Leo Burnett's Hippocratic Oath

Warburtons

You've probably already seen it, but here's a spot for Warburtons by RKCR/Y&R I find pretty neat.

Simple, well executed and most importantly funny.

Can't help feel that the bloke who cries on the other guy's shoulder has a comedic face which makes it work.

Sorry about the boring post title - I'm off sick and not feeling to puntastic...

In other news, I got through to the last 50 of Saatchi & Saatchi's recruitment scheme they're running via facebook. First round I had to make a facebook group and get as many members as possible, second round was a quiz on the industry, then in the third round you had to re-create an ad and explain why you think it's a goodun.

Looking forward to the next brief.

Also I got offered a new job. More money. More engaging.

Good news indeed.

Ground Rules

I can't remember where I found this, but it's bloody good.

The ground rules laid down between DDB and Avis.

Certainly worth taking note of.

In other news, I just won £60 off the back of a £6 bet on Phil Mickleson at the Masters. I also bet £3 on Anthony Kim at 35/1 which woulda made me pretty well off - but he came in third. Still, a good day all round.

The Scent of Justice

I did an illustration for a magazine. Isn't it just a little creepy? I used an image I found on google for inspiration. The article was about the use of sniffer dogs in law enforcement. Here's an extract:

"That the use of detection dogs has removed some of the inadequacies of human judgment in the fight against crime has not ensured the eradication of any error at all. In August of last year, the drugs awareness body Release began legal proceedings against the British Transport Police, claiming that the use of dogs to detect drugs constitutes a fundamental human rights breach. Australian research has shown that 74% of searches carried out on the back of a positive indication by a sniffer dog yield no results; the consequence, according to Release, is that 3/4 of suspects are left with their privacy rights and freedom of movement infringed upon. The case is expected to go to the high court later this year, and victory for Release would mean the permanent cessation of drug detector dogs in public."

Here's a link to the magazine's website, ArticleMagazine.co.uk.

There's been talk of collaboration with Ian Anderson (of The Designer's Republic fame) in the future.

So watch this space!

Pixel Terrorism

PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN.
Uploaded by onemoreprod. - Watch original web videos.

Courtesy of 'We Love Viral'.

Steve Henry on Anti-consumerism

Steve Henry (HHCL founder and ad legend) starts to embark upon an ideological analysis of advertising, particularly in post-recession (are we out yet?) Britain. I found this interesting because I too sense the anti-consumerist sentiment which is on the up, and often just try to repress it when I start to think about why I'm trying to get into this industry...

Instead of repressing more, I've starting reading some more political philosophy, namely F.A. Hayek - The Constitution of Liberty. It's basically the defining exposition of classical liberalism. Thatcher reportedly brought this book into an early meeting, slammed it on the desk and said "This is what we believe", getting everyone who hadn't already read it to do so. Essentially, I'm trying to fill myself in on where this country has previously been ideologically and where it's headed. I know that Hayek isn't so fashionable anymore; his work was born out of cold-war suspicion and built on a highly self-interested model of human beings, but (like in advertising) you have to know your history in order to understand your present. (If you haven't seen Adam Curtis' documentary series 'The Trap: What happened to our freedom?' I highly recommend it - its on Youtube in 18 parts. It retells the process by which the Western concept of negative freedom developed here and in the US, and discusses on an ideological level, our govenments' attempts to export an ideology - we ourselves have qualms with - to other countries and cultures).

In other news, after my second interview (I don't think I could have bared one more) I got offered a place at Watford. Score!!!

I decided to defer till next year, though, due to financial reasons mainly. Today, for the first time in about 3 years, my bank balance went back into the black. I'm now on double digits! Still got the £18,000 student loan of course, but no one needs think about that yet.

Right, I'm off to play in a Texas Scramble... google it.