Beware The Soap

After living on my own for many glorious years, it's been a bit of an adjustment living with roommates again here in London. I don't mind it all that much. It's great to have some company/drinking partners after a long day at work. My only real complaint would be the shared facilities, i.e. the bathroom.

Four guys sharing the same bathroom takes a toll, especially in the shower. I keep on expecting the door to just lock us out for it's own health and safety. Whenever I'm about to step into the shower, this simple but brilliant spot for Old Spice from Weiden + Kennedy inevitably pops into my mind - and I can't help but shudder. Thanks for the daymares, guys.

Back-vertising Rears Its Ugly, Hairy Head

Another first in advertising from Vancouver's Rethink. This time it's for a North Vancouver waxing company called Parissa. I can only imagine the craigslist ad for this job: "Wanted: Hairy men to get half naked in public for cash. Must have high pain threshold." Ouch.

Another Slap Shot Through The Up-Rights For A Grand Slam Knock Out

I was just thinking to myself "Hmm, what ad can I talk about today?" when I came across a great new campaign for Kidsport by DDB Vancouver. Being a Vancouver boy myself, I remember reading about sports being cut back at schools in the area over the years, so this campaign is addressing a real concern. And I can think of no better agency to handle it.

Building on their experience with the Hockey Canada campaign and the BCSPCA campaign, they've come up with another grand slam. If you think that's a wrestling move, you desperately need to watch the spots here and check out the website is here.

Also, I'm glad to see Vancouver/Canada getting some well-deserved recognition in the UK. Nice work, DDB.

Here's To Stupid Dads In Ads

It's way past Father's Day, but here's a great selection of stupid dad ads. Mmm, Post-It Note Blizzard...

Dance, Dance, Revolution

This video has been on my mind lately. Besides being downright awesome, it's a great lesson for viral and online marketing: fun is contagious. It's that simple. Create something that's entertaining and engaging, and people will want to share in it.

By the way, this video is from a great little festival called Sasquatch, which goes down every May about 2 hours outside of Seattle. Last year, The Flaming Lips closed the show with a classic UFO set, featuring a flying saucer lighting rig that had half of Washington State believing in aliens. Definitely worth the trip.

British-ism of the Week (Or So) - Skint

You have to love the British way of adding a touch of class to even the most embarrassing things in life - like being broke. While most people would say they were kind of broke, running low, short on cash or just plain poor, the Brits have come up with the delightful word "skint," as in, "I'm a tad skint this week. Want to share a half pint of Fosters?" It almost makes it cool to be poor. That's it, poor is the new black. Actually, thanks to our current economic apocalypse, it's kind of true.
5/5 crumpets
(for how uniquely British it is)

Creativity 1 Boring 0

A team out of Melbourne put creativity to the test on the world's biggest online marketplace and came up big; 500% profit big. Check out the video here. Sick as rad as.

The UK Plug, Reinvented

Orange - RockCorp

Last night, I was talking with a flatmate when we were both stalled mid-sentence by this ad for Orange's RockCorp. The rapid morph-like progression through hundreds of people was impressive enough to make us stop and stare, which is the first aim of any TV spot, isn't it? And our interest was paid off when it came to the line at the end about the Orange volunteers being rewarded with a couple of free concerts. I couldn't help but think, "Awesome." Great stuff from Fallon and Orange. (Hope you had something to do with this Noel!)

The Passion of the Wine

I just came across this radio spot for the LCBO (Ontario's government-run liquor store) from GJP Advertising and something just doesn't sit right with me about it. The announcer's voice is way too monotonous to make the bland "informative" part of the spot interesting. So it took me a few listens to understand that this spot is all about the "passion" of Spain, which is represented by an irate Spanish woman whose date has shown up two hours late for dinner. I'm guessing the inspiration for the character was Penelope Cruz's character in Vicki Christina Barcelona. And it's not far off. I'm just wondering what this has to do with the wines of Spain and Portugal.

I know it's always easier to critique than create, but I think the concept could have used a better execution. I wonder if they explored how a regular Ontario couple would be affected by the passion of the wines of Spain and Portugal, setting up a scenario in which a white-as-molasses housewife is transformed into a passionate Spanish woman, only to be brought back to earth by her confused husband at the end of her rant. Maybe this was what the spot was trying to convey - that a woman had become passionately Spanish because of the wine - but it just wasn't clear.

As it stands, this spot just isn't relatable. All it tells me now is that Spanish people are overly emotional, but it's all good as long as there's alcohol. I know from experience that this is incredibly true, but I don't think your typical 30-something, wine-drinking couple would relate to this and be motivated to buy Spanish wine. Great concept. Weak execution. Although, I could go for a glass of wine right now, but I always feel that way.

Crest - Bulldozer

"You can say anything with a smile." Truer words were never spoken, although I would add "almost" to the line from this 2008 Gold Cannes Lion winner for Crest. Test the theory on a stranger at a bar and you'll find out why.

Visit Wales - Holidays Unpackaged

Weiden + Kennedy successfully held off Grey London's attempt to win over the £7.5 million Visit Wales account. Taking a look at this spot, I can see why. The open-minded and easy going "Holidays Unpackaged" theme does a nice job of selling the area's amenities, including the fact that they make many of their own goods in Wales - even wine. Who knew?

Budweiser - Lyrics

Everyone loves a good anthem. Here's the latest from DDB London for Budweiser, featuring a Beatles cover from The Hours. All together now!

Nike - Chalkbot

Just brilliant.

The Recession Aggression Bag

Hockey Canada - Hand

Another classic Hockey Canada TV spot from DDB Canada. I'm sure every hockey fan can identify with this, although it makes me kind of glad I just collected autographs as a kid.

Hockey Canada - Cop

This was part of a campaign done by DDB Canada a few years ago to remind parents that there's no need to throw coffee cups at teenage referees during peewee hockey games. It's a great example of the "great ideas come from anyone" philosophy as the insight originally came from an account manager. I think he's helping to run Zulu Alpha Kilo in Toronto nowadays. Nice work, Scot.

Olympus - PEN Story

Here's a great little film from Olympus that was brought to my attention by a friend in Vancouver. Seems like everything was done in camera. Only fitting, I guess.

Feel free to email me the good and the bad of ads you come across.

Postbank - Locker Room

Locker room humour - Part 2

Sprint - Crime Deterrent

Locker room humour - Part 1

John West Salmon - Bear Fight

I'm laid up at home with the flu, and am not really up for hunting for new ads to review, so I'll be sharing a few of my favourite TV spots over the next few days instead.

Drink Evian. Poop yourself.

Evian's latest ad, "Roller Babies" has been popping up on facebook lately, so I was figured it must be worthy of all the attention. Nope. It's just another gimmicky babies-acting-like-adults spot, banking on people's "Awwww" reflex.

The message is "Live young" - taken to the extreme. In my mind, they kind of overshot their goal. I'm not sure anyone really wants to feel like they have no control over their bowel movements, no matter how soft their butt may be. And the CGI is pretty dreadful too.

They really should have cut the production down to a 30-second spot so they could spend a little more money making the babies look less creepy. I have to think that a few expecting women out there are looking down at their belly with some unease after seeing this debacle.

The Reports Of My Death...

The written word is dying; at least the long-winded word. Along with magazines and broadsheet newspapers, long copy ads are struggling to find an audience. It's not surprising, especially considering the rising tide of communication mediums like twitter and facebook. Even most emails rarely pass the 200-word mark nowadays. And for good reason. There's too much to get done. There's never enough time. And the last thing you want to do is spend your fleeting free time reading some self-satisfying sales pitch from an overpaid advertising "writer".

And then this ad comes along. Long live long copy.

Creative Credit
Agency: Leo Burnett Company , Toronto
Client: The Bessie Awards Show 2007
Creative Directors: Judy John, Israel Diaz
Copywriter: Steve Persico
Art Director: Anthony Chelvanathan

The King Of Pop - And Scooters

At the height of his fame, Michael Jackson was the king of pop music and pop endorsement deals. Pepsi paid him millions to entice a new generation of sugar water drinkers like me to choose their fizzy stuff over Coke's fizzy stuff. And they weren't the only ones. Check out this rare Japanese spot he did for Suzuki scooters back in the 80's. (Is it just me or does it look like he's reading his four-word line off a cue card - maybe even phonetically? I think someone needed to learn his ABC's.) R.I.P.

IKEA - Bookbeasts

This is another great example of a fresh perspective on a pretty boring product. In this case, it's a print campaign heralding the clutter-capturing skills of IKEA storage units. I mean, storage units. On first glance, it doesn't get much more boring than that (no matter how "unboring" they call their stuff). So kudos to the creative team at DDB Germany/Dusseldorf for persevering, and bringing the epic domestic battle between order and chaos to life in such a creative and humourous way.

Creative Credits
Advertising Agency: DDB GERMANY DÜSSELDORF
Copywriter: Dan Strasser
Art Director: Dan Strasser/Danilo Farah
Photographer: Hans Stark

Point of interest: I notice that Dan Strasser was involved in this project (as writer and art director, no less). I'm assuming this is the same Dan Strasser who has been ripping it up at DDB/Vancouver recently? He looks kind of like Weird Al Yankovic. But not at all, of course.

We Are Confused

Unlike the Pringles banner ad, this Cannes-winning print ad has the whole advertising world scratching their heads wondering how it snuck into the running, let alone won the Press Grand Prix. Maybe I'm missing something, but this ad has nothing on last year's Cannes Press Grand Prix for Tide below. If you can't make out the image, it shows a sea of white-uniformed football players taking on a group of red-uniformed football players - Tide vs. Ketchup. Who says there are boring products?

Can't Click Just Once

Sorry for the tagline rip-off, Lays, but Pringles deserves it for this gutsy banner ad. Who knew a banner could be so addictive? Congrats to Bridge Worldwide for convincing Proctor & Gamble to go ahead with this brilliant banner. (Never thought those two words would go together.) Glad to see they received a Gold Cyber Lion at Cannes for their efforts.

Worst Commercial Ever Part 2

More surprising than the video seen in Part 1 of this post (read below) was the next video in the search results. It was the hilarious Skittles 'Touch' commercial from last year's wacky campaign done by TBWA/Chiat/Day. The ad features a man with the 'Skittles Touch;' whatever he touches turns to Skittles. That's not even the funny part. What really makes this spot hilarious is when the man dramatically tells a young co-worker the trials and tribulations of life with the 'Skittles Touch'. Then accidentally turns his phone and desk into millions of Skittles. Weird and wonderful, right? So I figured whoever posted the video as the worst ever must have meant it ironically. How wrong I was. Check out the video on YouTube and take a look at some of the comments people have left. Here's one gem: "Wait a minute if he got on the bus how did he pay? With skittles?" People like this are why the term "focus group" strikes fear into the hearts of creatives all over the world. Read the drivel here.

Worst Commercial Ever Part 1

Out of curiousity, I searched for "worst commercial ever" today on YouTube. The first videos that came up were mock commercials (mocommercials?) done by some "humour" website. Lame. But the next video was pure gold. It was a cheap ad for some American flea market featuring a dancing and singing salesman. Surprisingly, his dance-jingle is almost catchy. Almost. Check it out and you'll see that someone has already taken the time to "enhance" it by putting some rather nasty subtitles over top of the video. Not a happy customer. Although I wouldn't be too happy with a piss-stained sofa either. But what do you expect? You're buying used furniture at a flea market. A name like that doesn't really say 'quality'.