Clever Adverts

[Paul F]

For some rather odd reason I started thinking last night about the really clever ads that I had seen recently and not quite so recently.
They made me smile in admiration for the people that were responsible for thinking up these catchy slogans, images or tag-lines.

One in particular, one that unfortunately I cant find the image for, is for a car tyre.

It has a big picture of a road in the rain and in the middle there is a car tyre surrounded by puddles with a regal crown on top. The caption underneath read

"WHEN IT POURS IT REIGNS"



I just thought that was really clever.

Anyone got any other ads they like?

[stewart38]

If you mean clever as in memorable i always thought that drink drive campaign with people smiling etc at pub drinking with the song 'In the summer time etc'

then cut to crash

Also the recent one re getting a licened Taxi was very good when the women drag her to the taxi

[Dreadful Scathe]

If you mean clever as in clever - I like the new guiness advert.

bleurgh

[TiggsTours]

If you mean clever as in simple, but says it all, I really like the adverts for tesco petrol, I can't really remember the exact phrase, but it basically comes down to "Our petrol is really cheap, because if you can drive to our store for less money, you'll spend more money when you're here". Simple, honest, to the point.

[Paul F]

If you mean clever as in simple, but says it all, I really like the adverts for tesco petrol, I can't really remember the exact phrase, but it basically comes down to "Our petrol is really cheap, because if you can drive to our store for less money, you'll spend more money when you're here". Simple, honest, to the point.

Yeah I really like honesty in adverts.

[Gojive]

If you mean clever as in clever - I like the new guiness advert.

bleurgh

How does that one end?....I've never been patient enough to watch it and find out.

[LMC]

There was a car advert that was obviously very successful, because I have no idea what make or model of car it was talking about. What I do remember is that for some reason it made me laugh, a lot.

Guy is obviously testdriving the car round usual mountainous roads, etc, with salesman pointing out why the car is so superb. They pull up outside a house in the middle of nowhere, the guy says thanks, gets out, goes into the house. Leaving the salesman sat there, bemused...

Maybe you had to be there - but there was just something unexpected about the way that ad was done.

[El Salsero Gringo]

The best tag-line I've seen in a long time was a bumper sticker on the back of a tanker truck belonging to a company that owns (and empties) mobile toilets - the kind used at outdoor events. It read:

"Everything you do is driven by us."

[jivecat]

Far too many to list. I love adverts, they're endlessly clever and inventive and I get a warped pleasure out of watching my mind being manipulated by the best creative brains in the country who are prostituting their skills and talents in the service of consumerism.

Sorry, Paul F, that's probably not what you wanted to hear!

[Icey]

The Golf plus advert with the japanese mother picking her gigantic son and his girlfriend up at the airport has me in stitches every time I see it. The way she looks back at him in the back seat and says 'my baby' because she thinks that he's lost loads of weight

[David Bailey]

I love the Barclays one where the guy creates a robot who wants to dominate the world, then gets unplugged, has me in fits. Possibly also because it's the voice of Holly from Red Dwarf 1 - II, has an extra resonance there...

[Msfab]

The adverts from about a year ago. Where you see a cartoon kid 'playing and joking' with his parent, but you dont actually see the parent. My reaction when I first saw this was to smile - a happy scene. And then about 10 seconds later you see the kid falling/tumbling down the stairs, the advert ends with a human child at the bottom of the stairs. The ad was about child abuse!
I thought this was a very clever ad, although upsetting!

[David Bailey]

The adverts from about a year ago. Where you see a cartoon kid 'playing and joking' with his parent, but you dont actually see the parent. My reaction when I first saw this was to smile - a happy scene. And then about 10 seconds later you see the kid falling/tumbling down the stairs, the advert ends with a human child at the bottom of the stairs. The ad was about child abuse!
I thought this was a very clever ad, although upsetting!

I've got a real problem with shock adverts - I dislike them intensely, and in the long-term I think they have a desensitizing effect, like the drink-drive ones, the RSPCA ones, the starving-children-in-Africa ones...

I know, it's the way the world is, it's All For A Good Cause, it's a competitive world out there. But let's face it, advertising agencies aren't going to stop at charities; if shock tactics work, they'll use it for anything and everything, it'll be "Eat at McDonalds to sponsor a child - or HE'LL DIE LIKE THIS" in a few years...

I think LMC put it well a while back when she said she'd like to see positive adverts - "your money saved these animals lives - give us more of it", that sort of thing.

[Bex]

I'm not too keen on the shock adverts too, although I guess they have to be so harsh to get the point across.

The one I'm not happy with at the moment is the anti-smoking one, with Frank Sinartra's 'I've got you under my skin' playing, every time I hear it I think 'oh lovely that's my wedding song!' then you see the ad with that clot inching through someone's veins and and think 'oh no!'.

I don't smoke anyway, but wish they hadn't used that track, because I love it!

However, my fav ad at the mo, still has to be the Citreon car one, where it turns into that robot and does the funky dance

[Dreadful Scathe]

I think LMC put it well a while back when she said she'd like to see positive adverts - "your money saved these animals lives - give us more of it", that sort of thing.

Yup. Give us more money or this puppy gets it - is pretty much what they are implying. If anyone does want to give money to animal charities in Scotland don't give to the R.S.P.C.A they have a lot of money and dont spent it in Scotland, thats what the S.S.P.C.A is for. The R.S.P.C.A can afford adverts!

[Dreadful Scathe]

However, my fav ad at the mo, still has to be the Citreon car one, where it turns into that robot and does the funky dance

Which they then replaced with the awful 'Happy Days' one - what on earth were they thinking?

[Paul F]

I thought the 'Happy Days' one was cleverly done but its not as good as the dancing robot.

The car one I thought was pretty good was the one in whch you see a guy sprinting after a car. He is desperately trying to catch it and runs through different areas of town yelling "Stop" with onlookers obviously thinking his cars been stolen.
He eventually catches it and breathlessley tells the driver ..."nice car mate"

excellent.

[LMC]

Thanks DJ & DS

To clarify: my main point with that was that the whole point of adverts, surely, is to make you feel good about what's being advertised. "Shock" adverts make me feel bad. I then associate that "bad" feeling with the charity. Emotional responses are rarely rational.

Oh, and animal charities receive 20% of charitable income - Guide Dogs for the Blind is absolutely LOADED. They are therefore way down my priority list - whatever their advertising.

A charity advert that made a big impact on me was a poster campaign for a homeless charity - I know the charity's Chief Exec and he got a LOT of stick for it - but wow, the message is clear:

...
The campaign - backed by local authorities in the area - is based on findings showing that the main link in London is between begging and the misuse of hard drugs, not between rough sleeping and begging.

....

(Name/charity removed) Chief Executive, said: "I urge the public to give money to the Killing with Kindness campaign, not to people begging on the streets. (Charity) will ensure every penny of this money goes towards drug treatment for people seeking to come off of drugs. Too many people are ruining their health through the misuse of hard drugs, often funded through begging, and it can even contribute to lives being lost. Please use your money to change lives, not ruin them."

(The point being that giving money to homeless people keeps them *on* the streets - no money would "force" them to seek help.)

Poster had the tagline: Kindness can Kill (or similar)

[DavidB]

My favourite ad of all time was the Guardian "Whole picture" skinhead ad from a few years ago.

http://www.personal.u-net.com/~westw...ideo/guard1.rm

I still think about it every time I watch CNN.

[Dreadful Scathe]

indeed Good advert , first time Id seen that.