Adbusting is not dead…

as seen at Place d'Italie Station on the underground line 6 last week in Paris.

Tags, writings over walls and posters, pamphlets and stencils have always been the natural way of expression of outsiders, of social misfits, all those unwilling to comply with or to fully accept the way society is.
Unsurprisingly, advertising is a prime enemy for all of those who do not recognize themselves in the self-righteous, all encompassing consumption society. I won't delve into the arguments for or against advertising (or worst, for or against the consumption society). This is not the focus of this post, and as it is a debate that has been around for a while by now, I trust you know the drill and the basics arguments. Also, writing down only a fifth of it would take way too much time.
So, long story short : anti-consumerist don't like advertising, and they let us know, often by defacing billboards or spoofing commercials.

As an advertiser I cannot be unaware of the hostile reaction created by advertising or of the growing ad creep. And as a graphic designer, I always have an eye out for the vernacular street language, the odd stencil or the clever rewriting of a tagline… which is why I was so interested when I stumbled upon those posters in an underground station last week :

They were an odd mixt of aphorisms, anarchist slogan, anti-advertising and hippie motto. When I first saw those, my first reaction was "awesome !", and the second "wait, isn't it a cleverly hidden advertising stunt, designed to look like street art / ad busting ?"
Which show that really, I'm a) far to young to be this jaded, b) healthily suspicious (it's not paranoia if they're out to get you) or c) perfectly lucid.
But the next day the "posters" were gone, the corridor were back to the same old boring posters about christmas sales (yep, already) or video games, or both, and it looked like my first reaction had been accurate after all.

A few sweep of the online publiphobes (as we call adbusters in French) haunts show that a similar bust occurred a few month ago, obviously from the same people (I would almost call them artists, really.)

I can't help but feel that this kind of busts are ultimately futile, but in the meantime they are a small... well, rectangle of purity in a sea of venality i guess.

The Game is On

Thank you Sherlock for the headline, and moving on, the answers of the Thai ads game I started in the previous post.
Khun Lawan was kind enough to provide some extra informations on the ads and brands, and Khun Pascal passed the information along.


1/ The Revent ad with two slippers is for a condo close from both the BTS (skytrain) and the Airport link. That's why the two slippers coaches are different, and going from home to the stations is as easy as putting on slippers !

 
2/ The red jar of the second ad is full... of birdnests. Yes BIRDNESTS, which are a delicacy in Asia. The text explains that you have to give the best to your loved one, namely the brand's birdnests...
 

3/ And in the third ad, the fish on the carpet embodies bad smells that won't be a trouble in the advertized condo thanks to the clear separation between the kitchen and the other living rooms... Who would have guessed?

Play the Game

When one is in a non-English speaking country, most of the ads and posters are in said country language, which only leaves the visual to get an idea of what the ad is about.
Some are pretty clear, others less so : some ads have very few in matter of visual, and their message is then impossible to understand. On the other hand, sometimes the brand name is in roman alphabet, which helps a bit. And then, some have visual clear enough to stand on their own without the text. (Well, it's kind of easy when the product in fruit juice and the only visual a giant packshot of the box surrounded by riotous grapes and mango).
A fourth category could be the visuals that gives enough elements to form an idea on what the ads is about, but without being obvious or clear cut.

So, this is the game : here are a few pictures of ads I took during my peregrinations in Bangkok. Can you guess what they are about?





And an extra one, which is so weird it hardly can be in the game as the visual elements are at odd with each other and the brand (this is for a condo building in Bangkok.) I'm told the copy is some kind of Thai pun with the word "guest" that also can mean "fish", but even then I quite sure the message conveyed doesn't make any sense. Points for originality thought, it sure breaks out from other, more classical, condo ads.



To the answers!.

Oh Africa

You must be fed up with the World Cup. I know I am, and not only because of the ridiculous and short-lived adventures of the French team in South Africa. So I swear, this post is the first and the last about soccer or the World Cup.

The Thai don't have a team in the World Cup, but it doesn't stop them from being interested, on the contrary. Betting on the World Cup is strictly forbidden (Thais do love betting money) but it doesn't stop them. It can go from a twenty bath (around 0,5€ ) bet between siblings to very big sums of money (so much that they are reports of girlfriends being driven to the sex industry to pay-off partners debts, or so says the Bangkok Post).

But my point is that the World cup is the summer's big event, and Pepsi went all the way with a rather vigorous (if classical) media plan and a commercial specially made for Thailand (for those who don't remember the international one is here, you will recognize the music).



So, to sum up: on the morning, when I am waiting for the BTS (the skytrain), the whole station is lined with the brand's World Cup identity and even if I don't watch it, I can hear the commercial playing on the background (there are screens in the station.)

Once I am in the BTS, even if I don't watch it, I can hear it playing from time to time (there are screens in the trains too.)
When I finally arrive in my building, I take the 19 story high ride in the elevator and there… Yes! You guessed right : still the Pepsi ad playing (there are screens in the elevators too, how crazy is that? )

And the worst thing is, I have never drank so much Pepsi in my life (I don't take side in the Coca/Pepsi war, I'm just an innocent bysander…)
But to be honest, it's not only because the advertising. The weather plays a big role, forcing you to drink often if you don't want to end like a withered plum , and from what I have seen so far, Coke's distribution is far from being to par with Pepsi's…

In Thailand, the score is 1 to 0 for Pepsi.

Mug up! Or else...

The goal of our second long-term design project, overseen by Ruth Sykes, also from Reg Design, was to create a call to action, through the design of a poster and a supporting item.
I chose to communicate on the matter of disposable paper cups. The goal was to make people change their behavior and use a travel mug rather than the averages paper cup that always ends-up in the trash.


The name of the campaign, Mug-up!, is voluntarily bossy, and works with a more playful line that justify the call to action.


In order to sensibilise people on the matter, I showed an overdramatic result of the use of cups. Playing on the huge quantity of paper cups that end up thrown away everyday, I chose to humanize them, making the threat more tangible.
The poster plays on this spooky aspect with dramatized light, sharp contrasts and green overtone evocative of danger and horror movies.

The item is complementary to the poster and used to reach the people whose behavior needs to change (i.e. people using take-away cups), catch their attention. To achieve that it uses the usual dressing of the paper cups: a cardboard sleeve to protect from the heat, and a small cardboard disc fixed on the lid of the cup.

As the campaign is non-profit, it could be global and the customized sleeves and lids would be available with all take-away beverages, no matter the brand: Starbuck, Costa… All would participate, helping to increase the awareness on the subject and acting as a trigger to make people change their habits.

Work in Progress...

Coming soon...

The Cupocalypse.

Eat a potato, save the world

Today a flash-back for a pitch I did with a team of schoolmates a while back.
The advertiser was the CNIPT (the French National Trade Association For Potatoes).

To bring fun into the product consumption and create a strong call to action, we chose to center the campaign around the idea of war against Potatoes. The Potatoes are attacking the human race, only one retaliation is possible: eating them. The tagline was “Eat a potato, save the world”.

The campaign starts with the airing of a commercial on every channel before the traditionnal 8 pm TV news.

Pub CNIPT Freemind version sous-titrée
envoyé par C-Brousse.

The day after the first airing of TV commercial, false covers are run on newspapers front pages, announcing the potatoes attack.

Headline: Potatoes Declare War to Mankind !
The news in brief announce some points of the campaign to come and establish some more background elements :
- The website savetheworld.com to know more about the war
- The creation of the NPFP Squad (No Pity For Potatoes), which invite people to join and act
- The distribution of potatoes peelers in the streets
- Interview with a specialist talking about the nutritional quality of potatoes

Later, other videos following the evolution of the war against potatoes will be put online on savetheworld.com and on community websites. People will be invited to post their own method to destroy potatoes and the best ways to cook them.

CNIPT Freemind, buzz web
envoyé par C-Brousse.

The Road to Success...

is always under construction and mine has gained a new (small) paving stone.


The .(cicada). and the Ant, by La Fontaine.
Tag line: 50 years from now, one in two species will have disappeared. Act now.


The .(wolf). and the Lamb, by La Fontaine.
Tag line: 50 years from now, one in two species will have disappeared. Act now.

Last year, the first of those two ads I created for WWF during advertising classes ran into the infamous Lürzer's Archive’s student page, de facto nominating me for their 2009 ‘Student of the Year’ Award.
I found out when I received this impressive looking tablet through the mail.




If you have the Lürzer's Archive at home, leaf through issue 1-2009 to page 173. Here it is!

Where is the car?

To open this blog, I will start with commercials.
Car commercials to be more precise, which are a very specific exercise. The product is more often than not very technical and cutting-edge, the purchase is a very serious one, and the advertisers won't throw the money away.
A car commercial without cars in it? Impossible, you say.
And yet!

Here is a selection of very clever ads from different brands, all having the peculiarity of being almost totally car-less.

First, Wolkswagen. The brand has a history of creative and edgy adverts and those two commercial stay true to the legend:


“The Great Pretender”
DDB, London (2007)
A.D: Shishir Patel, C.R: Sam Oliver
Director: Patrick Bergh (Partizan)


“Balloon”
Try, Oslo (2009)
A.D: Thorbjørn Ruud, C.R: Petter Bryde
Director: Thomas Hilland (Partizan)

Peugeot did it as well for the 206, with a highly awarded commercial.
The sound design is perfect as well as the enormous art direction work. I find the sequel for the 206 SW to be weaker (but apart from The Empire Strike Back, which sequel can claim to have been better than the first movie?)


“The Sculptor”
Euro RSCG MCM (2002)
A.D: Giovanni Porro, C.R: Roberto Greco
Director: Matthijs Van Heijningen (MJZ)


Euro RSCG MCM (2002)
A.D: Giovanni Porro, C.R: Roberto Greco
Director: Pedro Romhanyi (Outsider)

Toyota managed as well to come up with clever commercials for the Yaris, more targeted toward women. I couldn’t find the other two movies online, “Tag” and “Rope”, but they are well realised and true to the idea.


“Plane”
CLEMMOW HORNBY INGE (2007)
A.D & C.R: Wayne Robison/Matt Collier/Ewan Paterson
Director: Dominic Murphy (Partizan)

And last but not least, Seat recruited volatile tennis player John McEnroe to play himself in this nice little ad not without a touch of self-derision. True, there is a car in it, but it’s not the main character at all.


“It’s in!”
Grey, Barcelonna (2005)
A.D: Jason Bramley, C.R: Jonny Biggins
Director: Warren Kuchner (Partizan)



That’s all for today, but don’t hesitate to drop a line or a link if you have other examples in mind.