Channel 4 Leads The Way...

...everyone else just follows.

We all know the excellent work 4 Creative does for dispatches and it's home programs, such as skins.

Also the recent Honda spot 'Jump' has been credited more so to 4 Creative than WnK. So it would be seriously stupid to try and imitate any of their work.

But recently I have been seeing Television ads that are exactly like the celebrity spots Channel 4 did way back last year. Sky+'s attempt with so called celebrities such as 'Ross Kemp' telling me that I can't live without Sky. Funnily enough, I can and I do.

Also the BBC has jumped onto the imitation bandwagon with the same format for 'The Culture Show". Is this what my TV License is going to? The work from the BBC has made me feel a lot better for all those years I supposedly "lived without Tele".

So the moral of this rant? Don't imitate, and if you do? Make sure it's bloody better than what you're copying.

I've Been Slack

I haven't blogged as much as I'd have liked to recently. This is because we have been given another book to do in a week for Y&R. So that's taken most of my time. Also it was my birthday on Thursday. But I was sat at the computer doing work. No rest for the unemployed eh?

Indiana Jones and The Plastic Skull of Shit

I recently watched the new Indiana Jones film (although I wished I hadn't) . If you haven't seen it yet, you're the luckiest person I know. I'm not going to go into too much detail but lets just say a lot of CGI and poor dialogue means it'll never live up to its three predecessors. It falls into "Rocky Five" territory. This means I refuse to acknowledge its existence.

In fact, its so bad it has resulted in one fan starting a blog just to vent his anger at George Lucas.
Click Here - warning: it has spoilers in his rant.

The only thing I liked about it was the short film before hand which I posted about earlier this month. Thank God for Mini Clubman & Future Shorts

Martial Arts Advertising

Recently on the course we have been looking at directors reels. I came across Rocky Morton's reel and this advert he shot. I love anything to do with martial arts so i found this ad funny as.

This little Kung Fu parody made we wonder what other ads used traditional martial arts to convey a modern message. Here are some I found below.

Apprentice Turns Avertising Agency

This week saw the Apprentice candidates become creatives for Ogilvy. They had to design a new brand and market it. The product... Tissues. The above is the winning advert. Many people are confused as to why this advert won. It looks cheap, tacky, blatant product placement and is generally shit. But that's exactly why it won.

I too thought Alan Sugar had got it wrong. He scathed Raef's team for not showing the product, not knowing what the advert was for and again not showing the product. What would have been the outcome, if they had set a chocolate bar and the result had been a drumming Gorilla?

Gorilla breaks all the rules of standard advertising. But it's allowed to. Dairy Milk is a well established brand that can afford not to show their product. "Atishu" and "I love my Tissue" do not have that luxury.

In today’s market you must please the client, stand out from the rest and be memorable. Atishu is so bad, but you remember it. Just like Michael Winner's Esure advert, the confused.com advert and Michael Barry's Cilit Bang. All shit, but memorable.

I must admit I preferred Raef's campaign. It was the lesser evil of the two. But I was judging it from a creative point of view, not the clients. And this is where the danger lies. When doing a campaign, we must not get carried away with wanting to make mini movies. It's the client’s money at the end of the day not your little "film project".

What do you think? Did the right campaign win? What would you have done in two days?

Cinema Treat

I saw Iron Man on Sunday. A must if you collected the comics like I did. Before the film started, i was treated to a short by Future Shorts in association with the new Mini Clubman. "Neighbor" is one of three films previewing before a number of films on the big screen for the next few weeks. It was funny, and entertaining with a warm reception from the usually cold audience.
So if Iron Man or Indiana doesn't do it for you, maybe the short film beforehand will.

How To Judge Cannes Lions 2008

Craig Davis, Chief Creative Officer, JWT Worldwide, gives tips on how to judge at Cannes. I love the part where he sums up whether to award Bronze, Silver or Gold. Simply as "if you feel envy, that's bronze. Jealousy that's silver and humility is gold". See it here

Is This Ad Here To Amuse You?

Can't believe the client bought this. Praise goes to them for having the nerve to say yes, and the agency for having the balls to pitch it. This would have better suited Good Fellas Pizza. But they didn't have the "fucking balls" to do it. See the rest of the family here

To Entertain or Communicate that is the Question.

There are two schools of thought. The first is that advertising must communicate a message first and utmost. Once that has been done you may communicate in an entertaining way. Such are the ways of Bernbach and Trott.

But times are changing and we are seeing a shift gravitate towards giving the consumer more than just information. "What's in it for the consumer" is the question you must ask when doing any campaign. From digital sites allowing consumers to dictate what happens (Diesel) to Nike + (personal trainers built into a shoe). Something more than just communication must be given.

If you look at Cabral's "Gorilla" spot, the message (if there even is one), is buried deep behind the entertaining drumming gorilla. The biggest sign of entertainment first, communication later, is "Somers Town". A film directed by Sean Meadows but written by the creatives at Mother for Eurostar (who isn't even one of their clients...yet).

There's no questioning that it's a piece of entertainment. No train prices or timetables just a story told through the eyes of a child. A story that Eurostar has commissioned.

So you need to ask yourself, in today’s new world where consumers want more from a brand, what will you give them?

There are always casualties in war. Watford is no different. This post is for our fallen comrades, who have suffered whilst serving their tour at Watford.

Max was our first casualty. We haven't seen or heard from him since week 3 of the course. Sightings have been reported in Marrakesh, Iran and Paris.

Rich was assaulted by a flying football. He acquired a broken wrist but more importantly the name "Mr Glass". But he did save the ball from going in.

Clem suffered "Stress Rash" on both his hands from working late nights to complete a book in a week. So that's what they're calling it these day.

Thom's lip swelled and his legs turned blue. He was admitted to the A&E at North Berwick hospital outside Edinburgh and given an anti-histamine shot. He puts this down to the "Pre-Easter drubbing" he got, from who is unknown.

Nick had a pain in his heart, luckily it wasn't a heart attack but stress related heartburn. Personally i think it was the dodgey kebab he had consumed. And for the record he really does have a pillow for a head.

Any other unsung heroes will be added and this post reposted.

Poster Graffiti?

This poster has appeared on a bill board near to my humble abode. The message is simple, a "never ending" scenario that Gaza faces. But is it an advert or is there a poster Banksy out there?. The only copy are the words "Gaza Strip". Has anyone else seen anything like this around town within the last week? If so let me know.

Tomek Baginski

My friend from the course introduced me to the works of Tomek Baginski, a Polish artist and animator, best known for his Oscar-nominated short movie, "The Cathedral" (2002). For his newest short, "Fallen Art" (2004), he received aBAFTA Award for Best Short Animation and Grand Prix for Digital Shorts at Golden Horse Film Festival. Enjoy.

Need Inspiration? Just Go For A Walk.

So when i get mind block, i like to go for a walk in central London. There is so much to see and its all free!
Michael Wolf's Display at Libertys and the VA China Design show (you have to pay at the VA)

Wokmedia "Made In China" Display. Was cute and dark at the same time

Gajin Fujita's work is a mix of old style Japanese portraits, mixed with Western Graffiti.
Walk around London enough and you will see things you never really noticed.