Allen Thomas peruses some of the latest TV ads from Europe and concludes
that creative work from the Continent has come a long way in a short
time
We may well have opened our borders in Europe but we have yet to open
our minds; there is still a popular misconception in this country that
good advertising ideas, not unlike the M2, run out at the white cliffs
of Dover.
This view persists despite ample evidence to the contrary, perhaps most
notably from Holland. No doubt the Portillos (pronounced ‘Porteeyo’ in
its native Spanish) of our industry put this down to the fact that the
Dutch, after all, are only just on the other side of the North Sea; that
most of them speak English; and that they even look like real English
people, albeit those that have been out in a strong wind.
Unfortunately, this collection of recent commercials from around Europe
will not be enough to dispel these views. It contains, however, two or
three gems.
The first, from Hungary, is for a toilet tissue called Crepto (1) - a
brand name a type away from immortality. A roll is hurled from the roof
of an apartment block. The tenants on each floor come on to their
balconies to see the paper hanging from the top of the building,
stretching down into the street. Each takes enough Crepto to suit their
own purposes. The commercial is cut to music from La Traviata and is a
charming demonstration of the length of the product.
The Dutch commercial has an idea in it too; a small boy sits at the head
of an empty table, singing Happy Birthday to me. He’s invited nobody to
his party so that he can eat all the Fruitvriendjes (6) ice-cream
himself. Unfortunately, the boy and the ad don’t have quite the
requisite charm to carry off this gluttonous plot.
The Italian job was for Findus Instant Grilled Vegetables (2). An ironic
mvo tells us that Italy is the land that time forgot and is the country
where women are born to cook. We see a young woman who looks as if
cooking is the last thing she’s interested in. In fact, it’s all very
interesting until that difficult - but not unimportant - moment when the
product has to come in, at which point it becomes somewhat less
interesting.
The Spanish commercial avoided this arduous problem by not showing any
product at all; a man calls a sex line and tells the anonymous female
lips that he’s called Juan. She asks him what he’s wearing. His panting
voice tells her he’s sporting a polyester shirt, a baggy pullover, etc.
Her end of the line goes dead. A voice tells us that ‘when first
impressions count, you should choose clothes from Bulevard Rosa’ (5). A
witty film with an unexpected ending.
The Swedish film is a corporate commercial for Pharmacia (4); like many
corporate ads, you can’t help feeling that, beautiful though it is, its
greatest effect will be on the advertiser, rather than its audience.
The UK Sony (3) commercial is a genuinely exhilarating experience. A man
plummets to earth in an armchair, in order to demonstrate the vivid
reality of Sony’s new Trinitron widescreen TVs. This superbly crafted
commercial was the pick of the bunch for me, followed by the commercials
from Hungary and Spain.
It’s worth remembering that commercial TV has existed in this country
since 1955. Hungary has had it only since 1991. There may still be fog
in the Channel but could it be that the Continent is no longer cut off?
Allen Thomas is the worldwide creative director of J. Walter Thompson
1 Piszkei Papir Rt
Project: Crepto toilet paper
Brief: Generate more sales
Agency: Young and Rubicam, Hungary
Writer: Gyorgy Balogh
Art director: Tamas Nemeth
Director: Ivan Mark
Production company: Production International
Exposure: TV
2 Sagit
Project: Contorno Mediterraneo Findus
Brief: Illustrate the authentic Italian taste of Findus meals
Agency: Lintas Milano
Writer: Mauro Biagini
Art director: Alessio Ferlizza
Director: Cinzia Del Ragno
Production company: Recta Film
Exposure: TV
3 Sony
Project: Sony Trinitron widescreen TV
Brief: Show the benefits of the Sony Trinitron
Agency: BMP DDB Needham
Writer: Mike Boles
Art director: Jerry Hollens
Director: Daniel Barber
Production company: Rose Hackney Barber
Exposure: TV, most of Europe
4 Pharmacia
Project: Pharmacia
Brief: Raise the company’s corporate profile across Europe
Agency: Welinder Reklambyra/Bozell Worldwide
Writer: Scott Goodson
Art director: Jan Ragnartz
Director: Martha Fiennes
Production company: Smith Jones Brown and Cassie
Exposure: TV, pan-European
5 Bulevard Rosa
Project: Bulevard Rosa centre
Brief: Encourage customers to shop at Bulevard Rosa
Agency: Delvico Bates Barcelona
Writer: Julio Wallovits
Art director: David Caballero
Director: Richard Albinana Jr
Production company: Albinana Films
Exposure: TV
6 Nestle
Project: Nestle Fruitvriendjes
Brief: Launch new ice-cream
Agency: Lowe Kuiper and Schouten
Writer: Pim Kok
Art director: Richard Kuiper
Director: Hans van Rijs
Production company: Ocean View
Exposure: Dutch TV
