The chocolatey snuggle of McVitie's Advert

Could we all just take a minute to appreciate the amazingness that is the new McVities advert. Now I’m all for ad’s that convey moral messages and are serious and all that jazz, but sometimes its brilliant when you just have a totally silly ad, and McVities, or rather the Ad agency Grey London, have hit the nail on the head. Using unbelievably cute animals such as kittens and puppies as a metaphor of how “sweeet” their biscuits are. Here is their kitten ad, and the puppies one. The tag line says it all: "The crumbly cuddle of McVitie's".

So. Bloody. Adorable. I definitely agree with the copy, they are so SWEEET! 

Guinness Basketball Commercial

The Guinness commercial is one that has caught my eye in recent weeks, and I was quite surprised at this fact. Towards the final few seconds of the T.V ad it revealed itself as Guinness, and shocked me that it was in fact an advert for the famous Irish dry stout. Here is the advert for anyone who hasn’t seen it.

I was compelled to write about this ad, as I found it so touching. The narrative shows a group of 6 men playing basketball in wheelchairs set to music by The Cinematic Orchestra (To build a home (feat. Patrick Watson)). The commercial, created by BBDO New York, comes to a close with the match finishing, and all the men, bar one, getting out of their chairs revealing they can walk, as they head to have a drink. The ad goes far beyond the product they are selling, its sense of camaraderie and emphasis on solidarity and friendship is captivating and certainly made me smile.

‘The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character,' says the narrator.

I especially like the end still of the Guinness with the tag line “Made of more”, which really drives home the message to the viewer effectively but not in a overstated, in your face way. It’s so different to the other brash TV ads for beer we see these days, and it was refreshing to say the least. Its simple but effective with a great twist, I love ad’s that have a surprise and this one certainly delivered, needless to say I wont be forgetting it soon!

Throw Back Thursday - D&G S/S 2008 Campaign

I’ve decided that alongside my reviews of current advertising campaigns on this blog I’m going to introduce Throw Back Thursday. This week I want to focus on Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring/Summer campaign from 2008, by Steven Klein, featuring the models, Gemma Ward, Jessica Stam and Lily Donaldson. Although I haven’t yet explored it on this blog yet, fashion is one of my greatest passions and along with this comes the lust for beautifully designed magazine campaigns. As an avid reader (and collector, my room is over spilling with copies) of Vogue, one of my favourite things to study among the striking pages, are the adverts. I crave opening a new issue and seeing what delights it holds. This brings me on to the D&G campaign. Now as an art historian I’m all about the visual analysis, so I will let you take a look at it first.

This is my absolute favourite shot:

When I first laid eyes on this campaign I just couldn’t stop looking at it. I would repeatedly turn back the pages as I was reading the magazine to have another look. The juxtaposition of the floral organic forms against the steely grey backdrop brings the dresses to life. With the paintbrushes in the background alluding to the painterly technique used on the dresses, keeping the link between the setting and the pieces. The simple copy placed at the bottom on the ad is understated letting the fashion speak for itself. 

It even admittedly inspired one of my A Level art final pieces, the link is obvious with the brushstrokes, but it was the way it stuck around in my mind that lead me to use it as stimulus.  This is what in my mind is the making of a successful advert. One, which lingers, leaves you wanting more and provides delight in more than one way.

A few more from the campaign:

John Lewis Christmas Ad

It’s been the advert everyone has been talking about this Christmas season. Long awaited the ad was aired on 9^th November where it took up an entire ad break during the X-Factor on ITV, giving a sort of film-premier status. Also airing quite obviously but none-the-less cleverly, in between one of Britain’s prime time Saturday night programs. Kudos to the marketing team for that.

Personally I didn’t see it until about a week later, having read tweets and having heard friends incessantly talk about it I was expecting big things. Friends telling me they had been weeping wreck by the end of the advert, I was expecting to see something highly emotional and touching.

Before I share my views of the ad, in the improbable event that you haven’t seen it, I will outline the basics: It features a brown bear and his friend, a hare. The bear has never experienced Christmas because he spends all winter hibernating in a cave, we learn. This makes the hare sad, but he gives the sleeping bear a present in the hope he might be roused from his sleep and join in the fun all the other woodland creatures are having. Since the gift is an alarm clock, his plan works. Here is the ad itself. 

I have to say, I was a little disappointed when I finally saw the advert. Don’t get me wrong I think it’s a great advert and piece of marketing, the theme being that ultimately if you want a gift for someone you love and you want them to love it, come to John Lewis. The ad is trying to connect emotionally with the viewers by tugging at the heartstrings. Whilst enforcing the message that to give someone an amazing Christmas, you have to give them a memorable present, and for that ladies and gents you need John Lewis! The only reason I was disappointed was I didn’t find it that moving, it was a nicely thought out Christmas ad, but didn’t really give me that touching and poignant feeling that other John Lewis adverts have such as the ‘She’s always a woman” ad. Maybe that’s because of the use of real people rather than the cartoons. Or maybe it’s my absolute love for the “She’s always a woman” and that no other John Lewis advert will ever stack up in comparison! But overall I enjoyed watching it, its cute, its christmassy, thats enough for me! 

The World Back Home - Cancer Research UK

Cancer Research UK has released a number of hard-hitting adverts this year, such as the campaigns: ‘Cancer we’re coming to get you” and “Cancer has an enemy. Research”. You can barely go a month without a new advert popping up on our TV screens, informing us about the war on cancer, and providing inspiring messages about the positive progression of research into the cure. 

The charity’s latest advertising campaign, “The world back home”, released today as a viral ad focuses on the relationship between smoking and cancer, and the need for standardized packaging. The controversial video sheds light on the advertisement of cigarettes to children around the world, and how tobacco companies target them as an audience.

The ad shows young children of different ethnicities smoking cigarettes, before panning out to reveal that the children are in Britain. Enforcing the message that children not only around the world but also in Britain are influenced by the tobacco industry. The only thing left to change in Britain is the packaging of cigarettes to leave them unbranded, unappealing and looking something like this:

I like the simple formatting of the ad, this is a no fuss, no frills piece of propaganda. Simple, to the point and creates an inescapable impression on the viewer. The lack of music creates an understated somber atmosphere to accompany the shocking facts being sensitively voiced over the ad. The sheer visual impact of children smoking is enough to make one stop and think. Within the first 5 seconds the ad grabs the attention and provides a controversial image of a young girl smoking, leaving you wanting to know more. 

The issue of the advertisement of tobacco company products to children is one that needs a whole post of its own, so for now I will leave you with this poignant example of why it undoubtedly should be banned.