I’m sure one of my friends (who happens to be black) holds me
personally responsible for the fact that he in particular, and black
people generally, do not appear in ads.
I find the position ultimately indefensible and best resolved by me
buying the next three rounds. You can see his point when all we seem to
do as an industry is try to put black people in the Army. I can see the
’Kitchener’ poster costing me a few drinks. It’s a strong enough image
even if I have seen it a thousand times before. The problem is the line
that is totally lacking any promise or reward. Said friend is likely to
remember it as ’your country needs you off the streets and I’ll have a
large Jack Daniels thank you very much’.
The ’changing of the guard’ press ad is on much safer ground, offering
the prospect of being able to get somewhere in the Army. The Queen’s
Guard at Buckingham Palace in this instance. For the Army, not the best,
but better.
So Nikita sprays her fingertips with deodorant, gets strapped into a
chair and electronically monitored to see if she’s telling porkies. Sure
enough, she gets away with it. Well, it may work on girls but a bloke
would never get away with it if he’d soaked himself in the stuff for
months.
It’s all quite stylish and makes a welcome change from the familiar
marathon girl under a hot sun, but I can’t see the creatives on Impulse
being in need of this product when it comes to toiletries and cosmetics
in next year’s British Television Awards.
For every five pounds you spend at the Co-op you receive a voucher
enabling local schools to buy computer equipment. An offer particularly
welcome if, like the kids in this commercial, you’re trying to play
baseball with a tomato and french bread, basketball with a melon and
football with a cabbage. A nice, simple idea suitably executed a la
Nike/Adidas.
Having said that, the last time I played football with Dave Waters we
couldn’t have done worse with a cabbage, being the early victims in a
knockout tournament that saw only one victory against the Tape Gallery
Girls.
Talking of bad hair days, in the Hewlett-Packard commercial we see a
barber accidentally trim a strip of hair from the back of a customer’s
head. As the unsuspecting customer has nodded off, he hasn’t yet
realised this. Nor will he, thanks to a young boy adept at Photoshop and
a nearby computer. You can guess the rest.
It’s an old joke, but if you like Sedelmaier you’ll probably like the
film. Personally, I can’t help feeling that somewhere in Photoshop
someone missed the chance to create a new joke.
Leaving the barber’s, what we have for the weekend is the Observer. The
last posters I noticed for a newspaper (and the first for a long while)
was the recent ’under the skin of sport’ series for the Times. The
strong visual idea helped, which is really the problem with the
Observer. You end up having to write lines like Tim Delaney and getting
a bit lost, along with everyone else who’s tried to do the same
thing.
That said, the Lynn Barber execution is a pretty good attempt and was my
favourite ad out of the lot. One last point. Does it really need ’every
Sunday’ next to the Observer logo?
Finally, we have two fairy Godmothers armed with a TV remote that zaps
splodges of paint in the shape of Mickey Mouse’s head. They zap each
other and, in one instance, Jamie Redknapp, before we see the line:
’What’s going on?’ Even knowing it’s for the Disney Channel, I haven’t
got a clue. There is, however, an accompanying phone number which I wish
I had rung before flying to New York where I’m writing this.
What I can tell is that it’s all quite good fun and they were my
girlfriend’s favourite out of this week’s crop. (No, she’s not 12.)
Daft, but noticeable. They’re typical, as opposed to vintage, HHCL.
P.S Could someone tape Gold for me? Mondays 9pm.
The Scott Trust
Project: The Observer
Client: Stephen Palmer, marketing director
Brief: Demonstrate that the Observer is sharp and modern
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather
Writer: Nicola Gill
Art director: Sally Bargman
Typographers: Michael Ong, Steve O’Leary
Exposure: Regional posters
Co-operative Retail Services
Project: Co-operative
Client: David Robey, chief executive, food
Brief: Reposition the Co-Operative as part of the modern retail scene
Agency: Duckworth Finn Grubb Waters
Writers: Tim Brown, Brendan Wilkins (price TV), Brendan Wilkins (sports
equipment)
Art directors: Simon Riley, Paul Hancock (price TV), Paul Hancock
(sports equipment)
Directors: Mark Denton (price TV), Rory Rooney (sports equipment)
Production co: Godman
Exposure: National TV
Hewlett-Packard
Project: HP DeskJet 690C
Client: David Sharpe, macrom programme manager
Brief: Dramatise the benefits of the HP DeskJet 690C
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Writer: Robin Murtough
Art director: Keith Terry
Director: Joe Sedelmaier
Production company: Sedelmaier Productions
Exposure: International TV
British Army/COI
Project: Ethnic minority recruitment campaign
Clients: Colonel Rory Clayton, Colonel Wayne Harber, Major Scottie Adam
Brief: Demonstrate the Army’s commitment to rid itself of racism and
encourage more people from ethnic minorities to consider the Army as a
viable career option
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Writer: Adam Kean
Art director: Alexandra Taylor
Photographer: Alistair Thain Typographer: Tim Quest
Exposure: National press
Elida Faberge
Project: Sure
Client: Andi Schmidlechner, brand manager
Brief: Bring the product closer to the consumer
Agency: Ammirati Puris Lintas
Writer: Laurence Blume
Art director: Fraser Adamson
Director: Fabrice Carazo
Production co: Pink Films
Exposure: National TV
The Walt Disney Corporation
Project: Disney Channel
Client: Mike Spencer, marketing director
Brief: Support the launch of Disney Channel’s new studio and outside
broadcast team
Agency: The HHCL Brasserie
Creative team: Elizabeth Whiston and David Shelton
Directors: Elizabeth Whiston and David Shelton
Production company: The HHCL Brasserie
Exposure: National TV
