Google tricks

Google’s up to it’s old tricks again, getting all dressed up today for Halloween. Spooky.

 

In the old buttoned-down world of corporate branding, this would seem like a no-no. I’m glad the days of ensuring the color, shape and placement of a logo never changes is seemingly more distant. I wish more brands would embrace this kind of flexibility and just loosen up a bit!

*Updated. Damn it, YouTube are at it too!

 

Dove Spoof - Talk to your daughter before Unilever does

And so to every great ad, there is a spoof to follow. It seems Dove’s do-gooder attitude is starting to back fire on them. The ad may be thought-provoking and beautifully executed, but they are part of the beauty industry after all!

Call me nieve, but I think Dove had good intentions and it doesn’t seem too false coming from them. But as this spoof rightly points out they are part of Unilever which includes brand like Axe (Lynx). These ads show daughters who certainly did NOT have this conversation with their mothers. The take out - “talk to your daughter before Unilever does”.

Found here. Original ad here.

WWF - Get on Board

 

I’ve blogged about climate change and green things a fair bit, so it’s only right I give a mention to this great innovative new campaign from WWF to strengthen the Climate Change Bill - more here.

 

There is a lot of talk of climate change at the moment, and many brands (MTV for example) trying to get a bit of the action. Amongst all this clutter and confusion, it’s becoming more and more difficult for consumers to identify what they can really do to make a difference. You can’t help but notice that awareness is at an all time high, with action falling drastically behind.

That’s why I really like ‘Get on Board’…

 

1) It stands out from the rest - the idea is pretty crazy, but hey it works. Clever dudes at Poke.

“We’re going to construct a giant paper boat and giant paper plane and deliver them to parliament. They will be covered in the names of the people who have pledged their support for our call for a strong, effective Climate Change Bill.”

2) It’s really easy to take action. No I mean really easy. In a matter of seconds…I had signed up to the petition, and even contacted my local MP to ensure they strengthen the bill.

 

They’ve even got a blog to follow this amazing story. You can also ‘tell a friend‘ (but only one at a time apparently!)

Thanks to Asi for telling me all about this…

Proof that ‘Man Cold’ is very serious

Like no other??

Blog Action Day has arrived (too soon apparently)

Yep that’s right, today is the day bloggers from around the world unite to blog about the environment - to get talking about a better future. Obviously I had planned on writing a long interesting insightful post about something green, but this day arrived too quickly. So instead I’m going to post this hilarious ‘green’ clip “Sex Party” from Virgin Trains. Okay, so this viral isn’t going to combat climate change, but it will get people talking which is the point of blog action day I believe.

By Glue.

Check out Anthony, Neil, and 360 Digest, for taking the time to write great green posts for todays event. Worth reading theirs instead ;o)

Onslaught. Another positive ad from Dove.

Kudos to Dove for another great (yet slightly controversial) ad following the popular award winning Evolution. Okay, so it’s not ground-breaking, but it’s great to see Dove still putting such a positive message out there to kids. ‘Onslaught’ dramatises what girls are subjected to in today’s advertising and size zero era. Shocking really.

This message really hits home with me. Just the other day I was reading a magazine which actually recommended girls to eat dull food so that you get bored with it and eat less. Ridiculous. It got worse. It then told you to ditch your fat friends as they might make you fatter. What sort of message is this sending to young girls?? I think this message is important. Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does…

Found at Scamp, made by Ogilvy.

The consumer isn’t a moron. She is your wife.

This sketch from Mitchell and Webb is pure genius. I was watching this with some work mates and we were all in stitches. Perhaps some of us have been in meetings which have been disturbingly similar…

After watching this, you can just imagine the board meetings for adverts like the awful Weetabix week. Something along the lines of…

“What’s next? I know, we’ll make ‘them’ (meaning people) eat our cereal in every which way, it will hide the fact it tastes like sh*t.”

I couldn’t find the original ad, but I think this version makes the point even better.

Another good case is the Nivea Oxygen Power ad - which advertises a new range of products which is made of 15% pure oxygen. See it here. Yep you heard that right, Nivea are selling us air. The stuff we breathe in every day for free. Are we really that stupid? Apparently so.

I’ll start and leave you with this brilliant quote from David Ogilvy which still stands…

“The consumer isn’t a moron. She is your wife.”

Both ads recently featured in the Guardian guide.

Advertising’s Young Minds

Respect to Daniel over at AdStructure for giving recognition to us young bloggers. Chuffed (and shocked) to make the list and great to explore even more exciting blogs. Oh yeah, and extra thanks to Amelia who inspired me to start blogging in the first place…