It’s getting cold here at this time of year, so to warm things up I
have selected a few campaigns which manage to get me hot under the
collar.
The criteria I used to pick these campaigns is one that works every
time: they are simply those which make me seriously jealous when I see
them for the first time.
To start off with, I’ve chosen a TV commercial to promote Helsinki as a
European City of Culture in the year 2000. The campaign’s aim to ’train’
us to behave while there is still time works beautifully. The ad opens
with a small dog sitting on the pavement. The text says: ’He doesn’t
always understand the rules.’ The picture opens out and reveals the
dog’s owner taking a pee on the pavement. The dog looks at the man
before the text goes on to say: ’But maybe he will learn.’ The closing
text runs: ’Helsinki is a European City of Culture 2000.’ The ad is
simple, clever and funny, and is created by United Writers Limited.
The second ad I have chosen made me really mad because it is such a
clear, easy and timeless concept. It is a print series for the leading
Finnish women’s magazine which, roughly translated, is called Us Women.
As we all realise, it sometimes seems to be a man’s world. The people at
Hasan & Partners have turned this idea on its head. In this series of
ads, they show images of famous historical men - only they have all been
changed into women. It certainly works for me and for all the women I
know.
My last ad also comes from Hasan & Partners. It’s a commercial for a
small sports chain called Elmo Sports Stores, using a limited ad
budget.
In the film we see the loop of a basketball net through which balls are
thrown, aimed with incredible accuracy. The narrator says: ’Every 2,000
years or so, an individual is born who can depend on his God-given
talent.
The rest of us have to rely on great equipment.’ The next shot reveals
that the balls are being thrown from a baby’s pram. I like the ad
because it was made on a low budget and shows brain work instead of
money work.
It’s very simple and avoids the normal dull shots of sports stores.
I would say that during the last three or four years the quality of
advertising in Finland has greatly improved, although overall we are
still relatively unknown overseas. The length of our ads is 30 seconds
rather than the 60-second ads that are often run in Britain, so we have
to think harder.
We rely on a lot of humour, as you can see.
Jussi Mansukoski is the creative director at VPV Euro RSCG.
