2009: The 3 ads I hated that everyone else loved
As a preface I'd like to point out that I'm not saying that these ads were bad campaigns. They weren't. In fact, they were all phenomenally successful. But I still hate them.
3. The Skoda Cake Car
Oh my god it's a car made of cake!
Yeah, it's a car made of cake. And that's all it is.
Since PR companies discovered that 'stunt advertising' got column inches and TV coverage (ushered into the mainstream by the media's blanket coverage of the Bravia Bouncing Balls ad) we've been increasing presented with more and more ludicrously extravagant set pieces intended to wow consumers into submission.
Sony's ad was brilliant because it said that colours weren't static; that they were alive. Colours exploded and tumbled, jostled and jumped. It looked exciting and it made a clear link between the Bravia experience and the jaw-dropping spectacle you'd just witnessed.
And that is why the Skoda ad is so disappointing. Yes it's kind of cool that they managed to construct a car out of Victoria sponge but what does it actually say about the vehicle? Soft and squishy? Bad for something that can do 70 mph. Put together by some TV extras that couldn't book panto in Croydon? Well that's build quality for you.
It's just event advertising for the sake of it with nothing to say and for that reason it's going on the list.
2. Cadbury's Eyebrows
The brief: Create an ad that is more memorable and inexplicably brilliant than a gorilla drumming along to Phil Collins.
The pitch: Er .. there are these kids .. and their eyebrows wiggle .. .. .. in time to music!
If this was the best idea they came up with I want to know what they rejected. I'm not saying they should have milked the gorilla for another campaign but I did expect something a bit more well thought out than some sub-standard 'wacky' YouTube video. The fact that it seems to have been so successful amazes and depresses me in equal measure.
1. The T-mobile flashmob
By the time big business cottons on to anything remotely underground it, by definition, immediately fails to market it to the people that might be interested because the ads usually resemble something akin to your granddad dressing up as Ali G to tell you about the benefits of sexual health check ups in the style of an Eton educated grime MC.
Remember flashmobs? They were pretty cool in 2006. Well, unless it took T-mobile 3 years to co-ordinate a couple of hundred people dancing to one of the decade's worst mega-mixes I'd say that they missed the boat on this one.
At least the ad has a point: sharing is fun. Yes, sharing things on the net is fun. Watching things sent to you is fun. But not when you've already seen it and not when you already saw it nearly 5 years ago.
"Hey everyone! Look! Have you seen this wicked BADGER BADGER MUSHROOM MUSHROOM video?!"
Honourable mention (NSFW)
I don't think this was really anyone's favourite advert and, to be honest, it's not even from 2009 but I do like what Brooker has to say about it.
‘Dixons: The last place you want to go’ parodied by Big Al’s Creative Emporium
Last month I wrote about Dixons' 'honest' tube ads that claimed that people went to department stores for advice and customer service but came to Dixons for a good price. I thought that the ads were probably too big a gamble for Dixons (Craig Inglis, head of brand communication at John Lewis, seemed as surprised as me that 'another business would try to make a virtue of the fact they didn't have anything like a comparable service') but I also thought that the campaign would get people talking about the brand.
Other advertising agencies certainly seem to have taken an interest in the series of ads with Soho-based outfit, Big Al's Creative Emporium, producing this delightful parody.
Dixon's tube ad parody by Big Al's Creative Emporium
It's unclear whether this was actually a campaign or just the design team horsing around in the office but either way, I like it.
How Ricky Gervais wrote Coke their best ever ad
The new Ricky Gervais film, The Invention of Lying, casts the comedian as a man who invents lying in a world where everyone else can only tell the truth. Although it deals with various themes one of the film’s best jokes is the way it portrays big brand advertising in a world where marketing exists without the tools of exaggeration, cherry picked facts and, that old favourite, the lie of omission. I was so intrigued by the film’s take on an honest Coca-Cola ad that I had a go at mocking it up in Photoshop:
Coke: It's basically just brown sugar water
And to show there wasn’t any kind of bias against Coke the filmmakers also took the time to level a satirical swipe at Coca-Cola's main competitor whose fictional ad agency were compelled to deliver an even more damning creative: 'Pepsi. For when they don't have Coke.'
I've talked before on my blog about the trend of honesty in advertising and Ricky Gervais has certainly taken this modern marketing technique to its natural conclusion. Although many will be certain that we'll never see an ad for Coke that confesses that ‘it’s basically just brown sugar-water’, I for one would get a kick out of big companies having the faith in their brand to lay out the basic truth about their products.
It may be a risky strategy for a corporation like Coca-Cola but I've got a feeling that an ad like that would give them licence to run an incredibly satisfying and successful follow up campaign: 'Coke is just brown sugar-water. Coke drinkers don't care.'
Dixons: ‘The last place you want to go’
I was on the tube yesterday when I spotted this interesting ad for online retailer dixons.co.uk:
Created by M&C Saatchi the ad is a brave attempt to run the gauntlet of the 'refreshingly honest' approach to brand advertising. In one fell swoop Dixons have admitted that their staff are not the best trained, that their shops are not the most aesthetically pleasing and that their sales advice is somewhat sub-standard. They admitted all of this because they're hoping that the message of their ad, 'we're not the best but we are the cheapest', is what will stick in consumers' heads when they reach the final stages of the product purchase cycle.
In many ways this is a twist on the classic Avis ad: 'we're number two ... so we try harder'. The agency behind that advert, DDB, hit upon the idea when they asked the beautifully blunt question, 'why does anyone want to rent a car from you?'. The answer that spawned the legendary advertising campaign was that Avis couldn't begin to compete on price so they had to compete on service; they tried harder.
A similar question has clearly been asked of Dixons. Why would anyone buy anything from you? Conversely, of course, they can't hope to compete against Harrods and Selfridges on service but they can certainly compete on price. 'We try harder' for Dixons is simply 'we are cheaper'.
With the country still feeling the effects of the recent recession it is absolutely right that dixons.co.uk is staking its claim to low prices instead of great service but a major stumbling block of this strategy is the question of whether it is too late for the site to establish itself as a major low-price retailer. The cut-price consumer electronics marketplace has a number of major incumbents: Amazon, Dabs and even eBay are all established players in this crowded and competitive market and consumers are already well versed in the 'try and buy elsewhere' purchasing philosophy.
To bet a brand's reputation on a campaign like this is commendable but very risky. Personally, I have a feeling that Dixons no longer has the clout or the brand recognition to make sure that 'the last place you want to go' is a call to action and not an untimely epitaph.
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About
Tom Hubbard-Green is the E-marketing Executive at Alzheimer's Society and a freelance technology journalist.
His articles have been published in a variety of magazines and industry publications including Figaro Digital, O2 Venue magazine and City magazine.
Doritos & Guitar Hero’s ‘Alan’ – The best ad of 2009
In 2009 there was one ad that dominated the awards and impressed consumers and critics alike. It was, of course, the behemoth of Compare The Meerkat that rightly deserved all of its praise for a fantastic campaign that was funny, engaging and, most importantly, put a new spin on the uninspired dirge of comparison site ads that we'd been forced to endure for years on end.
However, as good as VCCP's offering was, my ad of the year is actually a fairly low-profile but totally brilliant ad for a Doritos / Guitar Hero tie-in. It follows the life of a wannabe rockstar called Alan from birth to .. well, you'll have to see for yourself.
And yes it is 4 minutes long but it's the best 4 minutes you'll ever spend watching an advert.
So why is this my ad of 2009? Well, for me that's simple; it's because I watch it for my own amusement. I don't passively consume this ad, I actively seek it out and show it to other people. Undoubtedly it hasn't become the viral hit it was meant to be but in the more-art-than-science world of the viral video I'm not sure too much blame can be leveled at the AMV BBDO team that came up with it.
It also doesn't shy away from having fun with the brands. The stage dive into the Dorito's box is a genius bit of product placement and the overriding message that Alan is a bit of a loser but even losers can rock out on Guitar Hero plays up to the public perception that the game is just for people that weren't good enough to learn a real instrument.
It's fun, it's funny and the chorus still hasn't left my head since I first saw the ad in October last year.
So come on everybody, sing with me: "Alan you are a guitar hero! Trapped in the body of a rock n roll zero!"