THINK! - Drug Drive Paranoia
No-one should underestimate the challenge of creating a decent public information film. Selling your audience tasty ice-cream is a walk in the park when compared with the task of changing people's lifestyle choices. Clearly driving a car when ripped on drugs is a very stupid idea, but that doesn't prevent some idiots from doing so. Unfortunately, I'm not sure a TV ad is going to change that, particularly when the decision to get behind the wheel is taken when the driver is thoroughly wrecked. Thanks to this film, at least these maniacs can't say they weren't warned when the cops collar them.
NSPCC - I Saw Your Willy
And if you thought drug driving was a sensitive subject, how about this? There's no question that keeping kids safe on line is a very serious matter - one that's a long way from being solved - and advertising probably has a role to play. That said, I do have a quibble with this work, and that is the target audience. At the clip's conclusion, it's clear the message is directed at parents. However, the style and tone of the content is very much aimed at a juvenile viewer, which I find a bit confusing. Before the pay-off, I was sure this film was intended as warning to children, when it's actually an advisory for adults. Nevertheless, I'm glad to see the NSPCC grasping this nettle and wish them very well.
Specsavers - Stratosphere
Here's an example of an 'almost' ad. There's a really smashing idea bursting to get out, but the execution isn't quite there. It's notable that Specsavers are now begining to move away from their incredibly successful 'Should've Gone To Specsavers' work, and it's good to see the humour carrying over. For me though, this storyline was too disjointed. I had to watch the clip twice to realise we weren't seeing the same pair of glasses (I might just be a bit slow on the uptake). Even then, some of the scenarios were tricky to grasp, particularly the incident with the giraffe. So while I love the idea of a teddy floating around in space in someone's glasses, a re-edit would benefit this ad greatly.
Gumtree - Easy Sell
Obviously somebody has given permission for the use of Ian Dury & The Blockheads' wonderful 'Reasons To Be Cheerful', and royalties have been paid, but I can't stand it when a song is re-worded and re-sung to match a commercial. When that song is one of my favourites, it's particularly grating. Still, Gumtree are probably right in thinking this will stick in the viewer's head. Indeed, they're banking on it, as the accompanying YouTube page contains instructions for singing along. But nobody's going to do that are they? ARE THEY?
Simply Be - Spring 2015
Okay, so the choppy edit style is very old fashioned (reminds me of the seventies) and the sets are a bit row-rent. But we can ignore all that because at last, thanks to Simply B, we can see images of women with realistic figures, looking tremendous and proud. Dove, the beauty product folk, did something similar a couple of years back, although there's a difference here. The Dove campaign made great play of the fact they were featuring women of all shapes and sizes, whereas Simply B just show the models in the clothes, and good for them. The sooner other fashion retailers adopt a similarly grown-up approach, the better off we'll be.
Magnus Shaw is a blogger and copywriter
