This ad for Electronic Mail made me giggle. It reminds me of when my Dad worked for Data General in the 80′s, and had to explain this MAGIC to people.
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advertising
My gorgeous friend Laura reminded me of this ad from Telecom New Zealand – Keep In Touch. (L. why do you not have a blog already?)
The beach featured is Cheltenham, and in fact I grew up on this little slice of paradise! Way to make me all weepy. Maybe it’s time to boot up the rasterbator…
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Puppy, be mine. Apparently when I see cute things on the street, I coo and say hello in a tiny voice. I just did the same thing at this ad. HELLO! I would love a greyhound, they’re just big old couch potatoes.
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Just in time for Mother’s Day… Post-it (in conjunction with Whitcoulls book store) staged this clever ambient piece in Auckland: I Love Mum.
Above is hundreds of Post-it notes, adhered to the glass panes of a CBD shop front, all a’fluttering in the wind and inviting you to write a nice note to your mother.
People really got into it, sitting on each other’s shoulders to reach blank squares, and respectfully taking time to read the notes. After 3 days, the stickiness was still going strong! The piece looked phenomenal at night too, with the Post-its back lit and glowing.
For once, a brand communication successfully meets street (he)art.
http://www.ilovemum.co.n
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Sony’s ‘Around The World In 80 Seconds’ video, directed Romain Pergeaux and Alex Profit, makes me want to pack my bags and get on a plane with a camera in hand. Right now.
I love how the globe spins as the action moves across the planet: London – Cairo – Mumbai – Hong Kong – Tokyo – San Francisco – New York – London. The route is a tribute to the famous Jules Verne book “Le Tour Du Monde En 80 Jours” and took 3 weeks to travel.
Lo fi, high impact advertising – over one million views already.
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“Make the logo bigger.”
The most common request in advertising and design… so prevalent in fact, that one art director I know recorded a song about it. Anyway, I’m excited to see this film – despite the fact I only counted 2 women in the line up of talking heads. Let’s just hope it’s a unbalanced trailer – because there’s a lot of girl geniuses in advertising.
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While car manufacturing is seen as a big bad industry by some (including myself), it’s good to be reminded that there’s people behind it. Good humans who just want to make a living and support their families. That’s why I’m glad the Honda factories are opening again.
Thanks is due to Wieden + Kennedy for making these tea, bacon and iron ads to spread the news.
Very British, very heartfelt – copy that definitely delivers a smile in the mind.
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I found this Better Homes and Gardens magazine while fossicking in some old boxes at my parents’ house. It’s the August 1982 edition!
Summer fruit puff recipe! Redecorating a 50′s house for the 80′s! Oh yeahhhh. It’s a real retro goodie.
In this one magazine, there’s an astounding 24 pages of full colour cigarette adverts, plus the the back cover. That’s out of 143 pages total. Shocker! The ‘death of print’ and recession aside, could you even begin to imagine that in a modern magazine?
I scanned this Parliament Lights ad to share:
Benefit driven drivel, with a condescending tone. I’m not too sure why, but I am really attracted to this style of excessively persuasive communication. It’s very satisfying to write.
In fact… here’s a fictitious radio ad I wrote for a competition. Entitled, “Smoother & More Satisfying”, please imagine this being read by a 1960′s era male announcer, with formal enunciation:
“We know it’s hard keeping up appearances in today’s fast paced society… but the reward is worth it! What you need in your life is a mild good tasting cigarette, like Durrys Slims Extra Mild.
Smoother than a fine whiskey, more satisfying than cheap sex. For added vigour, to forge your path to victory – do try Durrys Slims Extra Mild cigarettes today. For all of life’s thrilling moments… with Durrys, you have no worries!
‘Mad Men. Sundays 8.40pm. It’s on Prime.’”
Hee! I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that smoking is for idiots who want nasty wrinkles and foul breath. Mwah!
This magazine has 143 pages.
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As do all writers, I love a good turn of phrase. Signs of good writing? A physical reaction! This may include snorting with laughter, sighing with jealousy, sharp intakes of breath (shock & awe) or frowning.
Because great writing is something to be treasured and I am a magpie, I started holding on to the best pieces I see… Now I have several scrapbooks jammed full of favourite texts (mostly packaging and ads) from around the world.
Rather than let them collect dust, I’m going share the best copy examples with you for a little bit of inspiration. First up, some cheeky wine bottles from Australian winery The Cost Vineyard:
“With tweleve different labels for a single vintage of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, The Cost Vineyard labels are created to look like newspaper clippings from various parts of a paper. The vineyard is mentioned in some way in each story or article featured, but it is never the lead story or headline.” – lovelypackage
Nothing like a bit of humour, a bit of code breaking, to flog your vino. Because, yes, we probably already know its background, thanks to the retail trend of microcategorising - ‘Oh look a whole selection of organic foot-crushed sauvignon blanc from Matakana‘.
So why not have some fun? All that talk of origin, river beds and voluptuous fruit gets a bit boring sometimes.
Clever, compelling, funny, painful – Phraseology. Expect it regularly and with great anticipation.
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You know I’m falling over these Issey Miyake Pleats Please sushi ads:
I think the images (and the word mark) all speak for themselves – simple and well executed. Creative by Taku Satoh Design Office.
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Oops, in all my job-waffle-new-life excitement I missed CFS loves last week. Ah well, it’s bigger than everrrr. You have no choice, there is fries with your order.
- The official Google blog posts data on the surge of searches around the time reports started flowing with news of Michael Jackson’s death. RIP MJ, you were so sparkly. I laboriously sang ‘Bad’ at karaoke on Friday night in his honour… which wasn’t the first time I have embarrassed myself in public showing my love for the king of pop.
- A letter to a friend in Paris – timely advice from LÉON’s clever Peter Nguyen.
- A conversation with author Chad Taylor about his upcoming book. If you don’t know Taylor’s work, do check him out. Electric is a fast thriller set in Auckland.
- Design*Sponge lets us peep into Ann Wood’s beautiful nook. The curtains are so dreamy!
- Six Word Stories – inspired by the form of Hemingway’s famous story - “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Wired also has a collection of brevities from some well known writers.
- I Love That Photo interviews Lillian Wilkie. I like to focus on details, on moments held in the subconscious. Her flickr stream is one of my favourites.
- AdAge offers up Tweetable Career Advice From Nine Under 30 – I think a lot of it’s applicable to other industries. Passion! Curiosity! Cultivate!
- Gravure Magazine interviews Rodarte’s Kate Mulleavy – some interesting thoughts about the balance of location and influence.
- Super cute perfume packaging from Penhaligon’s – they feel like the Harry Potter of perfume brands. This crest is adorable:
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While grappling with insomnia the other night, I started reading D-Listed, as I often do when my brain just wants some cud to chew on. And that’s when I saw them…
How cool are they? Nothing like a plushie animal head on your wrist. The moose is a bit extravagant though. Also, LOOK WHAT THE GIRLS ARE WEARING. (No, not the watches. The clothes. I swear I saw these kids down at the club last week.)
All this retro goodness got me thinking about my favourite toy commercials from when I was kid.
First up is Skip-It , Skiiiiiiip-It! I had a pink one, it was totally gnarly. I could try and beat my very best score for hours – making my siblings and pet rabbit watch me. Um, tiny warning – if you watch this it may take hours to purge the jingle from your brain.
Connect 4: I never owned this, save a crappy travel version. All the pieces were the size of fingernails and I’m sure my sister ate some. This makes me very sad. Perhaps I’ll have to invest in a Connect 4 set for my next drinking and games night!
And finally: I’ve mentioned the AWESOMENESS of Dr. Dreadful’s Labs before… now I’ve hunted down the ad.
I want to scoop sugar sludge out of a skull. Now.
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While the De Beers Unbreakable Kiss campaign is about freezing time forever, this Toshiba advertisement is about remixing moments, almost like a audio track. They call it a time sculpture.
A clever idea accompanied by the fine sounds of Crystal Castles, one of my favourite bands. Watch the making of the ad here.
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The glamour of travel is defintely evoked by this Louis Vuitton Luggage advertisement – found in the 1901 Orient Pacific Guide. I love the hand rendered type, the etching and the telegraphic address, simply – “Vuitton, London” (large view).
There’s nothing like pretty pictures of trunks and travel wear to get me excited!
This image is actually a photo I took of the original book. During that time it was common to fill the guides up with advertising material from the exotic destinations, or in this case, the dearest starting point. I found it in a Maritime Museum library, where I could hardly be trusted to breathe near the books – let alone scan something…
Here is one of the latest Louis Vuitton advertisements; featuring the adorable father-daughter combo of Francis and Sofia Coppola. They too make travel look exceedingly desirable (see also the LV Sean Connery ad).
Funny how some things don’t change too much over time – even over more than a century. What makes travel glamourous? Both ads are about thoughtful reflection, lounging and wide vistas (1901 has this metaphorically, 2008 has this literally) – benefits of being outside your daily sphere. Oh and gorgeous draping fabrics, and exquisite baggage – the luxury requistes of travel.
“The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only one page.”
- St. Augustine of Hippo
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