Two very creative washroom ads

If you want people's attention, you must be creative.

Advertising Agency: Marcel, Paris, France.

Advertising Agency: Grey Budapest, Hungary

Released: June 2009

BBDO chairman replies Cannes critique

Chairman of BBDO and president of this year's film and press juries at Cannes, David Lubars replied Bob Garfield's critique (click here to see the post about Garfield's critique), saying the good works and professionals should always be awarded. But he also said the quality of this year's advertising declined.

Click here to view David's reply

I agree that the good professionals should be rewarded, but I still think Canne's methods and purpose are somehow blurry. It will continue to be an award to the biggest agencies with the biggest clients, with no real meaning.

Via Ad Age

The Black Pixel Project

Another smart campaign from Greenpeace. The Black Pixel, made by AlmapBBDO and Greenpeace Brazil, is a project to engage everyone in the fight against global warming and it consists in a very simple idea. Go to http://www.greenpeaceblackpixel.org/#/en and install a black pixel in your monitor. That black pixel, added to other black pixels around the world, will save watts, and by saving watts you give your contribution to the global warming fight.

So far 5,500 black pixels were installed, saving 112,495 watts, the same as 2,812 lamps off for one hour. The goal is to install 1 million black pixels.

Zack Johnson's viral videos

You won't believe who's behind this viral campaign. It doesn't look like a commercial, but it is. A really well done commercial. It's a story of a guy who wakes up one day to find his "guy parts" gone and replaced by "girl parts". I'm gonna post the video with the 4 episodes so far.

Need a clue? Watch the last episode again, the part he goes to the women's washroom. See a brand there? Yes, it's Procter&Gamble's Tampax. It was made by Leo Burnett from Chicago, and quoting a P&G's spokesman "It was inexpensive for us to do this one little effort and kind of get a feel for how much pickup it gets, if it goes viral or if it doesn't". Well, it did.

Nice approach by P&G to reach the young audience. It's amazing how they created a story with a guy as main character so connected to the girls' world. No one would think of choosing a guy as spokesman to sell tampons. Hats off to P&G and Leo Burnett.

via Ad Age

Cannes doesn't matter anymore

Very interesting article by Bob Garfield, posted on Ad Age. The lion's prestige is falling apart, which is a process that started many years ago, with the ghost ads scandal.

During the 4 years I spent in university I heard "advertising is not about the award, it's about the client", and it's true. But at the same time we testified names being branded through Cannes. That doesn't look like happening anymore. Having a gold lion today means less than it did 15 years ago. Cannes submissions this year are down 20%, and the attendees is even steeper, something around 40%. Maybe it's the global recession. Maybe. But I think the agencies and, especially, the advertising professionals don't have the "Cannes fantasy" any longer. Clients are more interested in successful cases rather than statues shelves. And the focus should always be them. Cannes doesn't matter anymore.

Here's the link to Bob's article: http://adage.com/article?article_id=137301

Ad of the day - June 15th

Bad food, bad dog.

Advertising Agency: Prolam Y&R Santiago, Santiago, Chile
Executive Creative Director: Tony Sarroca
Regional Executive Creative Director: Guillermo Vega
Creative Directors: Francisco Cavada, Alvaro Becker
Art Directors: Fabrizio Capraro, Andres Echeverria
Digital Retoucher / Illustrator: Raul Pardo
Account Supervisor: Juan Carlos Meza
Published: April 2009

Sunroof in the cinema

To increase the test-drive of a new convertible, the Nissan Micra C+C, Nissan innovated by showing its commercial on the theater's ceiling, to let the audience experience the feeling of driving a convertible.

The result: an increase in Nissan Micra C+C test-drives by 19%.

Advertising Agency: TBWA\ Düsseldorf

Via Adivertido.com

Nice way to get out of the common-place, driving the audience's attention exclusively to your commercial.