Gathering dust

For as long as I can remember I've had an idea for a 'money off' sale idea.

It was created for Ford if memory serves.

The idea being that the cars had been gathering dust on the lot.

So it's a big thumbs up from me to Brazilian agency J-Biz Propaganda for pulling off the exact same idea for their client Ponteio.

Keep it simple stupid

The great cinematographer Gordon Willis passed away recently. If you don't know his name I'm sure you'll know his work on films like The Godfather, Annie Hall and All The President's Men.

He is a master of keeping things simple. So if you have a minute and a half to spare why not watch what Gordon had to say about keeping things simple. 

The 13 hour commercial

When Joseph Jaffe wrote his book Life after the 30-second spot I doubt he had in mind that traditional length ads would be replaced by ads that run all day and night.

In fact I doubt anyone ever pictured that happening.

But it has.

US food chain Arby's has been much talked about this year after creating topical conversation around the hat that Pharrell Williams wore to the Oscars.

Now it's gone and created a dialogue free 13 hour ad.

Yes 13 hours.

In essence the ad shows a piece of brisket being cooked. A process that takes 13 hours.

Sounds crazy. And I doubt anyone would watch the whole thing.

But it sure has got people talking.

WebRep

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Often licked?

I've lost count of the number of times clients have tried to make my ideas a little more obvious.

But I can't help thinking that in this case it may have helped.

Or are they trying to get more women to undertake a Pap smear by making them think it involves licking a wooden spoon? 

Ads are annoying

Most of my friends are seriously surprised when I tell them I have an ad blocker installed on my computer.

They think because I'm in the biz that I love ads.

I do. But not shit ones.

And sadly the shit ones outweigh the good by about a hundred to one.

The little message above appeared on my Soundcloud the other day.

I really like the approach it is taking.

What makes me sad though is that it is all about the site getting money to pay their bills.

Not the brands that are having their messages blocked.

Which kinda makes me question why brands would want to advertise there in the first place.

The Economist pays tribute

The upside down coffee cup

An idea so obvious you have to wonder why nobody had thought of it before. Then again I've always maintained that that really is the definition of a big idea.

Disrupting the ad industry

Founder and Chairman of R/GA Bob Greenberg gives his thoughts on the impact of digital on adland as we know it:

"When I first started, people were very critical of digital, for lack of a better term, and they didn’t think it would amount to anything. 

We have seen the same behaviour between Blockbuster and Netflix. 

We’ve seen the same behaviour with the music industry and we’ve seen the same behaviour with the loss of the value of TV commercials. 

What I see, oddly enough, is a lot of agencies actually pulling back from digital, which is interesting. 

They really had not made the investment and they have not taken the hard choices – they are being disrupted by it and are sort of in denial."

Via

Oh dear...

I'd love to write something witty or tongue in cheek about this ad but I truly am lost for words. Man I hope this was an in-house production not the work of an agency.

Jay-Z vs Solange

This apparently is what passes for a topical ad these days. Bit shit really don't you think?

Vale David Abbott

The great (and always dapper) David Abbott died yesterday.

Very sad news.

I never met him but I did spend a week sitting in his old office when I worked at BHWG in London.

His Volvo ads are legendary.

As is his work for The Economist.

One of my favourite memories of my time in advertising was introducing students at RMIT University to The Economist campaign.

Do yourself a favour and go type his name into Google. I guarantee you'll come away inspired.

The A - Z of TV

Love this. I love that people can even be bothered to make little films like this. And I love that the internet allows people to share pointless stuff like this. Enjoy.

Oh dear...

It's always easy to laugh at unfortunate ad placements.

Generally they're completely accidental.

Nothing more than bad luck.

This however has to be one of the worst ad placements ever.

And I do mean ever.

Press ads are out of fashion

I'll never forget the first time I had a piece of work shortlisted at Cannes.

It was a print ad for Coles.

Yes you read that correctly. A print ad for a  boring old supermarket.

I came across a copy of that ad while clearing out stuff from the cupboard in my study the other day.

The ad had held up well but I doubt it'd get noticed at Cannes this year.

Not because the ad isn't good enough. It is.

But because these days I'd need to make a two minute film about it.

Yes I know I've ranted before about case study videos but it's getting worse.

Don't believe me?

In a recent profile of Australia's top Cannes contenders on Campaign Brief pretty much every piece of work was a 'thing' that needed a film to celebrate its genius.

Whatever happened to the good old days of people just making ads and punters loving them? 

Truth in advertising

He never held back

Tom Hafey passed away today. A much loved figure in Australian football and for me an inspiration in how to live your life as you get older.

This ad he made for Jeep was one of the first pieces of work produced by my friends at CumminsRoss. Rest in peace Tom.

Life after Fanta

Quite possibly the cleverest and most charming low sugar soft drink advertising I have ever seen.

Then again the campaign was created by Mother in London.

Conquest of indifference

Best presentation you'll see this week. Seriously.

There's not an app for that

I've seen a few of these 'Not available on the App Store' stickers recently.

Actually that's not strictly true.

I've seen a lot of photos of them. on the internet.

Today I found out they were created by three Hyper Island students.

You can buy them here.

I suggest you do.

The brand loyalist

Spotify & Vodafone

Hard to resist this ad. It's so damn cute. Hate to see what my phone bill would look like if I listened to Spotify via 3G all the time though!

Wisdom of Wally

Anything but stock photography

Oh man I love this campaign by McCann London.

Although sadly it's hard to grasp its cleverness when the ads are reproduced at this size.

The campaign headline looks like the classic stock photo watermark.

It reads - You'll come back as pumped as a stock photo model.

The ads have been styled to look just like stock photos.

The difference is the models aren't models. They're well known adland figures.

And who is this stockshot styled campaign for I hear you asking.

Why the Cannes Lions of course.

Click the pics for a bigger better look.