Picture a dog wearing an acumbra hat, wearing Christmas tinsel for a scarf, sporting a gold lame bikini and heaving a skateboard under its furry little armpit.

Why it’s just too much isn’t it? And this bejewelled, gauche little pooch? Non existent; just a scapegoat for emphasizing that sometimes less can be more. Especially when it comes to powerful visuals.

Take for consideration these recent Sale ads for Harvey Nichols, entitled ‘Scared.’

Scared? What rightly functioning bargain shopper would be scared of an end of year sale? None, excluding those of us who detest crowds, pushing, rudeness and squabbling over designer garments in messy clearance bins, which all in all is quite reasonable. To be anxious, a bit claustrophobic maybe but scared? Nah….

But, as these ads portray, there are some people who are definitely dreading these sales.

There’s our first girl using the brace position, similar to what air hostesses show us at the start of flights. Then our second male model is trying to physically protect himself from what feels like a cloud of debris which wants to implode on him. And it must be serious because surely those charcoal trousers are worth more than my month’s rent. And our red dress lady wearing friend? She’s not really into these sales either. Infact she’s smack bang on the floor trying at least to protect her perfect face, having accepted that her stunning gown will probably be ripped off her by some Amex laden customer.

It’s a frightening event for these manniquins but for the agency DDB in London, the Harvey Nichols sale has inspired some genuinely artistic advertisements. Sleek, elegant yet richly effective.

Advertising Agency: DDB London, UK Executive
Creative Director: Jeremy Craigen
Head of Art: Grant Parker
Photographer: Giles Revell
Art Director: Rob Messeter Copywriter: Mike Crow

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