What do Beans mean?

Heinz have used the same slogan for their tinned baked beans for as long as I can remember.

In fact it's one of the immortal lines that made me want to become a copywriter.

A great tagline should open up infinite possibilities and in theory last forever.

So isn't it good to know than in our changing times this great line is able to evolve with the times?

Smell like your own man

It's been a while since I've seen the Old Spice man. This is a cute new spot but to be honest it doesn't have the unexpected freshness of the work from a few years back. Still fun though. Oh and keep listening after the ad finishes...

Economist is back

A young creative I mentor who's currently in London sent me this pic.

It looks like the legendary Economist campaign has been resurrected.

Maybe. Maybe not. But we live in hope. 

What the!?

Spotted this First Direct poster on Linkedin the other day.

A lot of people were puzzled by the headline.

It's easy to understand why.

But the typesetting is guaranteed to make any half decent art director cringe.

Seriously how hard is it to do a half decent ad these days?

How big exactly?

In our increasingly digital world I deal more and more with people who have very little print experience.

Of course this is perfectly understandable.

But when you say to a client that you'd prefer to print a poster at A0 rather than A2 and you get a blank look, well...

Should you ever come across the paper size issue help is at hand on the perfectly named Paper Sizes website.

It has every possible paper size including the weird ones from the USA and Japan.

Click here to bookmark it. 

One more drink...

Young people and binge drinking is always a hot topic over the end of school year period in Australia.

But as my son likes to say, what about that G&T mum has every day when she gets home!

Anyway, I digress...

Seems like alcohol consumption has always been a thing as this poster from France clearly shows.

Its message translates roughly as one litre of wine per day is enough.

Yes that's right - One litre.

Gulp.

Insta poster

I love when something interesting lands in my inbox.

Sadly no credits I'm afraid.

It's this line as the base of the poster that really made me smile though:

Hope a barista walks by and sees it.

Who said print's dead?

Start (really) small

Ritual is a recently launched female focussed vitamin brand.

Whether or not the world needs yet another vitamin brand is up for debate.

However the team from Ritual do have a fun approach to their new year advertising.

Knowing that all of us want to get a healthier they've done a 'small steps' campaign.

And when they say small they sure mean it with these mini billboard and in-situ characters.

Obviously created for people to photograph and share. I have to say I like the cleverness.

Definitely a brand to keep an eye on.

A truly great brand

Only one auto brand could produce a film like this.

Because only one auto brand is associated with so many memories around the world.

That brand is not Volkswagen.

It is the Volkswagen Beetle.

Kudos to Johannes Leonardo for using animation for this beautiful film.

Bonus points for securing a song by The Beatles soundtrack the farewell of The Beetle.

And of course a tip of the hat to Mr Bernbach and all his collaborators for creating the Beetle myth way back when. 

Fifth pint

Fifth pint? Really? Obviously drink driving was treated a little differently back in the 1970s.  

Temptation

You don't need me to tell you that the modern mobile phone is highly addictive and seriously distracting.

So very clever of Audible to use this a selling point for their audio books.

Of course the exact same idea could be used for music or podcasts.

But Audible did it first. So kudos to them.

What's my secret?

Homage or theft?

Completely original ideas are rare. In fact it has been said that pretty much everything is a remix.

The ad above for Keele University is most definitely not a remix.

It is a rip-off.

The Porsche ad below is a classic. The Keele ad is exactly the same.

Maybe, just maybe, the people behind the poster thought Keele wouldn't be aware of classic Porsche advertising.

Unfortunately for them the internet is...

Wide open road

Happy new year my friends. Hard to believe 2020 is already two weeks old!

Thought I'd kick start the year on BrandDNA with what I think is the loveliest ad of the summer.

McDonalds.

Yes McDonalds. And I'm lovin' it.

Rich in emotion, observation and detail. Oh and the wide open roads that Australia is famous for.

Creative by DDB Sydney and direction by Tim Bullock.