In 1917 my grandfather spent a year in prison. Eighty years ago
this month, he and his fellow conscientious objectors were rounded up
and made to dig holes in the ground on the Isle of Wight. It hadn’t been
necessary to arrest him until then because, amazingly, for the first
three years of the First World War there was no conscription. Enough
young men volunteered for near certain death in the trenches of Flanders
to keep the whole process rolling along nicely.
When very few of them returned, volunteers were harder to find and
compulsory service was introduced. Which made people who were, like my
grandfather, unwilling to slaughter and be slaughtered, rather more
conspicuous.
I mention this firstly because I’m writing this on Remembrance
Sunday.
But secondly because I have something to say about the difference
between volunteers and conscripts.
When I started reviewing work for Campaign five years ago, the ads I was
sent had been volunteered. The agencies responsible had actively
submitted them to be reviewed, so it was often easy to find something
nice to say about them. Campaign has since introduced conscription. Even
if you don’t send in your work, it can still end up in the parcel that
Campaign lobs out of the trenches. This week, my guess is I have many
more conscripts than volunteers.
Banks Hoggins O’Shea is a fine agency with many campaigns to be proud
of. Bombay Sapphire is surely not one of them. The posters suggest this
drink will turn your eyes a startling shade of blue (rather than the
traditional red favoured by other alcoholic drinks). All four posters
carry the same enigmatic headline (if you want to know what it is, look
right - I don’t think it bears writing down a third time). True, the ads
communicate the product’s point of difference clearly and they are well
assembled. But I’m sure the team responsible was happy enough to let the
ads get on with being hard working and worthy rather than seeking out
particular praise.
These ads are farm boys, not fighting men. Shouldn’t they be left at
home in peace?
I happen to know that the team responsible for the Big Issue TV
commercials has, in the recent past, written reams of press ads with
sensational headlines.
(I’ve been looking at a lot of D&ADs recently because, for the first
time in nearly three years, a team has resigned from AMV and I have the
chance to go shopping.) Any of those ads would entertain you, challenge
you, make you want to buy things. I’d really, really like to be
reviewing them.
Instead, I get to snipe wearily at these impenetrable ten-seconders. On
the positive side, these ads are imaginative and original, feature
people with big sticky-on heads and are extremely cheap to make
(important when your clients are homeless). On the down side, I watched
them three times without understanding them. Which is a bit of a
drawback in an ad.
The Microsoft ad is a very nice 30-second commercial about Santa being
made redundant by computer software that fulfils people’s outlandish
Christmas wishes. Unfortunately, it’s three minutes long - or rather
two-and-a-half minutes too long.
The Campbell’s Meatballs commercials come out of Saatchis, the agency
that does all that phenomenal work for today’s Army. I can see why they
have produced this sweet but rather tangential exercise in box
cutting.
I just can’t see them biking it over to Campaign. Another conscript.
Finally, a couple of volunteers. A clean-looking Speedo campaign from
Grey, neatly fitting the brief and stylish enough to be worn
outdoors.
And Guinness Kilkenny is sexy, Irish, single-minded and thirst
inducing.
Gerry Moira is rightly proud and experienced enough in the ways of this
column to know when to post a U-matic.
I love to praise and hate to criticise. So I think in future, when it
comes to writing Private View, I’ll be a conscientious objector.
IDV
Project: Bombay Sapphire
Client: Mark Ody, international marketing manager
Brief: Position the brand as the ultimate white spirit
Agency: Banks Hoggins O’Shea
Writer: Chris O’Shea
Art director: Ken Hoggins
Photographer: Malcolm Venville
Typographer: Martin Crockatt
Exposure: Airports worldwide
Speedo
Project: Underwear
Client: Clare Parker, marketing manager
Brief: Show that Speedo is underwear for active people
Agency: Grey
Writers: Kay Truelove, Mike Keane
Art directors: Kay Truelove, Mike Keane
Photographer: Andreas Heumann
Typographer: Jasuir Garcha
Exposure: National six-sheet posters
The Big Issue
Project: The Big Issue
Client: John Bird, founder, the Big Issue
Brief: If you’re bored, get the Big Issue for a list of the best things
to do in the city.
Agency: BDDP GGT
Writer: Jim Thornton
Art director: Christine Jones
Director: Jean Pierre Khazem
Production company: All Films
Exposure: Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky, cinema
Microsoft
Project: Home Software
Client: Neil Thompson, customer communications group manager
Brief: Achieve the seemingly impossible with Microsoft
Agency: Euro RSCG Wnek Gosper
Writer: David Jennings
Art director: Dexter Ginn
Director: David Hartley
Production company: Brave Films
Exposure: Shown once on Channel 4 on 2 November
Guinness Brewing GB
Project: Kilkenny
Client: Julian Spooner, marketing director
Brief: Communicate Kilkenny’s core brand values and show its uniqueness
Agency: Publicis
Writer: Paul Quarry
Art director: Jamie Colonna
Director: Michael Haussman
Production company: Serious Pictures
Exposure: National TV
Campbell’s Grocery Products
Project: Campbell’s Meatballs
Client: Stephan Czarnowski, marketing manager
Brief: Campbell’s Meatballs are a great choice for children
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Writer: Joel Bradley
Art director: Phil Clarke
Director: Pete Lewtas
Production company: James Garrett & Partners
Exposure: National TV, cable and satellite
