The ad that restores my faith in copy

Why visual doesn't always mean good

At first glance these ads by Young & Rubicam (New York) look quite good. After all, they're visual, simple and pretty eye-catching. But after a little thought, I realized they're pretty bad.

1. They tell you nothing about the product and do nothing to suggest why Protex is better than any other hand wash out there.

2. The copy tells you something you pretty much already know, 'The things you touch stay with you'. Sounds like the fear-mongering strap-line of a crap horror movie.

3. It's not very clear what's under/on the fingers, unless you look pretty closely. And no one spends too much time looking closely at ads (apart from people in advertising).

4. There's no element of mystery to the visual - there's no knowledge gap - if I look at the visual I pretty much know it's an ad for a hand wash, so I've got no reason to look what brand of hand wash it is or even read the copy. And because nothing happens in my mind - no moment of realization, or inner smile, no 'getting it' - it means that it doesn't stay in my mind. (If something occurs in the mind, it tends to stay there; you've got a reason to remember it, it's not just a passive act).

Here's a good example of a 'knowledge gap' in action:

Well that's my rant over. Maybe these ads aren't terrible, but they're not great either.

That said, the typeface is quite nice!

I'm planning on going to see some student work at Lincoln Uni in the coming few weeks. The kind Miss Ruby Rosamund (fellow member of the advertising blogosphere) has invited me to the Creative Advertising final year show. Should be a good chance to see some fresh ideas (and weigh up the competition of course).

Radical Common Sense: an evening with Dave Trott

An evening with Dave Trott - Part 1 from MIN on Vimeo. (The sound does get better)

A great discussion with the main man Trott (CST). Great to see Dave bring some examples and analogies alive with some great doodles... and all in the flesh (well - pixel flesh)! He also chats about his blogs (which everyone should read) and the loyal folk like gotnoteef, Kevin Gordon, John W and the gang. He's got a great view on the industry at present and how it could benefit from change. If ever the barrage of marketing speak, building brands and focus groups puts you off advertising a little, watch this. His outlook is like the advertising equivalent of Occam's razor.

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!