I think Carling’s new ad might have missed a trick

I got sent a link to the new Carling ad 'Trick Shot' this morning. It's good - memorable, on brand, a bit of a homage to the Honda Cog and OK Go school of communications and it’s a nice touch to have the original "I bet he drinks Carling Black Label" blokes looking on at … Continue reading I think Carling’s new ad might have missed a trick

six degrees of mystification

I was at a New Year’s Eve party where everyone else there was either a vet or a farmer (welcome to my life).  We were playing celebrity charades and Kevin Bacon’s name came up. No-one in the room understood why in the EE ads he keeps talking about how everyone is connected – because not-one … Continue reading six degrees of mystification

who’s that very thin not-quite A-lister, Topshop?

I’m not very impressed by Topshop’s Christmas brand film, launched today.  They ran a load of teaser films online last week, along with the hashtag #whosthatgirl?, asking everyone to guess who the ‘Hollywood A-list star’ in their film was. The full film was launched today.  The Big Star is Kate Bosworth – who I’ve heard … Continue reading who’s that very thin not-quite A-lister, Topshop?

when are not-that-bad ads actually good ads?

There’s been a lot of fuss on ad-industry-outside-the-M25-magazine The Drum’s website this week about the latest ad from Go Outdoors.  They’ve given it their Marketing Weak award, which “highlights an advert for its sheer uselessness”. In the comments below the piece, opinion is divided between those who think an un-creative ad should never grace the … Continue reading when are not-that-bad ads actually good ads?

damn you, shoddy spontaneous awareness

(title nicked from a tweet on the subject from @sweenagekicks ) Nice outdoor ad, right? The problem is that when I'd driven past it a few times and sat down to blog about it, I realised that I wasn’t sure which car brand it was actually for…it felt like it should be Jaguar, but nothing … Continue reading damn you, shoddy spontaneous awareness

Christmas ads compared and contrasted

Although it seems a bit early, what with Christmas still being six weeks away, all the big stores have rolled out their festive campaigns, so it’s as good a time as any to do a compare-and-contrast exercise.  Let’s start with the supermarkets: ASDA and Morrisons’ agencies seem to have been working from a very similar … Continue reading Christmas ads compared and contrasted

Land Rover ad evoques past triumphs

I’ve been wanting to post this for ages, but the only version I’d seen before today's Sunday Times Magazine ad was a 48 sheet on a dual carriageway roundabout which would have made photo taking a bit hairy. It nicely shifts the Evoque away from the rather chavtastic TOWIE niche it currently  seems to be … Continue reading Land Rover ad evoques past triumphs