The Lynx Effect, you never know when

This is quite an old advert for Lynx and I was reminded of it the other day when I went to the Media Museum in Bradford. It shows a couple lying in bed and going around the city picking up their clothes and putting them back on, as if they are going back on a journey they have just taken. The ad ends with the couple back where they started, meeting in a supermarket.

I think this advert is nicely presented and it helps that the couple are both truly gorgeous people. I've decided to include this in my blog as I feel it is a gentle, clever way to express the idea of the 'Lynx Effect'. Subtle.

Coca Cola, Holidays are Coming

It loathes me to write about coca cola in a favorable light, but they're TV commercials (and their innovative bottle design of last year) are sometimes quite something.

Christmas is coming, well according to the advertising world it is, and already we are seeing awful Argos ads with "I wish it could be Christmas everyday" playing in the background. The question is, when will we see that famous Coca-cola advert, 'Holidays Are Coming'. That advert from that corporate brand that makes us feel all warm and fluffy and tells us Christmas is on it's way... strange really.

Two Very Different Banking Adverts

Here are two very different examples of advert for two of the leading UK banks. Lloyds TSB and Halifax could not have a more different image when it comes to their advertising.

The TSB advert shows a sixty second animation, showing the story of a couple and their life's journey on a train called The Black Horse, relating cleverly to the Lloyds TSB iconic black horse identity. We see the couple fall in love, get married, move into their home, have a child who grows up and the whole cycle begins again, with the couple waving their daughter off from the platform as she too embarks on her journey on The Black Horse.

The idea is simple, TSB is with you for your whole life, constantly there to help you on your way. It won an award for best computer animation in the British Television Advertising Craft Awards 2007, and rightly so, as the look of the piece is beautiful with each scene flowing, folding and collapsing itself gracefully into the next.

Halifax, however, have a slightly different approach. Which involves a bald, be-speckled fellow called Howard. Why ever Halifax chose to promote their bank with this all singing, all dancing nerd is unknown to me and the cringe-worthy montage of popular songs and banking lyrics, I feel gives Halifax a rather childish, jokey image which I'm sure is not what people want from one of the most well known banks in the UK. This advertising campaign is awful and because of it, I have made a conscious effort never to use Halifax as my bank.

I thought it would be interesting to see the comparison.

Cadburys Advert

A gorilla playing the drums to Phil Colins is the new advert for Cadburys chocolate. The advert starts by showing the copy 'a glass and a half-full production presents' stating immediately the brand being advertised. We then zoom close-up to the gorillas face with the trademark purple in the background. The first time I saw this advert, I initially thought we were watching a real gorilla, until I saw it start drumming along to the music.

Some might argue it is dangerous for Cadbury to not actually show their product in the commercial, however, I disagree. I find this advert uniquely refreshing in comparison to the usual chocolate adverts, where more often than not, we see beautiful women seductively licking their fingers.

Although a gorilla has little to do with chocolate, I think the idea trying to be conveyed is the feeling one gets when eating Cadburys. Chocolate is about pleasure and this gorilla certainly shows his feeling of euphoria while playing the drums.

Why the music has to be Phil Colins however, is a different matter.

Advertising, The Guinness Campaign

Guinness are known for their iconic advertising, from illustrations by John Gilroy in the 1930s to the famous, ‘tick, follows tock, follows tick, follows tock’ advert by director, John Glazer. This new advert follows the same “Good Things Come To Those Who Wait” campaign, with a narrator explaining how his brother has always been able to swim out in the sea, timing himself to the pouring of the Guinness pint. He always arrives at the bar just as the pint is finishing. The advert ends with the narrator saying that his brother is worried that he is getting older and one day will not make it back in time, that he will loose, “he will never loose” the narrator replies. It ends with the typical Guinness style of emphasising the exceptionally long preparation of Guinness “it takes 119 seconds to pour the perfect pint.” I think this is quite an upbeat advert that makes one feel light hearted and good about life. Not overly complicated but still driving home the famous message that “Good things come to those who wait.”

RSPCA, Advert/commercial

These are the three adverts from the latest RSPCA campaign. The adverts are informing people that animals are soon going to have five basic rights, like humans, the overall message being that ‘animals are more like humans than you think.’

RSPCA claim, “These ads take a humorous approach to a serious subject, and use graphics which are quite ground-breaking for the RSPCA in that they 'humanise' animals. But we think they are memorable and a conversation-starter which hopefully will get our message across.”

I think that this is quite a good way for the RSPCA to raise awareness, and like they say, the effects are quite advanced for them. However, I do think these adverts, as amusing as they are, could have been executed more appropriately. The overall concept is quite effective by putting animals in a humans shoes, but the way it has been done in perhaps too obvious and the graphics not that impressive.

Bob Monkhouse, prostate cancer advert

This advert is part of a campaign for the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation, “Give a few Bob” (www.giveafewbob.org). It shows comedian Bob Monkhouse, back from the dead talking about the disease that killed him. In technical terms, this is a very clever advert. It has been created by blending archive footage of Monkhouse with shots of a body double in a graveyard. In the comedian’s typical one-liner style, a script spoken by a sound-alike claims, “What killed me kills one man per hour in Britain. That’s even more than my wife’s cooking.” It ends with Bob saying, "Let's face it, as a comedian, I died many deaths. Prostate cancer, I don't recommend." I think this is a really effective advert in driving home the reality of prostate cancer. Here, we are presented with a well-loved comedian, and the humour in the advert reflects his very British humour. When I first saw this advert, I had to look twice.