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: