Week 9 EOC: Triplets

These three ads are all from the Above the Influence ad campaign. They are "triplets" because they have the same layout, same style of images, and the compositions are the same.

The first ad has two insects sitting in the kitchen. One is pouring salt for the other insect and it already has salt on the table for itself. Salt is something that's bad for insects. The other insect is just looking while the salt is being poured. The second ad has two gophers sitting on the bed. One gopher is passing something to the other gopher, the other gopher just looks at it. Obviously its passing rat poison to the other gopher. The last one has two bees sitting in the living room. One bee passes bug spray to the other bee and it is just sitting there looking at it.

All three of these ads express the same idea. On the bottom right of the three ads say "What's the worse that could happen?" The gophers, bees, and insects represent people (teenagers more likely) and they are each passing something that would kill them to the other one. All three have almost the same color schemes: cool and gloomy. The only things are really saturated and have high contrast are the poison, salt, and bug spray- which represent drugs.

EOC Week 8: Really Good Example of Chapter 8

“Using the product as the main visual usually puts the potential consumer on alert… if you see an ad where the most dominant visual element is a striking metaphor for something soft or strong, then you might be more likely to look at it.” (Advertising by Design, Robert Landa pg. 142)

Most ads have the product that their trying to sell as the dominant visual component. If advertisement is as simple as that, then why not just take a picture of the product and call it an ad? If the ad looks like other ads that people always see, then people probably wouldn’t take the time to stop and pay attention to it. In this Toyota ad, the main visual component is the geometric outline of a Toyota car, but not the car itself. Below the car, to the left, says “We see beyond cars.” The car is see-thru and you can see the view of a town beyond it. Instead of an actual car on the ad, they used that image to represent their employees building a great relationship with their customers and the community. Even though it looks like they’re not trying to sell their cars in this ad, they are trying to let people know about the good things that their company do for the community, which makes people like them a lot more so people buy their cars.

“If you have an unusual verbal message (one that is humorous, odd, curious, zany, or shocking), then the visual should be straightforward… If you have an unusual visual, then the verbal message (the line of copy) should be straight forward.” (Advertising by Design, Robert Landa pg. 159)

This quote clearly supports this Toyota ad. The visual is obviously unusual because they only show the geometric outline of the car, and not the car itself. The main verbal message in this ad is “We see beyond cars,” which is a pretty straight forward message. In the image, you can see what’s “beyond” the car, which is a town or a community. They support the verbal message by explaining with a short paragraph on the bottom of the page. Then, they put the logo on the top right corner. They used the color black so that it stands out with the light blue sky background.

Overall I think that this is a great ad. It delivers the message to people very well and it creates an emotional connection.

EOC Week 8: Authority

Reading tips given by agents from different advertising agencies is pretty helpful for my final project. Since I will be doing Sally Hansen (nail polish products) for my project, I will definitely be using some of the tips that the agents gave on the book. Carlos Segura from Segura Inc. in Chicago says, “Explore. A lot. Even after you think you’ve got it. Start again. You’d be surprised at what comes up. Even better, have several people look at the same problem. The solutions will astound you.” This tip is really helpful because many people would stop trying after they think they’ve got an idea or they know what they’re doing already. They become close minded after that. Another tip from Carlos is, “Seek opinions. This is hard, I know, but it does help.” Some people can accept constructive criticism well and some cannot. If you’re in the advertising industry, I think it is important to find out people’s opinions of your work so you know what you need to work on to do better in the future. Another agent, Deborah M. Rivera from Alexander & Richardson in New Jersey, exclaims “Do your font research!” It is important that one uses the appropriate font for the ads. So don’t favor one type of font, be open to using different ones and explore.

EOC Week 7: Exciting Ad

VISUAL HIERARCHY: This is an advertisement for Woodland Shoes. When you first glance at this image ad, you look at the brown boot that's on top of the billboard, which is the focal point that you eyes will be first drawn to. Your eyes will then follow the shoe lace that's hanging from the boot down to the billboard. Since almost everything else is white, your eyes will then shift to the right where that green spot is. The green spot is the brands logo. This ad is effective because they used visual hierarchy so one will look at the whole ad.



POSITIVE/NEGATIVE SHAPES & SPACE: If you just quickly glance at this ad, it will make you look twice. This is an Ursus beer ad. There's a bottle int he middle that's upside down, and on each side there are two upside down bottles that are a little closer. The positive and negative spaces in this image creates an illusion of a backside and a male body part. The positive spaces are the body parts, while the negative space is used to create that illusion.



BALANCE: In this ad, you see six Dove girls. Three girls on the left are dark skinned and the three on the right are light skinned. This creates a feel of balance so that viewers can have a sense that the design is complete.



RHYTHM: In this anti-cigarettes ad, the smoke coming from the cigarette creates a circle around the woman's face. The circle of smoke creates rythm for this ad because it is repeating an element.

EOC Final Project: First Thought

For my final project, the company that I will be advertising for is Sally Hensen. Sally Hensen is a brand that sells beauty products from head to toe like facial creams, hair removers, tweezers, etc. My ad campaign will be promoting specifically their nail products, which they are most popular for. Nailene will be my competitive brand. For my images, I might do a few photos. This is just my first thought for the project, I might stick with this idea and I might change it.

EOC Week 6: Make 'Em Laugh

This is not just ONE of the funniest commercials I’ve seen, it is THE FUNNIEST commercial I have ever seen, yet! I literally teared up from laughing just by watching this commercial. It is a commercial that’s trying to sell Pro-Line, the most popular sports betting game in Canada’s Sports Select.

The commercial starts off with a guy mixing a jug of Gatorade. He tossed a towel and leaves the room quickly. Unaware, the towel that he tossed caused numbers of muscle relaxers to spill into a whole football team’s jug of Gatorade. Then, the commercial jumps to the football game. The whole football team that drunk that Gatorade are all drugged up and ‘high’ while playing professional football! It shows them laughing, laying on the ground, caressing the referee’s face, and other dumb stuff that people do when they’re drugged. One drugged up player catches the football. Not paying attention nor worried about the game at all, he caught the football and started tickling it like it was a baby, so he gets tackled. After he got tackled, the whole crowd was silent and probably in awe about what they have just seen in the field. Everyone was silent except for one guy who starts screaming from the top of his lungs. Then it shows his ticket that says “Pro-line” on it. Apparently he placed a bet against the drugged up team and he just won. The commercial ends with the line, “Because anything can happen, anyone can win.”

I think that this commercial is hilarious because of the fact that they accidentally drugged up the football team and showed how they act in the field. It was also really funny that only one guy was screaming after watching what happened and he was screaming because he won a bet against that team.

EOC Week 6: Jerry Metellus

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Jerry Metellus, a successful fashion photographer. Very funny guy! There are many things that I learned from him today, but there are three things that I thought were very interesting:

First of all, let’s say you’re a photographer and you just sold somebody a shot that you did for fifty bucks. A few weeks later, you see that same picture that you took on billboards in the city, taxi cabs, magazines, etc. You see them all over the place and you’re proud and bragging about it. In reality, you just got totally ripped off because the person that you sold your picture to made thousands from it. I learned that you should really be careful about work: who you sell it to, what their using it for, etc. because that one picture can be worth thousands of dollars and you don’t even know it.

I also learned that photographers can’t work by themselves most of the time. You’re going to need help with things including hair and make-up artists, stylist, models, assistants, and technicians. The hair and make-up artists obviously make the models however the photographer wants them to look. Stylist puts together the outfits. Assistants help out the photographer and the technicians help with lighting, films, and more. All these people work together for the magic.

Last but not least, I learned that it is important to plan a professional photo shoot and not just go out and do it right away. Jerry said that there are many things you have to know before bidding and shooting. First, you need to know the location and setting (is it outdoors or indoors? Are you gonna have to bring lighting? Where is your vantage point going to be? Are you going to need a power generator?). You also need to know how many shots the client needs and how long are they giving you to do it. Photographers need to know these things before bidding so they can figure what the reasonable price is to charge their clients.

It was a great meeting Jerry Metellus and I hope that I will have the pleasure of working with him one day.

EOC Week 5: Ad Categories

SLICE-OF-LIFE AD: When you look at this image, the main thing you see is a happy family having dinner together. This is a slice-of-life ad because it shows something that happpens in real life and it is something that people can relate to. It shows that having Stouffer's is a great way to get the family together and have a nice home-cooked dinner.




DECLARATION AD: This ad is a declaration because because it proclaims that not only will you hear the music when you're listening to your ipod, but you can also feel it. This implies that the sound an IPOD is better that all the other mp3 players.




IMAGE/LIFESTYLE AD: When people see ads like this, they want to be the girl or guy that's in the ad, or be like them. This ad sells make-up for Dolce & Gabbana, using Scarlette Johansson as their model. What girl wouldn't want to look like Scarlette? This is an image/lifestyle ad because they use their model so that people would buy their products because advertisers know they would want to look like her. The message that people get is that if they use this brand of make-up, they could look like Scarlette Johansson.

EOC Week Four: Bob Isherwood. Why is he important?

“He won Australia's first Gold Lion for Cinema at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, and is one of the few people to have won the British Design and Art Direction Gold award for advertising, he has been elected to the Clio Hall of Fame in the US, and named Australia's leading creative director.” (http://www.conference.net.au/auiac2002/speakers/isherwood.htm)

“Australian born Bob Isherwood is the former Worldwide Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi. For 12 years, Bob took ultimate responsibility for the communications ideas the company created for some of the world’s major corporations including Procter & Gamble and Toyota. He was, for example, the Global Creative Director responsible for the launch and mass marketing of Toyota’s Prius.” (http://www.abeopartners.com/bob_isherwood/)

“The Australian-born advertising legend Isherwood leaves after 22 years at the agency. He joined Saatchi & Saatchi in 1986, to be made worldwide creative director a decade later in 1996… The decision to leave appears to have been some time in the making... ‘For the past 12 years I've been focused on the reinvention of Saatchi & Saatchi. Now I've reached a point where I feel I need to reinvent myself,’ he said. There is no news yet of who will replace Isherwood. Roberts has indicated that due to his close personal relationship with Isherwood…” (https://www.alumni.rmit.edu.au/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=446)

Bob Isherwood had a very big impact in creative advertising. Just by looking at all his awards and achievements, there is no denying that he forever changed the standards of advertising. After working for Saatchi & Saatchi for twenty-two years, he just recently left because he wanted to ‘reinvent himself.’ His coworkers said that it will be really hard to replace him, no doubt about that. He left school when he was only thirteen-years old and became a mechanic (which he hated). Look at him now, he is one of the most influential people in the world.

EOC Week 3: Tobacco Advertisement

Interpret the problem- The problem is that people are ‘prejudice’ against cigarettes because they could eventually cause death. Another problem is that cigarettes contain harmful corrosive acids (pungent irritants that cause coughing and itching of the throat while smoking) in the tobacco, which obviously encourages people not to smoke.

Understand the creative brief- Since there was no way to prevent people from dying because of smoking cigarettes, they came up with an idea to take the corrosive acids out from the tobacco and say that it is safe to smoke cigarettes since there are no more corrosive acids, even though all it does is prevent the coughing and itching. They referred to the process of taking the irritants out as “toasting.”

Say it outright- The company that made this advertisement had a strategy of convincing people that the “American Intelligence” found a way to take the harmful corrosive acids out so that people could smoke without worrying about their health anymore.

Know your audience- Before this advertisement people thought were thinking that smoking is harmful for your health and that it has no advantages. The company that came up with this ad wants people to think that since they have taken out the harmful corrosive acids from the tobacco that is in cigarettes, then it will be safe to smoke cigarettes and people could enjoy smoking and relax.
Write your objective- Their objective is to encourage people to buy their cigarettes and for people to think that there is nothing wrong with smoking anymore because they have ‘toasted’ their tobacco.

EOC Week 2: Ethics in Commercials

“Coca-Cola has been criticized for alleged adverse health effects, its aggressive marketing to children, exploitative labor practices, high levels of pesticides in its products, building plants in Nazi Germany which employed slave labor, environmental destruction, monopolistic business practices, and hiring paramilitary units to murder trade union leaders. In October 2009, in an effort to improve their image, Coca-Cola partnered with the American Academy of Family Physicians, providing a $500,000 grant to help promote healthy-lifestyle education; the partnership spawned sharp criticism of both Coca-Cola and the AAFP by physicians and nutritionists." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola#Criticism)

“Studies have shown that regular soft drink users have a lower intake of calcium, magnesium, ascorbic acid, riboflavin, and vitamin A… This was thought to be due to the presence of phosphoric acid, and the risk was found to be same for caffeinated and non-caffeinated colas, as well as the same for diet and sugared colas.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola#Health_effects)

"We live in a world where we make choices every day and The Coke Side of Life encourages people to make those choices positive ones.“ (Marc Mathieu, The Coca-Cola Company) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0Nwrfu1w5E)

In this Coca-Cola commercial, a bunch of human stick-figures are representing soldiers from the different countries involved in the World War II. Then the commercial shows the stick figures (with every country represented in a different color) having a war. After a little while the stick soldiers all stop fighting because they were all worn out, tired, and probably thirsty. A civilian stick figure walks by them drinking a coke, so they all started chasing him. The words “Life tastes better with Coca Cola” appear on the screen. This commercial is unethical because it implies that coke makes life better, but in reality, coke is not good for you and it could actually harm you.

EOC Week 1: VW Lemon

“The ad featured a black and white photo of the Volkswagen Beetle with the word “Lemon” in bold san serif font… that proclaims that this particular car was rejected… because of a blemish on the chrome piece of the glove box. The ad goes on to describe the rigorous inspection process...” (http://www.writingfordesigners.com/?p=1731)

“Ads before it were either information-based and lacking in persuasion, more fantasy than reality…Beetle ads, though, connected with consumers on an emotional level, while conveying a product benefit in a way consumers could relate to…” (http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/1999/11/22/smallb7.html)

"The Volkswagen ad uses a black and white image of the Beetle that reinforced the idea that is was small and different... the ad says “LEMON” which caused the viewer to question his intuitive knowledge about Volkswagen’s high standards. The ad agency successfully caught the viewer’s attention by using self-effacing humor. With any luck, these ads drew you into the joke, and you would read the rest of the copy looking for the punch line.” (http://designhistorylab.com/?p=1755)

In the 1960s, Americans were used to driving big vehicles like Buicks and Cadillacs. So the Germans needed to find a way to advertise their cars and catch the American’s attention because their Volkswagen cars were smaller than what Americans were used to at the time. Although they were smaller, they are very efficient cars. Instead of the usual ad repetition, the DDB agency used their creativeness to capture the consumer’s attention. They made the Volkswagen ad very simple, but just the word “lemon” caught people’s attention. The word “lemon” proclaims that it is not a good car, this is what would cause people to be interested and read the rest of the advertisement. The rest of the ad describes the process of inspecting the Volkswagen cars which informs people that they really are good and efficient cars.