Creative ideas lost in the business of it all
Circa 2006 I was involved in putting on an art exhibition. The date coincided with the Grey Lynn Festival, an annual fair celebrating the suburb where the exhibition would be held. I suggested we promote our event by handing out bottled water with custom labels to the festival goers. They would be grateful on a sunny November day for the free refreshment and would carry our advertisement throughout the day. When 7pm arrived they would have the address of the event still with them, and hopefully attend.
The idea was well received by the business student organising the event. He called up Waiwera Water and they quoted 60c a bottle for custom labeling, but they had just released a new Sarah Ulmer water and they were selling that at a discounted rate of 35c a bottle.
The business student purchased hundreds of Sarah Ulmar water bottles and we handed them out at Grey Lynn Festival with printed fliers about the exhibition. People threw out the fliers without even reading them. When 7pm came the festival goers had water bottles promoting a New Zealand cyclist and we had no one at the event.
This wasted idea is how I feel about the whole of advertising at the moment. Creative Directors aren’t looking for young people to teach, they are looking for someone to do flash or layouts or write pages of bs for client websites while still being paid a “creative” salary.
How do I get a job where ideas actually matter?
Interactive horror movie
Don draper takes another shot at tourism israel account
Looks like he’s been boning that Jewish lady again.
Don’t get caught with the lights on
Woman’s last stand
My boyfriend carries my lipbalm, I make him separate the recycling and put his underwear in the basket. I watch his vampire TV shows with him and he still makes me watch Mall Cop. When I get angry at him it usually is that time of the month. I’m only worth 75c to every man’s dollar because one day I will put my career on hold and raise children. And I expect I will love my children, not resent their father for their existence.
I actually love this spoof ad, probably because I’m not a very good feminist. Also because it has made a bunch of male bloggers angry, and they have become the assholes this ad portrays them to be.
At the end of the day boys buy cars to impress girls, and really neither your wife or the younger mistress is going to be impressed by a Dodge Charger.
South africa world cup ad
I like that he runs through many different cultures in between Morocco and South Africa.
Magazine publishers association
Lady with a waist smaller than a ralph lauren model
Cathie Jung (right) has the world’s smallest waist at 15″ caused by wearing corsets all the time. A lesson to be learned for fashion labels who get in so much trouble for photoshop disasters. It’s ok to permanently disfigure your models right? Beauty is painful.
Rethink your portfolio
Hey, that’s what I am doing today… well what I should be doing instead of sharing this cute video with you:
Some good news about airport security
Shield Security always carry these special briefcases when they travel. The metal stencil inside (which come up easily when they go through security xrays) reads “Wanted: Experienced Security Personnel”.
Sam Seaborn
I’ve found my perfect job
Digital Creative Director for the world power in their NYC offices. Now I just have to work on fufilling the requirements:
BA or MFA degree in Design or related discipline
- I have a BCS in a related disapline, but already know my acedemic scores are not high enough. Thinking of maybe doing a MFA or a MPhil in new media, which university?
At least 12 years of agency/in-house experience leading digital creative for iconic global brands.
- Well I have total about 3 weeks worth of this. Might need to work on that, if I start now that means I can have this job in 2022 when I am 33.
Ability to work in a rapid paced environment on multiple projects in a scrappy, start-up atmosphere.
- Done! Although I don’t think it will be very “scrappy start up” by the time I get there.
Proven expertise at highly creative, global, interactive, innovative online marketing techniques.
Ability to communicate and sell ideas in client like setting and apply strategic thinking to our most innovative challenges.
- I’ll work on these ones over my 12 years of experience.
Knowledge of Flash, ActionScript, HTML, CSS, 3D, motion graphics and computer programming.
Advanced skill in InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop.
- I can do all that! Although not so hot on 3D…
My dad read the economist…
Ad agency posts out drugs
Ok not drugs, but rock salt and a note about how awesome P is. They even sent one to the prime minister.
I just don’t understand how someone thought that was a good idea. Also one of their clients in the pharmaceutical industry, surely with that contact they could have done something more creative and effective to raise awareness about NZ’s drug problem. >
Online ad serving fail
and people think it’s easy to traffic ads….
Terrorist attack on sydney (almost)
A rip off of the controversial WWF ad (below)?
Also only 12 people a year die from bowel cancer? Why would you even make an ad about that when 1,700 die of skin cancer in Australia every year. Cut the ad budget and send out some SPF30 sunscreen and a bag of apples to everyone in the country.
Jesus’es conception – more kinky than immaculate?
It’s not that controversial, coming from the church which caters mostly to sexual deviants.
I always thought Darryl Parsons did their ads (I guess because of Godmaks?), but their last campaign was done by M&C Saatchi. Do they have an account with them?
How visually aware are you?
Why do hotel ads just show concrete buildings?
“I can never understand why people show hotels in their ads. Nobody ever see the hotel! You arrive in a taxi and that’s the first idea you have that you’ve actually got to the place. Then you see the room. I find hotel advertising hilarious because they’ve got all these photographs of big, concrete block-houses. It’s like they’re saying, please come and stay in our prison!” – Neil French (in Aitchison, J, 2004, p.80).
Donald Draper has a similar sentiment, but could never convince Conrad Hilton. Wonder if he was responsible for the ad above?
Doesn’t matter much these days anyway – you generally just book the one with the best deal online.
Newspapers – the technology of the future
Mini Cooper Cabrio
SMP: The new Mini Cooper Cabrio is a fun car for young professional males.
[Editors note: Really? I thought Mini Cooper was a girl's brand.]
Solution: Go Karting cars are fun because they are so small. Upgrade the classic game Mario Kart so the Cabrio is the “karts” players drive. Send out free copies to online game reviewers and anyone with a Nintendo!
NB: This brief ran in Creative as a competition for Mini Cooper print ads. This solution was not entered (as it is not print) and therefore has no association to Mario Kart, Nintendo or Mini Cooper. Although those companies are more than welcome to use it if my name goes on the award.
What would ads look like if we could afford not to have them?
Big floral lighting arrangements in the middle of the roads?
andar Seri Begawan has two sides of society; most people work for the government and their housing, transport and education is all paid for by the filthy rich Sultan. Those who work in the private sector live in a slum out on the water in stick houses. Socio-economics aside, it’s a society that doesn’t require advertising to fund media like NZ, AUS, UK, USA etc do.
And yet consumers still need to know what phone plans are right for them or where get a new TV, and businesses still need to promote themselves. When I was in Brunei last year I saw only two forms of advertising. They had store sponsored flower things (pictured above) and those billboards which change between messages every couple of minutes (pictured below just outside the water slum).
The moral of this story? If you can afford gold plated council offices you can relegate billboards to the slums and have sponsored public art. Until you find that oil mine, suck it up and deal with display advertising as part of your life (attn: Auckland Council).
“Never use jazz music in a tvc”
- I can’t remember who said that to me recently, but it was either Don Draper or Cameron Hoelter, the CD of Campaign Palace at 31 things. Probably the later.
Either way, I’ve found an ad which proves why. Everyone is raving about this ad today, but too be honest it took me seeing it on several blogs I respect for me to watch it the whole way through. And when I got to the end there was no reward.
It reminds me of this ad, where the product shot half way through completely gives away the whole gag.
