Peter Charles, Head of the Doritos Broadcast Project said: “We are constantly looking to push the boundaries of advertising and this will go further than any brand has gone before… We also shouldn’t be too surprised if the first aliens start arriving on planet Earth immediately demanding a bag of Doritos.”  Ermmm… right…  Hang on a minute, this either says to me that advertising has gone a little more lala than usual or that we should seriously be thinking about the kind of message we’re sending to our far-flung neighbours.  An ad showing a tribe of Doritos sacrificing one of their members to a foreign being may not exactly be the kind of communication we want to initiate.  Considering that from a distance we don’t look too dissimilar to a bunch of edible little snacks ourselves perhaps, we should be aiming to lay a tad more emphasis on the rich complexity and value of our lives and move away from the ruthless tortilla chips (it kind of suggests that we’re hard-hearted sods who are potentially delicious).   

And, who says that the unearthly life forms will feel compelled to buy Doritos?  Ever seen Futurama’s “When Aliens Attack” (season 1, episode 12 where the Omicronians get hooked on the earth soap ‘Single Female Lawyer’ and when they say they want the character McNeil they actually just want more episodes of the soap)?  Maybe they’ll simply demand more adverts – that would certainly raise the bar. 

To check out the competition and the five runner-ups, go to http://www.youtube.com/user/DoritosYouMakeIt

Honda Live Advert

A couple of weeks ago this advert from Honda was broadcast live to an audience of over 2 million boosting normal viewing figures for that ad slot by a substantial 8 percent - impressive for three minutes’ work, eh?  Featuring a group of skydivers jumping out of a plane in real time shifting in formation to spell out the word Honda, the actually quite elaborate stunt proved to be edge-of-the-seat stuff.  Indeed, it demonstrates that an innovative advertising format can successfully bring the spectators in, but just what kind of staying power does a live advert actually have after the event itself? 

The ad is, no doubt, a veritable feat of PR ensuring that excitement escalated around the brand in the run up to the event, but what happens now that the fun’s over?  Now that the sky divers have all landed safely and gone home has Honda’s moment of glory faded from our memory?  Regarded by some critics as flash-in-the-pan and a waste of money, they, in fact, rise above the disparagement and represent a rather noteworthy flash.  After all, ‘difficult is worth doing’.  In an era where content is increasingly succumbing to the user’s demand, this advert proves that there is still a buzz about live TV – even if no one swore or got naked (that’s what Big Brother’s for).

Christian Aid Week

Christian Aid’s advert certainly strikes a chord these past weeks what with recent events in Burma and China.  Taking the form of a computer game, the ad, publicising this week’s Christian Aid Week (11-17th May), points out that “natural disasters always hit the poorest hardest” while far-off characters are hit by a hurricane.  The village is then rebuilt and fortified against the next hit, which they survive demonstrating that with the right equipment these catastrophes can not only be predicted, but also often prevented.

The fitting computer game style, without doubt, says something about the unreal, other-worldly sensation westerners often experience when greeted by coverage of natural disasters that occur abroad.  Not only this, but also the elevated viewpoint, putting us well and truly in the position of the button pusher, certainly goes some way to commenting on the significant power that we have to donate to these causes and make a difference.

The only hang-up I have with this advert is the way its detached form in effect borders on economic dispassion.  When shocking photos appear daily on the front of numerous newspapers how is a cartoon about little computerised faceless people going to trigger them to sympathetically reach into their pockets?  I’m not saying it’s not a clever point about the insignificance this magnitude of victims has in many people’s consciousness, but is Christian Aid’s ad truly hard-hitting enough to get an immediate donation?  This week we shall see.

BBC HD Channel

Last night was the very first airing of the new promo advert for the BBC’s new high definition channel.  Celebrating the launch of their latest service that will offer an enhanced picture quality, this advert certainly aims to make an impact. 

Taking the spectacular form of an Antiques Road Show mock episode, the ad, developed by agency Fallon and produced by Red Bee Media, starts with the revelation that a vase is worth at least £2 million.  As the owner’s son faints causing the piece to catapult into the air, everything turns a bit Tomb Raider.  Things are smashed as people let go of their prized possessions in shock as the soundtrack builds epically and slow motion ensues.  Starring newsreader Fiona Bruce as the action hero who drives head on through a table of ornaments in a vintage car (nice touch), it culminates in a dramatic explosion from which the BBC favourite runs and dives just in time to save the piece.   

Further confirming that HD is the future of TV, this is the perfect choice of show to demonstrate the cinematic sexiness that the channel promises to inject into its content, both established and new, though there is, no doubt, a limit to what it can do for the Antiques Road Show - just imagine if HD actually meant turning everything on telly into an action film?!  No Jolie-inspired, cleavage-enhancing attire here though, Fiona is, of course, in true BBC style dressed sensibly for the occasion.

‘Badass Wombles of Central Park’ viral from PACT

It’s a long time since we’ve seen the Wombles out and about, isn’t it?  Well not many people know this but they have actually been trying to break America for the past few years.  When approached by PACT to front their new campaign against the damaging effects of repeated exposure to the American lilt they said that as Brits away from home (Wimbledon, London), who miss the word ‘sorry’ and having whole conversations about the weather, they felt a resonance with the movement and “totally couldn’t turn it down, man”.

The new viral animation from the Producer’s Alliance for Cinema and Television aims to emphasise the serious lack of investment in British TV.  By featuring the brash, over-Americanised Wombles hanging out in Central Park using US terminologies, PACT hope to illustrate the effects of US imports on children’s programming.  They maintain that new UK shows account for just 1% of all children’s television broadcast in the UK and would like to see more funding from the Government put into producing new British programmes. 

Punchy slices, heavily distorted guitar and Friends-esque canned laughter caricaturing the majority of current kid’s shows make for a well-put point that children in the UK could probably do with a refresh course in British culture.  Identity is important, innit?  However, does rather border on the kind of zealous comment your Grandma might make at the dinner table, which is illustrated fittingly by Great Uncle Bulgaria reeling at the thought of a zombified Yankee race of children and warning the viewer, “Before it’s too late!” 

First Choice

Oh Lord.  This has got to be one of the most sickly-sweet adverts around.  What exactly do First Choice think they are achieving by subjecting their audience to such vomit-inducing material? Do they perhaps think that in some way they’ve produced a stirring campaign to leave viewers dabbing away their tears while grasping for the phone to secure their family’s love with a trip abroad?  Surely, they can’t truly believe that they’ve created a moving piece of TV that reflects their intimate understanding of family holidays, can they?! 

The advert’s premise centres on the instant when a father realises the value of spending time with his young son - induced by First Choice, naturally, who have enlightened him with their superior kind of holiday.  This wannabe ‘heart-rending movie reunion’ is at first perplexing - one wonders why exactly we are watching the slo-mo close-up of a manically smiling man.  Then, it is boring - one quickly tires from watching this manically smiling man, even though the music is quite pleasant.  And finally, when the child moves in and the camera pans out, the awful realisation kicks in and we are left with a feeling of distinct nausea. 

More like a try-hard charity campaign than a travel company promising a fun experience, this ad is definitely not my first choice.

Transport for London 2

The second of TFL’s ads on road awareness (see below) proves to be rather clever indeed.  This time the focus is on looking out for cyclists, who, like moon walking bears, can oft be difficult to spot when distracted by ball games and stuff.  Go on, try it yourself.

For more information on TFL’s current road safety campaign, go to http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/roadsandpublicspaces/7599.aspx

Transport for London

At last, an enlightening piece of information that is accompanied by its relevance to real life!  I remember doing those brain teaser puzzles when I was younger, where one line seems longer than the other and straight lines look curvy but actually aren’t, and in fact, it’s just my brain playing tricks on me.  I also remember thinking what useless and arbitrary pieces of information these were.  What were they ever going to teach me about life?  Well, thank you TFL for spelling it out and importantly applying this knowledge to something we can relate to – driver perception.

The first awareness-raising advert of three from Transport for London demonstrates how easy it is to feel inaccurately comfortable with other drivers’ distances and speeds around you.  It uses line drawings to illustrate the way our brains sometimes fill in information wrongly when judging our surroundings and then immediately shocks with a figure of a cyclist hitting the windscreen.  This advert is straight to the point and likely to stick in people’s minds – a good use of 41 seconds in encouraging road users to give motorcyclists, and indeed their first impressions, a second thought.

Coca Cola

Well, it’s obvious.  Coca cola makes everything rosy in the world.  Bad boys turn good, busking tramps acquire a peculiar tunefulness and rats dance the can-can.  The latest offering from the brand sees everyone jubilantly celebrate with a bottle of coke in their hands.  Just what they’re celebrating remains unclear but I’m pretty sure it has something to do with buying lots of Coca cola…

The gist of the thing focuses on the main character of a computer game, who at first appears to be the usual hedonistically destructive alter-ego of some bored real person, yet who turns out to recognize the value of giving due to living ‘on the Coke side of life’.  Beautiful.  The use of the medium of virtual reality is pretty fitting – this is no dose of gritty realism – think Grand Theft Auto meets musical theatre.

Ok, so we all know that advertising is meant to seduce but it’s not fair when they use such a catchy little tune from one’s childhood and seamlessly associate youthful hopes of a flourishing humanity with a bottled drink!  No doubt about it, Coca cola has given us a little love with their new ad, and we can be sure what this means for them.

Indeed, I was gleefully humming this tune from Bugsy Malone hours later while popping out to get me some bubbly brown stuff.  Didn’t manage to stop any thieves from stealing old ladies’ handbags though and now I come to think of it, there definitely weren’t any policemen forming human pyramids…  Maybe that happens the more you buy…  Must live the dream.  Must buy more coke.

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