Last week I went to see two films in one day. David Bailey’s first
feature, Intruder, a low-budget thriller shot in Canada, and Stanley
Kubrick’s much trumpeted Eyes Wide Shut. One was a flatulent,
pretentious load of twaddle made by a man whose sexual fantasy did not
extend much beyond Playboy, the other a taut, well acted piece of modern
mystery, with good but invisible direction. Both cinemas had a house of
about 20. The difference was that was how many people Bailey had
invited.
I was reminded of this polarity between over-abundance and leanness when
I looked at this week’s crop of ads.
Helicopter shots, foreign locations, innumerable extras and a track by
David Bowie, CGU probably wouldn’t have seen much change out of a budget
the size of Bailey’s. Cartoon Network on the other hand probably got
change out of a fiver.
The finance industry spends more money than any other sector, usually
saying nothing elegantly - and to be accurate CGU has achieved that in
spades. But slide this 60-second extravaganza up against the
parsimoniously spare but ingeniously rich 30-second cartoon spot and you
can’t help but wonder who felt the most job satisfaction.
The Cartoon Network ads rely on the deliciously simple insight that
cartoon is a lot more entertaining and impactful than reality. So
Sylvester crashing into a wall and leaving his shape on it is repeatedly
watchable while real men vs real wall is well ... sad.
The sad thing about the CGU spot is the tenuous use of one of Bowie’s
greatest tracks, Heroes. Who exactly are the heroes we are singing about
here? I heard this track sung at a convention of 3,000 people recovering
from addiction. It was the year Bowie himself cleaned up and to hear
this sung by a vast crowd of heroes who believed in staying clean and
sober ’just for one day’ was unforgettable.
Of course it’s knife-edge stuff, this teetering between spiritual and
schmaltz. One financial institution, the Co-operative Bank, has been
pulling off the balancing act for a few years now. But the new
commercials?
You can’t fault the idea. A studenty looking girl tells us she’s wearing
a chain ’to make a statement’ against third world debt. Without lashing
out money on lavish production, this black-and -white ad works well
until the tattooist putting the chain into her navel says ’This may hurt
a bit’ and she replies ’Not as much as the debt is hurting them.’ Oh no.
Stop.
Halt. Refrain. Desist. Why blow a nicely acted bit of film with such a
clunkingly ill-chosen line? I’m not being smart or over-critical, it
just rankled.
And finally on TV, wait for it ... ching! yes another bit of financial
advertising.
This time Mastercard. Nobody ever got fired for making a nice commercial
about a nice mum and her two nice children, unfortunately nobody ever
got fired up by it either. (Now I think I am being a touch unfair; I
just wrote that last bit to give the editor a slick line for the picture
caption.) Here’s the fairer version. A neat little observation, warmly
told, about how money can’t buy the experience of being freed from
mumdom for a night on the town. (So let’s see which one the editor
chooses.)
Press on to press and the first campaign for Brook Street since Paul
Arden and I did the ’sloppy girl’ vs Brook Street girl ads in the 80s
and boy, have times changed. As one tube card says, ’The job for life is
dead’ and ’The 9-5 job has been replaced by 5-9 jobs in a lifetime’.
I like ’em. Punchy layouts, snappy copy and an irreverent tone. A good
job from Brook Street.
If there were a company that made vegetable sauces called ’The
Interesting Art Direction and Witty Line Company’ I would be now
complimenting the Five Brothers’ ads on their excellent branding.
Unfortunately (or fortunately), the company is called Five Brothers.
Call me old fashioned, but I’d make a bit more of that.
CO-OPERATIVE BANK
Project: Film for Christian Aid supporting the cancellation
of third world debt which Co-operative Bank supports
Clients: Jack Middleton, customer communications manager, Co-op Bank,
Kate Phillips, external relations director, Christian Aid
Brief: Get people to wear the ’debt chain’ showing they want third world
debt cancelled
Agency: Partners BDDH
Writer: Derek Day
Art director: Simon Green
Director: Simon Green
Production company: Rose Hackney Barber
Exposure: Cinemas in London and Manchester
CARTOON NETWORK
Project: Cartoon Network
Client: James Greville, creative director
Brief: It’s better in cartoon
Agency: Wieden & Kennedy
Writer: Tony Barry
Art director: Anthony Sperduti
Director: Ringan Ledwidge
Production company: The End
Exposure: ITV, Channel 5, national cinema
VAN DEN BERGH FOODS
Project: Five Brothers launch
Clients: Martin Milewski, senior brand manager, Roland Palmer, brand
manager
Brief: Tastes so good you’d think it was homemade
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather
Writers: Roland Hafenricher, John McLaughlin
Art directors: Nils Andersson, Mark Orbine
Photographer: Tessa Traegar
Exposure: Women’s press and weekend supplements
MASTERCARD
Project: Mastercard
Client: Rita Broe, head of marketing
Brief: Raise brand awareness and increase usage
Agency: McCann-Erickson
Writer: Mike Court
Art director: Nick Scott
Director: Sandra Goldbacher
Production company: Spectre
Exposure: National TV and cinema
CGU
Project: CGU brand launch
Clients: Graham Berville, development director, CGU Life, Nick Hall,
director of strategic and product marketing, CGU Insurance
Brief: Develop brand-building advertising to encompass all aspects of
CGU’s business
Agency: McCann-Erickson London
Writer: Jerry Green
Art director: Roger Akerman
Director: Stuart Douglas
Production company: Four Hundred Films
Exposure: National TV
Manpower
Project: Brook Street
Client: Mark Cahill, managing director
Brief: Position Brook Street as the employment experts
Agency: Team Saatchi
Writer: Graham Pugh
Art director: Chris Walker
Typographer: Chris Walker
Photographer: Ian Bilbey
Exposure: Tube cards and cross-tracks on London Underground, shop
windows nationally
