Humor

Nice Idea, Try Again

By Delphine Hirasuna | June 20, 2013September 4, 2014

This skit from “Burnistoun,” the comedy sketch show broadcast by BBC Scotland, reminds me of all the devices that, at first, seem like marvelous inventions, but still need work. An example is a recent exchange with that annoying automated iPhone twit, Siri. She keeps calling me “Del-fiend-E,” even though I’ve corrected her multiple times. Last week I asked Siri for the cross street of Gump’s, San Francisco’s venerable luxury home décor and jewelry store. Everybody in the Bay Area knows the 150-year-old Gump’s — except Siri. She said, “There are three dumps in San Francisco, which one do you want?” I enunciated more slowly, spelling out G-u-m-p-’s. She ignored me and started telling me the addresses of the local dumps. I finally asked a passerby for directions.

Advertising

Oreo Wonderfilled Campaign Tackles Cynicism

By Delphine Hirasuna | May 30, 2013September 4, 2014

When Oreo launched its Pollyannishly optimistic “Wonderfilled” ad campaign recently, it chose to air it on AMC’s darkly cynical “Mad Men. ” Quoted in AdAge, Janda Lukin, director of Oreo at Mondelez International, Inc., says that the show’s adult audience is the demographic Oreo wanted to attract. “Kids already have a sense of wonder in how they see the world, but adults have to be reminded of that. The stories resonate with different people, but overall, it’s an adult campaign.”

Brand Language

7-Eleven Sweden Does Retro Re-Branding

By Delphine Hirasuna | February 6, 2013September 4, 2014

Asked to rebrand the 7-Eleven convenience stores in Sweden, the Stockholm creative agency BVD decided to whole-heartedly embrace the 80-year-old company’s graphic roots. BVD made 7-Eleven’s signature green and orange bolder and brighter, stenciled its old Helvetica typeface, and turned its traditional broad stripes into pinstripes, reversing out the “7” and suggesting “Eleven” with two orange lines. The look is contemporary yet retro, and it doesn’t run away from 7-Eleven’s original concept, which was to provide people with a handy place to go to buy an emergency supply of milk, eggs and other basics late at night. The new Swedish graphic identity refreshes 7-Eleven’s identity without trying to disguise it as something more upscale than it is.