Category: Advertising

Illustration

Blistering Barnacles! It’s Tintin on Brussels Air!

By Delphine Hirasuna |

TinTin_1

Tintin, the adventure-loving boy reporter comic character created by Belgian cartoonist Hergé in 1929, is jetting around the world in style lately. Brussels Airlines has dedicated an entire Airbus A320 to Belgium’s most beloved ambassador. Tintin’s special livery is disguised as Professor Calculus’s famous shark submarine from the “Red Rackham’s Treasure” album, with Tintin and his dog, Snowy, shown flying the aircraft. The plane’s interior continues the cartoon theme with images of Tintin and Captain Haddock on the rear cabin wall.

The choice of Tintin as a promotional mascot is a natural for Brussels Airline. Tintin is renowned throughout the world and very Belgian. The Tintin livery project is collaboration between Brussels Airlines and Moulinsart, owners of the works of Hergé. The Tintin design will be featured for a year.

Explaining its campaign strategy, Brussels Airlines stated, “As a company, our goal is bring people together and to make travelling a pleasure. Tintin is the ideal travel companion to help us do this: Adventurous, ambitious, friendly, and naturally curious.”
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Marketing

Shocase Shows Off Marketing Talent

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Shocase is a new social network site with some of the intentions of LinkedIn, Pinterest and Facebook, but is targeted specifically to the 100+ million marketing professionals worldwide. It acts somewhat like the old Blackbook directories, but in a friendlier, more interactive and constantly updated way.

Shocase CEO Ron Young explains, “Members can present their work, skills and experience in the best light to the audience they value most; brands can find the right marketing professionals to suit their needs in any discipline. The site is designed to help build working relationships, and ultimately help members grow their business.”

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Advertising

Land Rover Defender Passport

By Delphine Hirasuna |

LandRover_Passport

It’s the end of the road for the Land Rover Defender, the UK’s original off-road vehicle. Introduced in 1948, the intrepid Defender became the vehicle of choice for safari guides, cattle ranchers and explorers of the rugged outback. But in 2015 increasingly tough emission standards finally put the brakes on production. Before we say goodbye to the iconic 4×4, let’s revisit one of the Land Rover Defender’s best ads, created by London ad agency, RKCR/Y&R, in 2011. The print ad shows an open passport bearing multiple passport stamps that overlap into the shape of a Land Rover making a steep uphill climb. The image embodies the go-anywhere, handle-any-terrain reputation of the brand simply, succinctly, and brilliantly.

Public Service Advertising

Cheeky Ads Raise Cancer Awareness

By Delphine Hirasuna |

ColonCancerAwareness

How do you publicize something that is widely considered socially rude to talk about? It’s okay to urge people to get regular dental exams, annual mammograms, eye tests, and melanoma check-ups, but suggesting the need for a rectal exam is usually not well received (and often not meant in the kindest way). Yet colon/rectal cancer is the second most deadly cancer in America. Ironically, it is also one of the most treatable types of cancer if detected early through regular rectal exams. Meredith’s Miracles Colon Cancer Foundation wanted to bring these facts into the public discussion and asked the ad agency, FCB Chicago, to raise awareness through a public service ad campaign. FCB delivered the warning to Chicago commuters by selectively posting ads on the back side of bus seats. In this case, the placement of the ad is the butt of the joke.

Humor

Geico “You Can’t Skip These Ads”

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Viewers hate YouTube preroll ads, those irksome commercials that run before you get to watch the real YouTube video you want to see. One survey revealed that 94 percent of viewers will hit the “Skip Ad” button as soon as it appears. But advertisers keep sticking their commercials up there, presumably in the belief that the few they don’t annoy will embrace their message fondly and run out to buy their product.

This brings us to the Geico preroll, created by The Martin Agency in Richmond, Virginia. In a YouTube ad campaign that can only be viewed as experimental, the car insurance giant crammed its ad message into the critical first five seconds, and then spent the next 60 seconds having the main actors freeze motionless, while absurd actions happened around them. The only mention of Geico was the brand name that stayed on the screen. I didn’t get it, but thought it was funny anyway. I watched it three times to see if I was missing a deeper message. The only thing that annoyed me was that a preroll ad for another product ran before I could watch the Geico ad. I hit “Skip Ad” on that one as soon as it let me.
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