Lego Ad

Here's a Lego ad that I really like. The ad shows us the big bang the event that started everything. My interpretation of the Big Bang is that it created the building blocks of the universe which nicely fits in with Lego. The building block of creativity, 

Save Troy Library

This is a video about the save troy Library campaign. I think the people did an excellent job at executing this campaign with the social media coverage. This campaign shows the potential power of social media and what it can achieve.

Toyota FJ Cruiser

This is an ad that I found on Ads of the World which I think is very clever. I really like how simple it is and how strong the message is in it. The bent barriers and mud tracks show that this Toyota has driven off road (because it is a 4x4) and turned on to the mountain roads. It's a great way to show that Toyota have a good 4x4 car, but others have said that more information is needed, like what the car looks like but I think that is the beauty of the ad, it relies on the image, not the specs of the car. 

Dr Pepper 10

Dr Pepper recently released an advertising campaign for their new Dr Pepper 10 in America with the tagline "It's not for women". It's has caused a large debate about this tagline; some are saying that it is sexist others say it's alienating half of the potential market. I however think that it's a great way to boost sales. Diet drinks in general are mostly drank by women and a handful men too and Dr. Pepper wants boost sales for the male market. How do they do this? By advertising it as a manly diet drink, that is not for women. Doing this will be increase sales for the men and women. The ladies would drink it out of spite and to 'rebel'. This campaign would also gain some attention because it will be talked about for the same reason I am. 

Starwars Collages

This is a collection of advertisements for the 2012 Starwars exhibition. I really like the collage technique used in these pieces. But I think more detail should be given for such an event - I don't what type of exhibition it is or where it is. 

Cool Hair Product Design

As we know, gecko's are renound for sticking to things and have been used in advertising before (Non stick pans etc). Here this ad uses the juxtaposition of a gecko and this hair product's ability to hold its shape. I think a more audacious hairstyle would have been more appropriate in order to truly emphasise the ability of this product. 

Samsung vs Apple

The battle between Samsung and Apple is still raging on and by battle, I mean Samsung trying its best to undermine Apple. In my opinion Samsung should try to actually advertise its own products rather than bash Apple's stuff.

This is a good example of Samsung not concentrating. Some people have said that this is inadvertently advertising Apple instead of Samsung and I agree. "The dark screened iPhone looks elegant, mysterious and inviting next to he Galaxy which feels dated". 

The ad below me is Samsung mocking Apple with it's deliberate badly executed ad. "Samsung's advertising strategy should be focused on pointing out what's great about their products and not on making fun of their main competitor".

Interactive poster | Smoking

Interactive advertising houses some of the most creative solutions to problems in the entire industry. Making something tangible for the audience implants the idea in their heads much better than one that sits inside an adshell and lets you read it. This is a notable example because in order to read the rest of the advertisement to have to unroll the cigarette. When executions like this are used, the audience is interested because it is different and different is good in the advertising world. 

Mosquitoes Poledancing

Mosquitoes can be attracted to bright florescent lights. Men can be attracted to poledancers. Juxtapose those two ideas together and you have a brilliant ad for a mosquito trap devices. 

Seat Belt Awareness

Seat belts saves lives and many people choose not to use them for the sake of connivence. This ad for seat belt awareness was designed by the French Canadian ad agency, Lg2. I think the imagery used in this piece reflects what seat belts do, they saves lives, and if you do not use one your life is shortened. The seatbelt over the year of death is such a simple idea yet it is such a powerful one too. 

Cool Yoga Print

This is a print ad I found advertising yoga, yesterday. It's desinged by Voskhod, an ad agency in Russia. I like it because of the abstract imagery behind it. As we know, yoga can be very therapeutic and can relief stress caused by work, diet, love life or even time management. During yoga, you contort yourself in to different positions to access this stress relief, which is what is being portrayed in this piece. The woman wringing herself free from her saturated lifestyle, like a wet towel. I think it's brilliant way to advertise yoga. 

Brazilian Orange Juice

Here's an ad for some Brazilian orange juice. Which as you you can guess, caught my attention. It cleverly uses the shapes of the oranges and negative space to create the image of a brazilian woman's behind an image widely associated with Brazil's carnivals. Using powerful images that don't rely on text makes the audience look every single time. 

Original Source Shower Gel

Every time I walk past the shower gel aisle in a supermarket I am always tempted to buy original source  just because of it's design. I think the house style of the brand is its USP for me personally it's same sort of style that I really enjoy, the text wrapping around each others corners is a increasingly popular design that I've not used by anyone else. For example when I saw this music video about quarks I instantly thought of these products. 

If a brand could have a whole style that represented them self I think that's very impressive.

Weird and Wonderful Cadbury Ads

The first one is the Gorilla one. An ad sparked massive interest among all demographics and was an instant hit. The Gorilla plays in the air tonight by Paul Collins and everyone loves it. It was just so simple and unusual it captured the minds of millions. 

The second ad is the eyebrows one. With a catchy tune included with this one minute masterpiece. It was another instant hit with the public because of its wonderful unorthodox nature. When it was show to the public it caught people out, they had no idea that this was coming from a chocolate advert. Neither of these ads have anything to with chocolate which I think makes them special. They stick in your mind; I still remember seeing them both for the first time.

Misleading Mars Ad

This is an ad that I found in a newspaper and I hate it. It misleads you into thinking that you will get a free mars bar somehow. Instead it slaps you in the face with the notion that it is free from artificial colours and preservatives. A line that is so widely used it does not make it a unique selling point. The ad itself isn't interesting or special either - it's boring; it has a mars bar on a white background nothing else. I wanted a free mars bar and all I got was boring advert. 

Ribbons in Stoke?

Last week I found multiple ribbons tied on to random pieces on scenery scattered around the Staffordshire Uni Stoke Campus. After seeing this them I wonder what they were for as there was no information about them at all. Could this have been a massive brand awareness strategy by staffs? A scavenger hunt? Or even a night club venue attempt for attention. It really interested me when I saw multiple ribbons on my commute to my lessons   and I was disappointed when they started to disappear and I hadn't learnt what they were for. I asked my flatmates as well, they didn't know either.

Ad Block

Ad Block is a increasingly popular extension for most web browsers that more and more people are starting to use. When an Adblocker is used, it gets rid of any form and advertising on the web page and therefore for any revenue obtained from the website. If more people start using adblockers websites will slowly start to lose money. I've already seen evidence of a websites asking people to turn it off on their website because it's hurting their profits. I feel that  if adblockers became more popular it may hurt the advertising industry and less will be motivated to create some brilliant ideas. 

#Hashtags and QR Codes

Hashtags and QR Codes are becoming more and more incorporated in our media. This is because of the ease of using them and increased dramatically. Nearly every single member of the 16 - 24 demographic will have access to a mobile device that can go on the internet and that can scan these codes and search these hashtags. This gives a fantastic way to access this demographic which makes me wonder why a lot of companies don't use hashtags and QR codes. 

Rubbish Birdseye Ad

Over the weekend I saw the Birdseye chicken grill advert. Which I thought was stupid. 

The whole idea behind it is laughable; why would you advertise a small girl trying to get a boy to like her with Birdseye's Chicken Grill? Nothing makes me want to get with a girl more than when she offers me processed frozen chicken with enough preservatives to mummify me when I die!  The polar bear is something that I don't understand as well. What happened to Captain Birdseye?  He was far better than the questionable, PG tips monkey rip-off, polar bear. Captain Birdseye had he own song and was a memorable character, this new one is one that I see every now and again and I mistake for a different character each time: "Is that the new meerkat toy?".

Laughing Cow Cheese

Here's an ad I found by Saatchi & Saatchi's South African agency. It shows us that their new cheese is so light that the cows must float because of it. I think it's a great of executing the idea because you could have easily done the same thing in Photoshop and slapped it on to a bus stop or magazine. Whereas here they have gone for a definitely more creative and interesting execution. 

'Sexist' Asda Ad

A while ago the mail online posted an article about Asda's new ad being reported as sexist. The ad created by Saatchi & Saatchi, featured a mother trying the create the perfect Christmas for her family and herself, nothing more. Which is now sexist apparently.  

I don't what makes me more frustrated about this ad. The fact that people actually take offense to a mum preparing for Christmas, or that only 33 people complained opposed to 80% of Asda's shoppers that enjoyed it and the media have taken it way out of proportion. My mum loves this advertisement because it actually shows the struggles that mum's will go through to get the perfect Christmas and she can relate to it. The ad is lighthearted and fun; Asda did not want to offend anyone. 

Sneezing Sucks | Texa Allergy

These 3 advertisements for Texa Allergy were created by the famous Saatchi & Saatchi. A company that I am started to really enjoy the work that it produces. 

These 3 ads that I've found immediately sparked interest in my mind. The ads play on the obvious notion that sneezing is an inconvenience but with a twist; they put the sneezer in positions where you would want to be as quiet as possible such as: the wardrobe when the husband walks in on his wife cheating on him, or the other end of a peep hole into a woman's changing room. I think that using ads that focus on using a powerful, interesting images to advertise implant in the mind better. 

Clever use of Kerning

Nothing much to say here except it's a cleverly created logotype of a phallic object made by only using kerning to change the width between London's d & o. It's a shame that more companies don't attempt more risque executions because you can get away with most of the time and if you didn't, you would get more publicity through the media. 

Mii's Invade NewYork | Wii U

Nintendo have just released a video about their new advertising campaign for their new console, the Wii U. In the video the Mii's (characters created by Nintendo) are roaming NewYork giving people high fives and taking pictures with people. I think it's a good contrast from the conventional advertisements of print media and videos. If you saw great big 8 foot creatures walking around your city you would be sure to remember them and the company, Nintendo.

2010's Art Styles

Each and every decade has a particular style assigned to it. And I have an idea of how this decade is going to unfold. Here are a few examples. 

As you can see from these logos they have scrapped the detail, textures and complex shapes form the previous iterations for simple shapes, modern sans serif fonts, and low colours counts and sometimes gentle gradients. I feel that this decade will have plenty designs and logos created with this style incorporated. 

Cervical Cancer Fundraiser

These are some advertisements that caught my attention today. At first glance it's a lady with no clothes which immediately makes you look you then realise it's a martini glass and some ribbon. I think these are very effective at getting the public to look at the posters because if you see genitals out in the open, in broad daylight you're not going glance over it and walk away, like a KFC ad for example, you're going to think "Is that a naked woman?" it would stick in your mind. I showed this to my flatmates and they immediately said "Woah, why do you have that on your screen?" It's a good advert because it isn't just an abstract design with no link to the actual fundraiser - Martini's glasses and ribbon decorations would be common at most parties these days. 

Audi S7

Here is an advertisement I have been consistently seeing on the roads around Hanley. It's an ad for Audi's new S7, designed by BBH London. The ad uses the juxtaposition of cats and engine power in Audi cars which I think is a very clever concept to use. It references the gentle nature of a domestic cats and the ferocity of a jungle cat, a leopard. I think that if BBH referenced the soft purr of a cat ro the growl of the leopard it could have been more effective. 

Recent Apple Advertisements

Apple adverts in this day and age have changed drastically. From the inspirational 80s advertising where the woman threw a hammer through a screen, crushing the linear paths and decisions when buying a computer. Apple adverts now have become extremely clean and almost pure, which seems to be the idea that apple is going with at the moment, rather than the 'think different' notion that they claim to have. Apple has become become boring and uninteresting to me now. Too many of their products are just have 30 grams of plastic taken off and an extra £100 added to it. Also, the ads are becoming increasingly patronising - I know what I like and what makes me happy, I don't need someone in a white jumper and glazed over eyes to tell me that.

Risque Fiat Ad

Here's a rather audacious advertising campaign for Fiat in America that I've found online. This goes on to the urban understanding that if you have a huge car with unnecessarily big wheels you are over compensating for your lack of manhood. Fiat have cleverly done the opposite. 

I think it's dangerous way of marketing for a car company, you may get unwanted attention or a label for being silly and rude. Maybe that's what Fiat wants, I don't know. It's interesting, caught my eye and now I Fiat is just that little bit more childish. 

3M Security Glass

Here is another piece of Guerilla Advertising I've found online. This is 3M Security Glass. It is supposedly unbreakable and to demonstrate it they put money in the middle of two panes of glass and the public to tried to break through. I think it's great way of putting your name out there in the industry because word would spread like wildfire among the community, friends and family would tell each other, people would tweeting about it all day and plenty of videos would be put up on YouTube. 
But it reality, there's only $500 of real money on top of fake money, the public could only use their feet and there was constantly a security guard around to make sure no one cheated or actually took money out if they actually broke through. It's a good idea but the fact that the company didin't have faith in their own product says a lot of about the company itself. If they let people use more than just their feet it would have been better, at the moment it's only showing that no one can break in with their feet only, but if someone wanted to get behind that glass, weapons and tools would be used. Drills, hammers or even explosives. The company should have let the public have more freedom with trying to break through. Nevertheless, it's still get the job done and rakes in the attention. 

Ads without type.

There are plenty advertisements that out in the world that rely completely on the imagery that is used in the piece. It's a risky technique because you have to have brilliant amount of brand association with your audience and a really memorable, interesting design . Here's 2 examples I enjoy. 

The first is an advert for Jeep it has used the negative space and the juxtaposition of the husky and the camel to create the shape of a Jeep in there face. It think is a brilliant abstract design because it links the concept of transport and accessibility with the two animals. The husky, an animal used in snowy terrains for travel and the camel same again but for the dessert.

The Heinz Advert uses the idea of food being bland and tasting of cardboard without some ketchup to go with it and suddenly it's an enterprise of magical flavour and satisfaction. 

New Dell XPS 12

Dell has just released their new campaign for their XPS 12 and have chosen to advertise it as two different Apple products which I think is a strange idea. Why would Dell, Apple's rival, advertise its new product as being like an Apple device, if someone wanted Apple stuff they would buy Apple stuff. 
You could also look into it as Dell is providing a cheaper alternative to a MacBook Air and an iPad.

Saatchi and Saatchi | Visa

For the 2012 London Olympic Games, Saatchi & Saatchi created Visa's campaign for 2012. Link
In the video it show us Usain Bolt and a rather normal looking person waiting for bags that never come at the airport. Evidently they are late and need to get somewhere and they only use their Visa to get there. They buy clothes, maps, bikes, helmets, pay for taxis and even rent boats all at lightning speed. The ad does an excellent job of portraying how helpful and quick a Visa is in an emergency how it's still can be used by everyone; by normal people or celebrity athletes like Usain Bolt. 

Funny Toilet Paper Ad

This is another humour related ad that I found on Ads of the World Blog. I think that putting humour into adverts is an interesting way of breaking through the monotony of modern advertising. The Ad shows us that the cello player has ran out of his toilet paper and has resulting in using his sheet music. If he had chose 'Personal' Toilet Paper he would still be able to perform with his cello. I think it's a smart advert but it could be made obvious for a wider audience as I would imagine that a lot of the population uses toilet paper. I've already seen people in the comments say "I don't get it" which further proves my point. 

Family of Beards

Here is an interesting print ad that I found. 

It instantly caught my attention because it's not something you would see everyday. A whole family with rather impressive beards. However, I don't understand what it's trying to sell to me or what i'm supposed to be aware of. Is it for beards? Visa? Ugly jumpers? Or the Stanley Cup written at the bottom with a very small size? I don't know. It's most likely aimed to Americans because of the Stanley Cup, it's sounds like Superbowl thing. 

Pentagram Apollo Typography

Here is a piece of typography by Pentagram for The Apollo Theatre. I really like the aesthetics of the type put together and it's something I want to try in a later piece of work. 

Unemployed Graphic Designer

Here we have graphic designer advertising him or herself on the streets, I think it's pointless. Graphic Design is and always will be a difficult area to get employment, our society is over saturated with Graphics students who think they are the next Neil Duerden and put everything they have into it.
It's not even a nice poster either, it doesn't show their portfolio, what they're capable of, or anyway to contact him/her. 

Superette Short Shorts

This is a very clever way of advertising by DDB New Zealand for Superette's line of short shorts. The way that is works is that when someone wearing short shorts sits on one of these benches, it will leave an imprint of their thighs showing the name of the brand and so on. They were very clever in the way that  they located the benches, they only out them in the inner city and fashion district bus stops, malls and park benches. That ay only the trendiest people will have the message on them.  It's also good because it gives them free marketing and free models to express the message.

Ojai Valley Taxidermist | Viral Marketing

Last year there was a viral video created by YouTube partners Rhett and Link. It was for the Ojai Valley Taxidermist, Chuck Testa. You may have heard of him. The video itself has over 12.9 million views and impressive amount for a independent taxidermist, but how? It was created to be one of the most embarrassingly awful attempts at advertising complete with awkward dialogue,  bad acting, flat voices and rubbish special effects. It did those things so badly that it became an internet sensation.

After the video had gained some attention on the website Reddit. The notion became an inside joke, a meme. The joke went on for weeks long after the video had become stale and old news. People started to hate anything and everything to do with chuck testa because the joke went on for too long. 

THE BLEND TEC BLENDER!!

The Blend Tec Blender is a super blender capable of blending almost everything. But how does one demonstrate the capabilities of such a blender? With a viral videos and a Youtube Channel of course!

Blend Tec has a very smart marketing campaign in which it challeges itself with things blend. The lists include, an Ipad, marbles, and even a golfclub.

The typical style of BlendTec adverts use a very cheesy 80's style gameshow. It has created inside jokes and catchphrases, (will it blend?, don't breathe that) something that will constantly be referenced within the online community because of it's viral attributes. This kind of popularity is something that many companies covet greatly. 

Chat Roulette Last Exorcism Advert.

A while ago when chat roulette was popular and the Last Exorcism film was about to come out, Lionsgate came out with a viral marketing campaign for the film. The plan was to hack into chat roulette and set an output to a clip where it would scare people and display a message. I won't ruin it for you if you haven't seen it  already. 

Lionsgate did a great job with this one because when you would see an attractive girl on a website like chat roulette taking her clothes off. You wouldn't think about something scaring you, it catches you off guard where you are most vulnerable. That scare is something you will never forget and it's something that you would tell your friends about the next day. Well done, Lionsgate. Give yourself a pat on the back. 

Skyfall Coke Zero Advertisement

Coke zero has created an advert for the new James Bond Film: Skyfall. In the advert there you had 70 seconds to unlock the 007 in you in order to obtain a free ticket to the film. But the challenge were the obstacles implemented within the run such as oranges falling from a stand, a lady coming out of nowhere claiming to know the runner and glass pane being carried in the path of them as well. 

Unfortunately, the advert is so horribly faked. It was obviously played by actors.  There may have been some people that were genuine in the piece. But how would they not notice the camera and sound people.If it were real it would have been filmed like a Derren Brown piece. Also when the oranges fell over, one of them tripped over - that's either a lawsuit waiting to happen, or an actor. None of which look good for Skyfall or Coke Zero. 

Overall it's a good advert because it has gained a lot of press for it's guerrilla advertising. With over 6.5 million views and counting it has done well for itself.  

Toyota | Saatchi and Saatchi

I just watched Saatchi's spectacular new Toyota Advertisement. In the advert it recognised that most car adverts market their cars as not being 'real' enough and this new car is breaking out a defining a new mould. It was really well done with the special effects and after the car exploded through the glass it really made the car look stunning.

"Guerilla" Advertising

Another piece that I found on the front page of Reddit. 

Created by a user on the site for his advertising class. When his class was given the brief to create an advertisement for an Indian job searching website, naukri.com, the rest the class opted for print based works whereas he went for this very creative form of guerilla advertising which something I think more companies should consider when assigning briefs. 

New Volkswagen Beetle.

Volkswagen has just released a new advertising campaign behind their new beetle with an interesting concept. Their concept is based on the Hindu ideology of karma and reincarnation. It says that if you are good in your previous life you will be rewarded in the next one. Which translates to that the old Beetles are dead and the brand new one is on the horizon ready to take over where the last beetle left off. It also signifies that the old one was good and because of that this new Beetle is going to be better. 
I feel that future car advertisers should learn from Volkswagen and create concepts that can be understood by its target market and not just make people scratch their head and ask "what the hell did I just watch". Volkswagen did a great job with this campaign. 

Funny Innocent Smoothie Packaging

I found this funny image on Reddit. Not all packaging has to be without humour.