Tasty choc packaging

How lovely is this packaging for Gotham Chocolate?

It's by design firm PSD-NYC.

I can only hope it tastes as good as it looks.

Although given the reputation of the Gotham Bar & Grill there's every chance it does!

Big thinking

Since they first hit the market close to 20 years ago the Smart Car has been advertised in hundreds of different ways.

But every ad says pretty much the same thing - This is a small car that is able to squeeze into the tiniest of parking spots.

They never advertise speed. Or mileage. Or even safety.

So good to see a single minded brand stay on message for so long. 

Classic Economist

I was in a brand tone-of-voice workshop the other day and as is often the case one of the examples of clear tone-of-voice was The Economist.

Call me a fanboy if you wish but I can reel off literally dozens of Economist headlines off the top of my head.

But this t-shirt created by Ogilvy Singapore is one that has passed me by.

It's from a few years back but still a classic.

In fact I wonder where I can get one from?

Two Rules...

This poster landed in my inbox this morning with the subject line "Remember the Fight Club campaign?"

Which of course I do. And so I never talk about it.

But man oh man I wish I knew who this was an ad for as the logo in the bottom left corner is obscured.

Double Standards?

There has been much written (and discussed) about the announcement last week that Publicis was opting out of the award show circuit.

I couldn't care one way or the other to be honest as I reckon there are far too many award shows giving awards to the same pieces of work.

What I want to know is why an agency group can make a call this big, seemingly on a whim, but they can't do something just as radical about adland's ongoing diversity issue.

Double standards or what?

KISS - Keep it simple stupid

Forget design thinking for a minute and think advertising.

You can keep it simple. Really simple.

Or singled minded as we like to put it.

Or you can cram a million and one benefits into a brief and end up with an ad that trys to say so much it ends up saying nothing.

To nobody.

Except the client.

Crafter Ballet

I could sit and watch this all day. But to be honest I'd rather sit and watch the rooftop scene from the original Italian Job which is where the inspiration for this idea was borrowed from.

Surprise Surprise!

As Albert Einstein once said; For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

When will digitally obsessed marketers start to acknowledge this?

Al washed up

More fun from the always reliable W+K London. Although I can't help wondering if anyone is still washing dishes by hand in the sink these days.

Damn Russians!

Some things never change

Ten years ago I was working on the launch of the all new Falcon for Ford.

I was part of a broad team so a lot (and I do mean a lot) of ideas were generated.

Over the course of what seemed like a lifetime close to 50 (yes 50) TVC concepts were presented to the client.

In the end the ad that was created was in essence a car driving along a winding road.

The accompanying outdoor campaign consisted of posters of the car with a Ford logo.

I was reminded of this by the Corsair ad above that I found on a Tumblr yesterday.

After all these years (and with so much more money and technology) auto advertising hasn't really changed.

Agencies and their creative people can come up with as many ideas as they want.

But in the end auto makers feel more comfortable running TV spots of cars driving on winding roads and posters of the car on a three quarter angle with a logo. 

Rotten to the core

John Lydon can often come across as someone who trades on a past notoriety that was 40 years ago.

But every once in a while he brings his natural self to the camera. And it's riveting.

Huge kudos to Happy Brush and their agency Amsterdam Berlin for pulling off this lovely content idea.

Everyone's creative*

Via

Best TV on Earth?

This new Sony Bravia spot is lovely. Beautifully shot. And great music. But am I the only person who longs for the days when all you needed to sell a great TV was a truckload of coloured balls bouncing down the street? 

Focus Group Wisdom

Good old days?

I've written before about popular tech and features that have been retired over the last few years.

Here's another example.

I wonder how many people using PCs remember when the was an eight character limit on PC file names?

Not too many I reckon.

Apple Security

This is one of a series of eight iPhone commercials.

They're not all as good as this one.

But they're simple. Stylish. And very single minded.

Oh and I like 'em!

Nice copy

Pornhub turns 10

Watching this 10th birthday ad is giving me flashbacks to the original Austin Powers movie.

Is it a good ad?

To be honest I have no idea.

The whole thing feels kinda corny and the 'sex' scenes are a little over the top.

Then again that's what most porn is like. At least from what I've heard! ;-)

Topical Snickers

Those who know me know I love a good topical ad.

Sadly they're pretty rare these days. In the newspaper anyway.

But in social media they seem to be thriving.

OK. So maybe thriving is an overstatement.

But at least topical ideas are alive and well on social. As this beauty from Snickers clearly shows.

Tomorrow never knows

Found this pic on a Tumblr that had been gathering dust for a while.

So an old ad. But still damn good.

The unknown Twin Peaks

Well the much hyped return of Twin Peaks happened last week.

I haven't watched it so don't expect an opinion from me.

But what many people don't realise is David Lynch already brought back Twin Peaks in the mid nineties for a series of Japanese ads for Georgia Coffee.

Most of the ads are on YouTube. They're well worth searching out.