ducklings, but these stills have done a good job. Mostly because these perfume bottles look like they should be in an animal anatomy museum, while at the same time looking like a convincing perfume advert. The colour scheme and the fonts are perfect and could probably just as easily say “Paris” or “Puff Daddy” or whatever heiress/rap artist of the moment thinks that they have the skills to create aromatic chains for people’s self-expression.

Whilst being realistic, and very well done, the idea behind this advertisement is very effective. The image is attractive, why else would so many perfume companies use this exact type of imaging to sell their product? Yet, while being attracted to it one can’t help but to realise their repulsion at the their own ability to so easily accept the beauty of a product while denying it’s gruesome beginnings.

Advertising Agency: Jung von Matt/Elbe, Hamburg, Germany
Executive Creative: Wolf Heumann, Dirk Haeusermann
Creative Director: Christian Fritsche, Peter Kirchhoff
Art Director: Kay Potthoff
Copywriter: Frank Seiler
Photographer: Ulrich Hoppe
Account Executive: Guido Kirschner, Katrin Stoecklmayer

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