Working on this campaign has been one of the most fun projects I’ve done in college. I don’t usually work in a group, but I like doing it, especially on a creative and multi-faceted project like this one. There were so many ideas that my partners had that just never would have occurred to me. I believe that every facet of our campaign turned out extremely well, especially the social and viral aspects, and that in a real-world ad campaign these strategies would work. I almost want to email our campaign to Nike – as in, I feel like we’ve accomplished something good enough for actual use by a client. Of course, this is my first advertising project, so maybe that’s how the first one feels for everyone. In any case I’m very proud of the work we’ve done here and I think it turned out to be a well-thought-out and well-executed campaign.
However, I was not at all thrilled about this project at first: creating an advertising campaign for a new Nike toning shoe, which is basically a reversal of Nike’s product philosophy. I agree with Nike’s former stance – that toning shoes are a cop-out and a joke. Personally, I would never in a million years buy a pair of Sketchers Shape-Ups or even a pair of Nike Bolds, our fictional line of toning shoes. Women don’t need to be encouraged to walk around their block in a pair of magic shoes if they’re trying to get in shape. I agree with Nike in that being healthy takes a whole lot of effort, and being athletic takes that much effort times ten. Toning shoes are for people who want to take shortcuts to fitness, which is to say, people who don’t really want to be fit. They’re for people who want to look thin rather than people who care about their health. So, unsurprisingly, I hated the idea of selling this product.
Our initial idea was to market the shoes as a first step towards better fitness, which is basically the idea we stuck with, although we did tweak it a little bit. As we were sitting in class on the day we received the assignment, my first thought was to make a TV spot that featured a woman getting in shape because she took the first step of buying the shoes. The idea was to show a frumpy and out-of-shape woman picking up a pair of toners and trying them on, and then following with a montage of her beginning to do lots of other health-conscious things – like cooking vegetables, drinking more water, taking the stairs, and eventually doing pilates, hiking, running, etc. By the end shot she would be fit and healthy and happy. Once we got to work in the group, though, this idea was somewhat moderated to include the idea of confidence and being happy with yourself regardless of looks. I’m all about that idea, but it was a bit of a struggle for me – though I didn’t speak up about it – because to me, confidence and health are two separate spheres. If I go for a run it’s not because I want to be prettier, but because I want my body to feel better. Fitness ought to be about doing what’s best for you rather than getting your self-worth from being thin. Essentially, this is the idea that we tried to incorporate into our brand positioning. Taking small steps, like wearing a toning shoe as you’re out and about doing your daily activities, can lead to greater awareness of your overall health and fitness. At least that’s the notion we’re trying to pitch. In reality, I don’t think a toning shoe helps anyone get fit, because it makes it seem like fitness is supposed to be easy.
The work we did is convincing, though. Our various consumer interaction strategies, like the website, app and launch event, are things that I think would draw customers. We wanted everything we did to have a very feel-good message, kind of like Dove’s “real beauty” campaign from a few years ago. We wanted this shoe to be a gateway rather than a shortcut. I think our campaign achieves at least the illusion that buying a Nike Bold shoe really is a first step towards getting healthy. It’s just the sort of things people, especially women, like to hear: you’re beautiful the way you are, Rome wasn’t built in a day, health can be fun, etc. Whether or not I stand behind the product, I certainly do stand behind our work, and I’m glad to have been a part of it.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Commercial Critique #5 – Balloons
MTV Brazil - Balloons
This commercial is just good plain fun. I’m a big fan of stop-motion animation, and while this isn’t quite the same technique, it’s similar. Can you imagine how much time it took to create and orchestrate the drawings on each of those balloons? I mean, there have to be hundreds of them. And each image flows perfectly into the next. This is my fascination with stop-motion; I just can’t wrap my head around making so many little pieces fit together so well.
The music here is fun too, but kind of annoying at the same time, which I’d say is a pretty good summary of MTV as a whole. The whole idea for this ad smacks of youthfulness – the song is a classic remade into something slightly aggravating, the balloons are an obvious nod to childhood, and even the drawings are unsophisticated and childlike. These juvenile elements are precisely what make the ad so simple and fun. It’s the sort of thing a kid would come up with – a flip book made on balloons you have to pop. The shot where they show the popping mechanism is a smart idea, too, because up until that point you’re not entirely sure what’s happening to the balloons, and everything just seems kind of messy.
The drawings do a good job of illustrating “The Music Never Stops,” as well. Each musician gives way or gives birth to some new musician, and the balloons just keep popping, and it seems like the story will progress until infinity. It’s pretty impressive to communicate the idea of infinity using just four different camera angles. Also, can you imagine how easy it would have been for this whole project to go wrong? If the machine screwed up at all there would have been so much work lost. I suppose that’s the price you pay when filming something as simple as this – it’s only simple if you don’t mess it up. This ad makes me smile and it gets its message across without any frills.
This commercial is just good plain fun. I’m a big fan of stop-motion animation, and while this isn’t quite the same technique, it’s similar. Can you imagine how much time it took to create and orchestrate the drawings on each of those balloons? I mean, there have to be hundreds of them. And each image flows perfectly into the next. This is my fascination with stop-motion; I just can’t wrap my head around making so many little pieces fit together so well.
The music here is fun too, but kind of annoying at the same time, which I’d say is a pretty good summary of MTV as a whole. The whole idea for this ad smacks of youthfulness – the song is a classic remade into something slightly aggravating, the balloons are an obvious nod to childhood, and even the drawings are unsophisticated and childlike. These juvenile elements are precisely what make the ad so simple and fun. It’s the sort of thing a kid would come up with – a flip book made on balloons you have to pop. The shot where they show the popping mechanism is a smart idea, too, because up until that point you’re not entirely sure what’s happening to the balloons, and everything just seems kind of messy.
The drawings do a good job of illustrating “The Music Never Stops,” as well. Each musician gives way or gives birth to some new musician, and the balloons just keep popping, and it seems like the story will progress until infinity. It’s pretty impressive to communicate the idea of infinity using just four different camera angles. Also, can you imagine how easy it would have been for this whole project to go wrong? If the machine screwed up at all there would have been so much work lost. I suppose that’s the price you pay when filming something as simple as this – it’s only simple if you don’t mess it up. This ad makes me smile and it gets its message across without any frills.
Commercial Critique #4 – The Entrance
Heineken - The Entrance
A couple weeks ago a few of my friends and I were sitting around at my house watching YouTube videos and talking about new music we’d found. Eventually my friend Michael grabs the computer and says, “Oh you’ve got to check out this band The Asteroids Galaxy Tour – I heard them on some dumb Heineken commercial but they’re really good!” I think this anecdote pretty much sums up the way this ad works. The music is what makes it so lasting, without a doubt, because it’s so catchy and distinctive. In fact, almost all of the comments on YouTube about this video consist of “Great song, what’s it called?” rather than “I love Heineken! What a cool guy!”
The main character is a cool guy though, so I want to shift the focus on to him for a little while. When I first saw this I was reminded of Dos Equis’ The Most Interesting Man in the World campaign (this one is the best), which is a brand I don’t care for very much. Their whole concept for this guy was, obviously, based on the Chuck Norris meme, which is another thing I’m not a huge fan of. Sometimes the one-liners coming out of these two viral trends (is that the right phrase?) are pretty solid, but many turn stale quickly. It’s as if the people Dos Equis is marketing to are supposed to see themselves in the Most Interesting Man. This is a weird strategy, though, because the humor of that campaign lies in the improbability of this man. Both him and Chuck Norris are just fictional characters about which countless jokes can be made. Yet somehow there are still hundreds of people who absolutely love the Most Interesting Man campaign and see it as a cool thing rather than a comic thing. Maybe I’m getting this all wrong, but I do think that the Dos Equis campaign is based around how ridiculous these commercials are, not necessarily how cool the man is.
The Heineken guy in this commercial is another story. He’s relatable, because everyone knows how it is to walk into a party and greet a million people before you grab your first beer. Yet relating to him makes you feel like you are the type of person who attends parties like the one he’s at, which is a good feeling for any consumer. He gives the impression of being liked by everyone – handing the eye-patch guy his eyeball back, feigning battles with two false enemies, playing with the band. The whole commercial just feels like a lot of swanky fun. It seems like a story Esquire would tell, except for the fact that this particular scenario does contain a few clichés. Plus, the song is great. No dialogue is necessary because the song and the characters tell their own story, and it’s a story anyone would want to be a part of.
A couple weeks ago a few of my friends and I were sitting around at my house watching YouTube videos and talking about new music we’d found. Eventually my friend Michael grabs the computer and says, “Oh you’ve got to check out this band The Asteroids Galaxy Tour – I heard them on some dumb Heineken commercial but they’re really good!” I think this anecdote pretty much sums up the way this ad works. The music is what makes it so lasting, without a doubt, because it’s so catchy and distinctive. In fact, almost all of the comments on YouTube about this video consist of “Great song, what’s it called?” rather than “I love Heineken! What a cool guy!”
The main character is a cool guy though, so I want to shift the focus on to him for a little while. When I first saw this I was reminded of Dos Equis’ The Most Interesting Man in the World campaign (this one is the best), which is a brand I don’t care for very much. Their whole concept for this guy was, obviously, based on the Chuck Norris meme, which is another thing I’m not a huge fan of. Sometimes the one-liners coming out of these two viral trends (is that the right phrase?) are pretty solid, but many turn stale quickly. It’s as if the people Dos Equis is marketing to are supposed to see themselves in the Most Interesting Man. This is a weird strategy, though, because the humor of that campaign lies in the improbability of this man. Both him and Chuck Norris are just fictional characters about which countless jokes can be made. Yet somehow there are still hundreds of people who absolutely love the Most Interesting Man campaign and see it as a cool thing rather than a comic thing. Maybe I’m getting this all wrong, but I do think that the Dos Equis campaign is based around how ridiculous these commercials are, not necessarily how cool the man is.
The Heineken guy in this commercial is another story. He’s relatable, because everyone knows how it is to walk into a party and greet a million people before you grab your first beer. Yet relating to him makes you feel like you are the type of person who attends parties like the one he’s at, which is a good feeling for any consumer. He gives the impression of being liked by everyone – handing the eye-patch guy his eyeball back, feigning battles with two false enemies, playing with the band. The whole commercial just feels like a lot of swanky fun. It seems like a story Esquire would tell, except for the fact that this particular scenario does contain a few clichés. Plus, the song is great. No dialogue is necessary because the song and the characters tell their own story, and it’s a story anyone would want to be a part of.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Commercial Critique #3 – After Hours Athlete
Puma - After Hours Athlete
As much as I railed on ads that try and make you all weepy over some dumb product in my first commercial critique, this commercial really did make me all weepy over tennis shoes. I can’t tell if I like this commercial or not, but it certainly affected me. The first time I saw it on the big screen at the festival I had tears in my eyes. It makes you feel nostalgic. It’s so easy to just imagine you and your friends together, doing all the dumb things friends do in each other’s company, playing bad rounds of pool on a Saturday night in downtown Athens. I don’t usually go for that aesthetic but something about this ad makes it seem so meaningful to me.
Actually, as I’m sitting here writing this, it occurred to me that the something that makes this ad seem nostalgic is the music. Those strings laced into the deep-voiced poetry make you feel so sad, while you’re watching images of happiness flash across the screen. It’s that dichotomy between feeling sad and seeing happy that makes you nostalgic, because it’s just like the process of memory. You remember things that you can no longer experience with the sorrow of losing that experience. I have no idea what this commercial has to do with any Puma product and I can’t say I’m any more inclined to buy their stuff after having watched it. But I do get goosebumps every time I see it.
Relating to the characters in this commercial makes you feel as if you’re a character in a film. The story they’re telling is just the average story of any group of friends who go out and have a good time, yet something about the way the script is crafted makes the whole scenario seem epic. The writing for this ad won awards at Cannes as well, along with the sound. The viewers’ ability to fuse their own life story into the story that’s being told makes it seem like a story worth hearing. And this ability comes from the fact that there’s such a multitude of scenes and characters being introduced here. Every few seconds we’re glimpsing another image, perhaps one we can relate to more than the previous ones. These images glide in and out of each other – we see minor triumphs and fails in these various groups of people, and we come to know them in a very short amount of time.
This commercial is good because it’s more like a movie trailer than a traditional ad. You enjoy watching it, you’re moved emotionally, you identify with the characters. But the bottom line is that these characters are just trying to make you want to buy Puma sneakers. This isn’t a trailer; the story ends at the end of the commercial. Luckily it’s a story we all identify with, so we can feel as if we’ll continue the story after we buy our own Pumas to wear. This is the part that gets me though; if that was the strategy they were going for, it didn’t work, at least not on me. I don’t relate Pumas to making awesome memories with my friends or staying up all night wandering the city. From a creative standpoint, this film is great; from a sales standpoint, not so much. In any case, that’s definitely a pretty weepy score.
As much as I railed on ads that try and make you all weepy over some dumb product in my first commercial critique, this commercial really did make me all weepy over tennis shoes. I can’t tell if I like this commercial or not, but it certainly affected me. The first time I saw it on the big screen at the festival I had tears in my eyes. It makes you feel nostalgic. It’s so easy to just imagine you and your friends together, doing all the dumb things friends do in each other’s company, playing bad rounds of pool on a Saturday night in downtown Athens. I don’t usually go for that aesthetic but something about this ad makes it seem so meaningful to me.
Actually, as I’m sitting here writing this, it occurred to me that the something that makes this ad seem nostalgic is the music. Those strings laced into the deep-voiced poetry make you feel so sad, while you’re watching images of happiness flash across the screen. It’s that dichotomy between feeling sad and seeing happy that makes you nostalgic, because it’s just like the process of memory. You remember things that you can no longer experience with the sorrow of losing that experience. I have no idea what this commercial has to do with any Puma product and I can’t say I’m any more inclined to buy their stuff after having watched it. But I do get goosebumps every time I see it.
Relating to the characters in this commercial makes you feel as if you’re a character in a film. The story they’re telling is just the average story of any group of friends who go out and have a good time, yet something about the way the script is crafted makes the whole scenario seem epic. The writing for this ad won awards at Cannes as well, along with the sound. The viewers’ ability to fuse their own life story into the story that’s being told makes it seem like a story worth hearing. And this ability comes from the fact that there’s such a multitude of scenes and characters being introduced here. Every few seconds we’re glimpsing another image, perhaps one we can relate to more than the previous ones. These images glide in and out of each other – we see minor triumphs and fails in these various groups of people, and we come to know them in a very short amount of time.
This commercial is good because it’s more like a movie trailer than a traditional ad. You enjoy watching it, you’re moved emotionally, you identify with the characters. But the bottom line is that these characters are just trying to make you want to buy Puma sneakers. This isn’t a trailer; the story ends at the end of the commercial. Luckily it’s a story we all identify with, so we can feel as if we’ll continue the story after we buy our own Pumas to wear. This is the part that gets me though; if that was the strategy they were going for, it didn’t work, at least not on me. I don’t relate Pumas to making awesome memories with my friends or staying up all night wandering the city. From a creative standpoint, this film is great; from a sales standpoint, not so much. In any case, that’s definitely a pretty weepy score.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Commercial Critique #2 - The Force
Volkswagen - The Force
I loved this ad when it first came out. At the festival they talked about it being a great example of viral advertising, and that’s exactly how it reached me. A friend of mine emailed it to me before I ever saw it on TV and I got a big kick out of it at the time. I love Star Wars so critiquing this ad was kind of a no-brainer for me. What I really like about this ad is how it blends several humanistic elements so well. It’s an argument for believing in magic. Well, let me moderate that statement – it’s an argument for why you should buy a new Passat, but it manages to make you feel so hopeful. This kid’s dejection and exasperation is familiar to anyone who’s ever been a kid. It reminded me of this trick my parents used to play on me when I was little: when they’d see the crosswalk light change from Don’t Walk to Walk, they’d tell me to ask the red light to turn green, and as soon as I asked, the light would turn. For years I genuinely thought I was the master of the traffic lights. This commercial is great because you can just imagine how excited the kid is to think he’s mastered the Force.
Another thing I love about this ad is the way the parents behave. When I first watched it I remember thinking, “Wow, what good parents.” You’re touched by the knowing eyebrow-raise the dad gives as he hits the start button. These are clearly two people dedicated to letting their kids have dreams, and you admire them for it. Volkswagen is really good at making their drivers seem like cool people. Another example of this is the Jetta campaign from a few years ago where all the ads were about the way people stereotype Jetta drivers. I drive a Jetta now and those ads always make me feel proud to drive my car – like I’m part of the cool club. That’s exactly how Volkswagen wants me to feel. They’re a lot like Apple, in that even though I know they’re just pulling advertising tricks on me, the tricks work. I love my Volkswagen even though stuff breaks in it all the time and I’m a loyal Apple customer, in part because their ads have always stuck with me so well.
This commercial does a good job highlighting the car itself in subtle ways, too. That shot where you’re looking outside at the kid from the inside of the car shows off the dashboard wonderfully, but it seems natural because it transitions into that shot in the same way all the different scenes have been transitioning into each other. We don’t even notice that this particular change of viewpoint is showing us the car’s interior. Also, the commercial does a really great job mimicking Star Wars itself. The scene where the kid is walking down the hallway with his Vader cloak whipping around his heels is dead-on. Overall this is just great advertising: it’s funny, intelligent and cute. And it doesn’t hurt to play on such a huge cultural phenomenon like Star Wars – that’s exactly what makes a viral video go viral.
I loved this ad when it first came out. At the festival they talked about it being a great example of viral advertising, and that’s exactly how it reached me. A friend of mine emailed it to me before I ever saw it on TV and I got a big kick out of it at the time. I love Star Wars so critiquing this ad was kind of a no-brainer for me. What I really like about this ad is how it blends several humanistic elements so well. It’s an argument for believing in magic. Well, let me moderate that statement – it’s an argument for why you should buy a new Passat, but it manages to make you feel so hopeful. This kid’s dejection and exasperation is familiar to anyone who’s ever been a kid. It reminded me of this trick my parents used to play on me when I was little: when they’d see the crosswalk light change from Don’t Walk to Walk, they’d tell me to ask the red light to turn green, and as soon as I asked, the light would turn. For years I genuinely thought I was the master of the traffic lights. This commercial is great because you can just imagine how excited the kid is to think he’s mastered the Force.
Another thing I love about this ad is the way the parents behave. When I first watched it I remember thinking, “Wow, what good parents.” You’re touched by the knowing eyebrow-raise the dad gives as he hits the start button. These are clearly two people dedicated to letting their kids have dreams, and you admire them for it. Volkswagen is really good at making their drivers seem like cool people. Another example of this is the Jetta campaign from a few years ago where all the ads were about the way people stereotype Jetta drivers. I drive a Jetta now and those ads always make me feel proud to drive my car – like I’m part of the cool club. That’s exactly how Volkswagen wants me to feel. They’re a lot like Apple, in that even though I know they’re just pulling advertising tricks on me, the tricks work. I love my Volkswagen even though stuff breaks in it all the time and I’m a loyal Apple customer, in part because their ads have always stuck with me so well.
This commercial does a good job highlighting the car itself in subtle ways, too. That shot where you’re looking outside at the kid from the inside of the car shows off the dashboard wonderfully, but it seems natural because it transitions into that shot in the same way all the different scenes have been transitioning into each other. We don’t even notice that this particular change of viewpoint is showing us the car’s interior. Also, the commercial does a really great job mimicking Star Wars itself. The scene where the kid is walking down the hallway with his Vader cloak whipping around his heels is dead-on. Overall this is just great advertising: it’s funny, intelligent and cute. And it doesn’t hurt to play on such a huge cultural phenomenon like Star Wars – that’s exactly what makes a viral video go viral.
Commercial Critique #1 - Slow Motion
Carlton Draught - Slow Mo
This commercial is brilliant in so many ways, chief among them being the fact that it totally pokes fun at the way so many commercials try to tug on your heartstrings. If you weren’t paying attention and just kind of heard this playing in the background, you’d think it was some stupid perfume commercial. It sounds like it’s trying to make you cry. But the ad itself is hilarious. The whole idea of things looking better in slow motion and words sounding better if they’re in opera form are classic advertising tricks. I’m always so embarrassed by the number of ads that make me get all teary-eyed, because they’re always ads for stupid things like cars or jeans. Of course, those ASPCA ads are pretty effective too, but I feel a lot worse crying over a Hallmark commercial than I do crying over abused animals.
The hilarity of this commercial is chiefly in its timing, though. Example: when they guy’s finger gets hit with the pool ball and his shout coincides perfectly with the swell in the song. It fits perfectly and is awesome. Also, the whole premise of men looking better in slow motion is a pretty good one. Imagine if this commercial were in full speed. It’d be exactly the chaos, messiness and vulgarity of your typical sports bar – it wouldn’t be funny at all, it’d just be gross. The slow motion highlights the beer itself really well, too. Notice all the shots of the beer sloshing around in its glass, or bubbles rising up from the bottom of the pint glass. It makes the beer look genuinely elegant, but the commercial’s premise respects the consumer’s intelligence. They know that we know beer really isn’t elegant and they’re laughing along with us. I really like ads that don’t patronize the consumer, and I think this is a great example of one. Trying to sell to me by appealing to my baser instincts (read: basically all women’s products) or making me feel like I would be a happier person if I just had this product in my life usually just annoys me. We’ve all been so inundated with ads throughout our lifetimes, my generation especially, that it’s not hard to spot an advertiser trying to make us feel something false. This ad acknowledges that its product is not going to make you happier – it’s just beer and when you drink it you’re just going to be doing all the gross stuff people do at bars. But it does a great job mimicking those ads that talk down to you and make you get emotional over some silly brand. It reminded me of that great lamp ad Ikea did a few years ago, which is another favorite of mine.
More than anything, though, I wanted to critique this ad because I laughed so hard at it. None of these shots hold back at all, and some of them are completely disgusting. I don’t know the last time I saw such a realistic ad, and they only get away with it by making it in with such an unrealistic tone. Paying attention to the lyrics of the song makes it about a thousand times funnier, too, like at the end when he is seriously just singing “blah blah blah slow motion.” The whole ad is so ridiculous and so effective. I would drink a Carlton just as a thank you to their company for making such a clever commercial. Definitely one of the best ads I’ve seen here.
This commercial is brilliant in so many ways, chief among them being the fact that it totally pokes fun at the way so many commercials try to tug on your heartstrings. If you weren’t paying attention and just kind of heard this playing in the background, you’d think it was some stupid perfume commercial. It sounds like it’s trying to make you cry. But the ad itself is hilarious. The whole idea of things looking better in slow motion and words sounding better if they’re in opera form are classic advertising tricks. I’m always so embarrassed by the number of ads that make me get all teary-eyed, because they’re always ads for stupid things like cars or jeans. Of course, those ASPCA ads are pretty effective too, but I feel a lot worse crying over a Hallmark commercial than I do crying over abused animals.
The hilarity of this commercial is chiefly in its timing, though. Example: when they guy’s finger gets hit with the pool ball and his shout coincides perfectly with the swell in the song. It fits perfectly and is awesome. Also, the whole premise of men looking better in slow motion is a pretty good one. Imagine if this commercial were in full speed. It’d be exactly the chaos, messiness and vulgarity of your typical sports bar – it wouldn’t be funny at all, it’d just be gross. The slow motion highlights the beer itself really well, too. Notice all the shots of the beer sloshing around in its glass, or bubbles rising up from the bottom of the pint glass. It makes the beer look genuinely elegant, but the commercial’s premise respects the consumer’s intelligence. They know that we know beer really isn’t elegant and they’re laughing along with us. I really like ads that don’t patronize the consumer, and I think this is a great example of one. Trying to sell to me by appealing to my baser instincts (read: basically all women’s products) or making me feel like I would be a happier person if I just had this product in my life usually just annoys me. We’ve all been so inundated with ads throughout our lifetimes, my generation especially, that it’s not hard to spot an advertiser trying to make us feel something false. This ad acknowledges that its product is not going to make you happier – it’s just beer and when you drink it you’re just going to be doing all the gross stuff people do at bars. But it does a great job mimicking those ads that talk down to you and make you get emotional over some silly brand. It reminded me of that great lamp ad Ikea did a few years ago, which is another favorite of mine.
More than anything, though, I wanted to critique this ad because I laughed so hard at it. None of these shots hold back at all, and some of them are completely disgusting. I don’t know the last time I saw such a realistic ad, and they only get away with it by making it in with such an unrealistic tone. Paying attention to the lyrics of the song makes it about a thousand times funnier, too, like at the end when he is seriously just singing “blah blah blah slow motion.” The whole ad is so ridiculous and so effective. I would drink a Carlton just as a thank you to their company for making such a clever commercial. Definitely one of the best ads I’ve seen here.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
This Is The End, Beautiful Friend
Well, the festival is now officially over. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved. As much fun as it’s been and as much as I’ve learned, this week wore me out. I didn’t attend any seminars today, as planned. From what I’ve heard I didn’t miss much. The awards show tonight was spectacular, though. The four big categories being awarded tonight were film craft, film, integrated and titanium, along with awards for agency of the year, holding company of the year, etc. I’m inclined to say that Cannes Lions gives out too many awards in general, because every category has a bunch of sub-categories, and it seems like each win gets kind of buried in a sea of other wins. But tonight was cool because we got to watch all the best TV ads (they call TV ads “film”), and also we saw some campaigns with really innovative ideas, which is what integrated and titanium awards are handed out for.
I don’t want to talk too much about the particular ads, because I’ll be doing five separate commercial critiques on my favorites, but suffice it to say that they were really cool. Most of them I recognized, but some of the foreign ones were new to me and really funny. Wieden + Kennedy won big on a lot of campaigns, and they also won independent agency of the year. All week long I’ve been more and more impressed by them. For those of you who don’t know, they’re the guys who did the Old Spice campaign. They’re also based out of Portland, and I love Portland, so bonus points for that. I think they’ve become my top choice for dream agency to work for. I like their client roster as well, and especially the work they’ve done for Nike.
The awards show was a lot of fun and it was quite a spectacle, in typical Cannes Lions style. We all decided to get really dressed up for it so that was cute. Mallory took individual shots of all of us on the red carpet… glamorous. That’s just about all I have to say about our last day at the festival. It’s been a really long week but I can’t stress enough how much I learned. Look for more posts this coming week with some of my other assignments and also stories about the rest of my adventures in France!
I don’t want to talk too much about the particular ads, because I’ll be doing five separate commercial critiques on my favorites, but suffice it to say that they were really cool. Most of them I recognized, but some of the foreign ones were new to me and really funny. Wieden + Kennedy won big on a lot of campaigns, and they also won independent agency of the year. All week long I’ve been more and more impressed by them. For those of you who don’t know, they’re the guys who did the Old Spice campaign. They’re also based out of Portland, and I love Portland, so bonus points for that. I think they’ve become my top choice for dream agency to work for. I like their client roster as well, and especially the work they’ve done for Nike.
The awards show was a lot of fun and it was quite a spectacle, in typical Cannes Lions style. We all decided to get really dressed up for it so that was cute. Mallory took individual shots of all of us on the red carpet… glamorous. That’s just about all I have to say about our last day at the festival. It’s been a really long week but I can’t stress enough how much I learned. Look for more posts this coming week with some of my other assignments and also stories about the rest of my adventures in France!
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