ad: Annual 2024 Now Open For Entries!
*

The Week In Advertising

Published by

eHarmony - Popcorn

There's some furious competition between TV dating sites right now, and that means a plethora of TV ads. One campaign simply shows happy daters on happy dates, but eHarmony have gone more leftfield, using a bizarre scenario to promote their rigorous compatability checks. Nicely executed, and certainly standing out from the crowd, it's unfortunate it took three viewings to notice the popcorn machine was moving closer to the woman. And quite what the exploding kernels are supposed to represent, I shudder to think.
 

Ikea - The Joy Of Storage

As far as I can recall, Ikea have never produced a duff ad. I thoroughly enjoyed their take on 'In The Kitchen At Parties' and the spot where the kids see the adults as giant toys was superb. And now we have the flying shirts - and it's wonderful. Beautifully (and presumably expensively) shot, this is a pleasure from begining to end. What's more there's a clear proposition, delivered through a fantasy full of emotional engagement. Rarely can an advertisement be said to be faultless, but this is one. Tremendous work.
 

Change4Life - Sugar Swaps

To be fair, this is an almost impossible brief. How one could ever hope to change the eating habits of the entire nation via a TV ad, I can't begin to guess. That said, the illustration showing the alarming bulk of sugar in a can of pop definitely gives one pause for thought, and the claymation from Aardman (the people behind 'Wallace and Gromit') is smashing. I must just wonder whether this publicly-funded campaign will be at all effective, and whether the budget wouldn't have been better spent in the health sector.
 

Renault Twingo - Go Anywhere, Go Everywhere

More animation from French artists 'Kuntze and Deygas' for Renault. A very strategic spot, no offers or discounts here; this all about the character and appeal of the vehicle itself - and it works very well. Actually, what we're seeing is a pop video. The distinctive soundtrack from Beck, paired with the abstarct visuals almost makes the car unnecessary (although obviously, that wouldn't please Renault much). Will it sell thousands more cars? Probably not, but that isn't the point - because this mission is to position the Twingo as a groovy, slightly alternative, automobile, which it does with enthusiasm and flair.
 

Foxy Bingo - Get Happy

For some reason, each time 'Foxy Bingo' release a new campaign, they change the appearance of Foxy The Fox. From puppet mask to basic CGI and back, this makes it very hard to treat him as a familiar friend - which is the purpose of a mascot. Not that consistency would improve the work. The feel of forced fun soaking this ad makes me queasy, and its inclination to treat its audience like toddlers is cringe inducing. This is entirely in keeping with the inane style of all online bingo advertising, which has been driving me slowly nuts for about a decade. Annoyingly awful.

Magnus Shaw is a blogger and copywriter

Comments

More Leaders

*

Leaders

Inspiring Female Leaders: An Interview with RAPP CEO Gabrielle Ludzker

Gabrielle Ludzker is not just any CEO. The current head honcho at customer experience agency RAPP has spent her career breaking away from the traditional corporate CEO stereotype. and leads to inspire rule breakers. Gabby is an inspirational rule...

Posted by: Benjamin Hiorns
ad: Annual 2024 Now Open For Entries!