Seattle-based photographer Brittany Wright‘s photography instantly grabbed my attention, as I have a weakness for great food photography and when it’s perfectly positioned my inner ocd nag, is delighted. Quite simply, her #FoodGradients photography is beautiful.
It’s no secret that I have a guilty pleasure for puns, so when I came across these witty packaging designs from Purearth naturally, I fell in love. It’s a superb example of great design and great copywriting working together, which is guaranteed to get some attention and stand out. I don’t doubt we’ll soon see filtered photos of these bottles quickly appearing on Instagram.
Mr Kipling has launched an exceedingly good series of creative print ads, using their philosophy ‘life is better with cake’. The campaign features iconic Mr Kipling cakes and reminds us, how even those little everyday moments are made better with a piece of delicious cake. The campaign comes from JWT and David Masterman, a creative director at JWT explains how the campaigns aim was to simply “celebrate Mr Kipling’s wonderful little cakes”.
So as well as being an Advertising student, a few months a go I started a new little venture; up-cycling furniture. This little sideline is called, Unico Furniture Creations, where I create unique and charming up-cycled and hand painted pieces of furniture, mostly in a shabby chic style. Below are some photos of the furniture pieces I have done. Please feel free to take a quick trip to its brand new Facebook page, where you see more of the pieces of furniture: facebook.com/unicofurniturecreations
I doubt there’s very few people who haven’t heard of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ – which is probably one of the most anticipated films being released this year. The book/movie and especially the trailer has acted as inspiration for a number of new adverts which have gradually made an appearance with the big day getting closer and closer.
Lego Trailer
Vanessa Bayer & Audi
Sportsbet
Trojan Condoms
OPI
KappAhl
Adventure World
Dominos
Marc New York
Make of them what you will.. However, some did leave me cringing and pretty much speechless – talking about you Sportsbet!
Despite this ad being for Denmark it has captured attention from all around the world, with a charming but odd love story which has a surprising twist. The ad shows the love a gothic boy has for a popular preppy girl. But I’ll honestly admit, (along with a large percentage of others who have watched this ad) I did not expect the ending. What’s also great is there is no dialogue in the advert at all which makes it universally appealing and who doesn’t love a good love story? It was also refreshing not to see a bouquet of flowers feature in the advert either, which I imagine was a risk for a florist brand to take but I believe this makes the brand even more appealing and the ad more charming.
I first stumbled across this short ad on Facebook, it had been shared numerous times by a number of mums. I was quite surprised at how quickly it was all over social media in such a few days of being released considering I hadn’t noticed it on my Twitter feed despite following endless accounts relating to the ad industry. But quite rightly so the type of people sharing the ad were the exact target audience – parents. However, I think it does a good job of keeping any old person interested and watching until the end, whether you have kids or not!
Some of the Christmas ads we are seeing are starting to get a little ‘samey’ I feel, after seeing endless turkeys carved with every possible trimming and side on display. However, after stumbling across this little festive ad this morning I have to say it’s refreshingly funny and unexpected from a mustard brand (I’ll be honest I’ve never heard of before).
Created by adam&eveDDB this humorous online ad encourages us to be remembered for the right reasons this Christmas, i.e giving someone the gift of premium French mustard rather than telling stories of love-making on secluded balconies in Greece. At the end of the day sex sells right? Either way it’s quite a memorable ad and definitely adds a bit of variety amongst the other festive ads out there.
About a month a go those potty-mouthed princesses graced the internet with their presence with FCKH8, the activist tshirt retailer. The video was pretty bold considering it featured little girls swearing like right troopers! (If you need a little reminder then head to my original post on the video.)
This time they’re tackling domestic violence with 100% of the money they get from selling the tops going to domestic violence charities. With their last video they did receive a hell of a lot of backlash, with the video even being temporarily taken off YouTube because of the swearing. However, despite that it was one of the most watched ads of October.
But how successful will this ad be with that to follow? Has the idea of little girls swearing kind of worn of now or is it still engaging and entertaining? I personally imagine it won’t be as successful in terms of views compared to the first video but it is still getting a message out there even if it does ruffle some feathers!
Poo-Pourri greeted the internet well and truly just over a year ago with “Girls Don’t Poop” which was quite frankly bloody hilarious and if you haven’t seen it before 1) Where have you been? 2) What you waiting for – go watch!
A couple of days ago they released a special Christmas ad, featuring the big man himself – Santa. Seeing Santa on the loo is something I think we can all safely say we did not expect to see this Christmas! I don’t think it’s quite as good as their first but it is a refreshing ad to see this time of year and definitely stands out compared to all of the other Christmas ads. It has the standard Poo-Pourri charm, with another witty script with a new edition of three posh English girls.
FCKH8 the activist t-shirt retailer, are notorious for their loud graphic T-shirts and have just released a promotional video for their anti-sexism shirts. It’s hard to ignore these little girls swearing like troopers and although naturally it has caused a great deal of controversy, it has got people talking about the brand and video. However, I do feel it goes on for just a tad too long.
For some it may be uncomfortable to watch but there is a key message in the video. What’s more uncomfortable the way society treats women or a little girl saying fuck? Sure, there was probably other ways they could promote their shirts without using little girls swearing, but would this have been as effective and received as many views?
Mike Kon, the guy that produced this video makes a fair point by saying, “Some adults may be uncomfortable with how these little girls are using a bad word for a good cause. It is shocking what they are saying, but … the big statistic that one out of five women are sexually assaulted or raped is something society seems to find less offensive than a little four-letter word, and we love how these girls draw attention to that imbalance.”
During the X-Factor on Saturday evening a brand new ad was aired for Snickers, featuring the one and only, Mr. Bean. It’s filmed in Mandarin with English subtitles featuring Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) who was last seen in an advert over 18 years ago. The suitably funny ad shows Mr. Bean as a Kung Fu master who isn’t particuarly feeling his usual self until he eats a Snickers bar.
The campaign is still using the same slogan “you’re not you when you’re hungry” and follows on from their previous advert starring Joan Collins.
I personally believe seeing Mr.Bean pop up on our TV screens being his usual clumsy self will be a welcomed occasion, although he has a slight ‘Marmite’ presence, it goes exceptionally well with the brand and style of advert. It comes from ad agency AMV BBDO, who believe Mr. Beans’ iconic and well recognised character will really boost the brand globally.
In the last few weeks we have seen the latest social media phenomenon, ‘The Ice Bucket Challenge’ fill up our feeds. Whether it’s celebrities, friends or your very self getting involved, it’s hard not to check Facebook without seeing a video pop up. Gradually, more and more brands have been getting involved, grabbing our attention and trying to put their very own stamp on the challenge. Out of all the videos I have seen below are 5, which really stood our for me. Some due to their creativeness and others simply because I wasn’t expecting it.
1. Old Spice
Old Spice, who pretty much dominate viral videos naturally got in on the action, with a classic response.
2. Ronald McDonald
Nothing too wacky about this one apart from the fact it’s kind of weird seeing Ronald McDonald tipping water over his head.
3. Samsung Galaxy S5
I think this one is quite possibly my favourite. It’s short and sweet, with very witty copy.
4. Bill Gates
Ok so maybe not a brand per-say but still a great video, that took the ice bucket challenge just that little further.
5. The Simpsons
The Simpsons version cropped up online shortly after Kermit the Frog completed the ice bucket challenge. Already it has got people talking and is quickly becoming a favourite, especially with the many Simpson’s fans out there.
Despite the controvosy and mixed views around the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, it has raised an incredible amount of money. Obviously, many celebrities and brands are using this social media craze to their own free PR advantage, but either way it’s all for a great cause that continues to raise more and more money.
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Last month we saw the launch of Three’s latest campaign #HolidaySpam. It spread across social media rapidly receiving a lot of attention. It was all in aid to advertise they’re new service “Feel At Home” (which allows users to use there phone as normal in 16 specific locations) they came up with a nifty idea that encourages people to boast and share images of their holidays even more.
As well as the video being shared on social media, multiple images appeared to..
Whilst everyone was lapping up and enjoying Three’s social media presence with the campaign, Virgin Holidays weren’t too keen and created a witty response to the “Sorry for the spam” ads:
Their response tells viewers not to be sorry for their holiday spam images and they should “#ShowOff with pride”. Designed in a very similar style to the Three ad’s and using typical holiday images of selfies, pools and hot dog legs whilst naturally having a good splash of red in there to.
Three acknowledged Virgin Holidays efforts by whipping up this response:
It all got rather exciting then just when we all thought the dust was settling Surrey Police appeared with their very own response to both brands, telling both of them as well as the public that it’s best to #BragWhenBack.
As much as I loved the exciting campaign from Three and the witty responses from Virgin Holidays I really admire Surrey Police’s response, although it may not be as well designed (which is to be expected I guess) it speaks a lot of truth and is probably a bit of a wake up call to many people across social media who have been sharing their #HolidaySpam images, which effectively tells everyone they are not at home – especially burglars!
I stumbled across this video on Adweek and admittedly just watched it without reading the article with it, so my reaction was pure shock and I was left feeling pretty uncomfortable. Although, I believe this is a good thing as it will get viewers attention and leave them with food for thought. With so much hype around the World Cup, countries, footballers and matches it’s easy to forget or not realise the darker side to it, which I feel this PSA ad does effectively. For more information visit Tender.org.uk
SARAH LONG 