Advertising

Mercedes-Benz’s Poultry in Motion

By Delphine Hirasuna | November 18, 2013September 12, 2014

Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz demonstrated how its amazing Magic Body Control suspension system offers passengers a smooth ride through the use of placid chickens funky dancing to Diana Ross’s “Upside Down” disco tune. For those of you who have never met a chicken that wasn’t already baked, grilled or fried, you should know that live chickens have the natural ability to keep their heads perfectly still even when their bodies are moving. For German ad agency Jung von Matt/Neckar Stuttgart, this chicken analogy seemed like a much more memorable and fun way to explain how Mercedes’s suspension system offers awesome motion stability. Daniel Warwick directed the dance number. No CGI was used in the making of this video; the chickens did it all with a few helpful hands.

Advertising

Throwback to the Future

By Delphine Hirasuna | September 26, 2013September 4, 2014

How do you grab the attention of jaded creative directors? By arousing their curiosity. In a campaign for Kontor, a dance music label in Germany, Ogilvy Deutschland developed a “Back to Vinyl” direct mail piece that used high-tech gimmickry to promote the new Boris Dlugosch release. Ad agency recipients got a large flat package that contained a vinyl record inside, instead of the usual CD or USB. The vinyl came with instructions to place the record on the printed turntable on the back of the envelope, then activate the QR code with a smart phone. Recipients could listen to the latest Dlugosch track and “move” the needle to play other tracks as well or to contact Kontor via the connect icon. Needless to say, the vinyl promo often became the talk of the office and didn’t get thrown away.

Illustration

What Are You Looking At?

By Delphine Hirasuna | September 4, 2013September 4, 2014

Leo Burnett ad agency made clever use of negative space to communicate Fiat’s Don’t Text and Drive message. Those who focus on the large alphabet letters often miss the silhouetted image in the negative black space. It’s a matter of perspective and where your attention is centered: On the letter “R” or the girl with a balloon? The “F” or the bus? The “N” or the dog? The subjects in the negative space are hiding in plain sight, but you have to be alert to see them.

Humor

Old Spice’s Wolfdog Marketing Ploy

By Delphine Hirasuna | March 15, 2013September 4, 2014

Old Spice men’s fragrances has a new executive marketing director, and he’s a real wolf. This commercial made by Wieden + Kennedy proves that the global ad agency is having far too much fun to call it working. It’s interesting that unlike most men’s scent ads, there is no real plug for how sexy and desirable the product will make you. No, women in cleavage-revealing gowns running their red fingernails teasingly over the man’s firm unshaven jaw. No hint of pheromones wafting through the air, leading women like Barbie doll zombies in search of the source. No, these ads are snarky and tongue-in-cheek funny. And like an increasing number of marketing campaigns, they don’t stop with one ad. Wolfdog has his own website/blog, Twitter account, homework “service,” and Call of Duty game. Will it make men rush out to buy the product? Don’t know, but it will raise awareness of Old Spice and get people talking.

Humor

Beware of Bears!

By Delphine Hirasuna | February 7, 2013September 4, 2014

UK ad agency Viral Factory filmed this commercial for Samsung’s EcoBubble Washing Machine on location in Manning Park, British Columbia, where nature is wild and unpredictable. Directed by James Rouse, produced by Jon Stopp, and post-production by Jellyfish Pictures.