Most ads are simply ignored. That’s a fate worse than being noticed but disliked or being indifferent about it. My weekly compilation of clutter-breaking creative ads (aside from the occasional opinion piece) is a small tribute to brand teams everywhere. Here are a few clutter breaking creative ads which caught my eye this week:
Currys: trade in your old tech
Recycling gadgets or e-waste is a challenge commonly accepted as a fallout in the digital world. How can a retail brand not just communicate that they can recycle old (and naturally unused) gadgets but urge people to bring such devices to the physical outlets? An ad with a creative idea helps. The idea: rogue gadgets take matters into their own hands and decide to find their way to Currys. Cheekily, on the day of the shoot, the crew got motorised gadgets to traverse the city street in UK and captured the natural reactions of the public.
Agency: AMV BBDO
Lloyds Bank: smart start
In February 2022, a new theme film for Lloyds Bank was revealed. It visually played upon a distinct brand asset – the logo, more specifically the horse in the logo. The same brand asset is cleverly used in a stirring film to announce a banking product aimed at teens. ‘Help build your child’s confidence’ is the bigger promise and the jingle seems so apt. It remains to be seen how the brand manages to weave in the logo element subtly or overtly in every communication moving forward.
Agency: adam&eveDDB
Coca Cola: Masterpiece
What product-based story can a sugared fizzy drink can have? Hence they aim to create affinity through likeable advertising which is often refreshed (pardon the pun) to keep it contemporary and resonate with the audience of that era. In India, Thumps Up has used its strong taste to create the ‘Taste the Thunder’ platform. Pepsi revealed ‘Rise up’ – a new platform recently.
Over the years, Coca-Cola has played up its heritage, positioned it as a brands help bring people together and so on. ‘Open Happiness’ has been one of their long-running themes which also allowed for great activation ideas. A new film takes forward the recent ‘Real Magic’ platform with some eye-popping visual effects. One wonders how storyboards are even created and approved for such films. Riveting advertising.
Liquid Death Iced Tea: your grand mother’s energy drink
Being in a boring category (water, non-alcoholic beverages such as iced tea) perhaps forces brands create advertising that defies norms. Liquid Death has defined their unconventional approach in their manifesto itself. Beyond traditional television they apply this outlook even in their sponsorships – as they supported ‘water boys‘ who don’t get signed up by sponsors, unlike the celebrities. A new iced tea variant gets a fun TV spot and some great packaging.
Aviva: crossword puzzle
It’s always nice to see creative use of space in print advertising – as I have showcased before. Subliminally the idea of a crossword puzzle makes the ad interactive and stops the act of page flipping.
HSBC: global money
The ‘F’ word in an ad from a leading brand in banking? When the ‘f’ refers to fees (as is quickly clarified) it makes the effort interesting.
THINK!: is ‘pushing it’ worth it?
A new public service ad doesn’t stop at urging people to not overspeed, but questions the reason behind one’s decision to ‘hurry up’. I liked the fact that they highlight a relatively trivial reason (being late to hang out with friends) as the trigger to make unsafe decisions while driving. The analogy of piling up cans which eventually crash seems to fit in nicely to drive home the message.
Agency: VMLY&R
Toyota Gazoo: metalmorphosis
An automobile ad which highlights speed but uses no VFX, VFX, no post and no green screening? That’s unusual. A zoetrope is used to dramatise the speed of Toyota GR Corollo at a racing track in Australia.
Hundreds of illustrated frames – reaching over 1200m long – were pasted along the barriers, tunnels and track. Car-mounted cameras inside and out of the vehicle then captured the static artwork at speed to create live animations.
Agency: Hero
Which one was your favourite? Do comment in.