Heineken

This is definitely one of the coolest examples of guerilla marketing I've seen in a long time. It seems like it does so much more than just stick an ad in a place no one has seen an ad before. I think this idea really created a strong relationship between brand and consumer. The tone of the advertising was consistent with Heineken's existing image and it managed to actually attach human personality and humor to a brand-- which I think, is really difficult to do.

So in summary- Heineken teamed up with a bunch of men's families at the time of the UEFA championship. They convinced bosses, girlfriends and family members to tell these men that they had to attend a classical music concert, the same night as the game. After fifteen minutes of classical music, the concert ended and Heineken's sponsored showing of the game began on the live screen.

The prank was effective in making Heineken the number one choice in beer for the UEFA championship. It created a relationship and a meaningful experience with their target market and went beyond most trendy guerilla marketing campaigns by creating a personal interaction that established a meaningful relationship.

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/ambient/heineken_champions_league_match_vs_classical_concert_real_madrid_ac_milan

Absolut Ad Campaign

Absolut Vodka Campaign

I know it may be cliche- or stereotypical-- but I love the "Absolut Vodka" ad campaign. The recent ads in the campaign are not nearly as strong, and I think the brand took the creative strategy "changing the product" to an entirely new level. The newer campaign relies on the age-old "sex sells" strategy, and although the ads are well-designed, I don't find them nearly as clever as their past campaign.

I loved how different these ads were from one another, yet how cohesive they appeared as a strong campaign. They personally made me want to see more and I looked forward to extensions of the campaign. Additionally, the ads make use of combining simple taglines (Absolut + ____) with clever imagery to make for a really well-executed campaign. The ads have always been in my opinion, cutting edge and refreshing and worked at a local, national, and global level.

It really shows the power of a simple idea, the success of "changing the product" and "combination" to create a campaign that really had infinite possibilities.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Offensive?

In reading through the various posts of "offensive" advertising on copy ranter.. I found a few things in common. What makes an ad offensive? The problem I had with all of these ads is that it took a very small segmented minority population namely people who are blind or obese, or made light of something various serious, such as the events in Cairo. I really believe, however, that the Mother Theresa and Ghandi ads are not really offensive. Although it does somewhat undermine these individuals, it does not make fun of them, nor does it really offend anyone. Advertising has used association for ages, and I don't think this is really a creative example, but nonetheless I don't really find it that offensive.

The photoretouching commercial as well as the commercial for the blind are actually quite offensive. The woman pictured in the ad for the photoretoucher is obese. The obese population is ostracized as it is, and this advertising does nothing but present this type of person in a way that is dehumanizing. It presents her like she is actually the most person imaginable because of her size. The fact that it is for a photoretoucher infers that she is so ugly she couldn't possible be photographed the way she is. I don't know. I just found this ad so rude. This group of people already is socially disadvantaged.

The advertisement for the blind is just kind of pointless to me. It seems more like the characters in the commercial are taking advantage of the blind. Why would you want to hire a blind person so you could take advantage of them? Its just a sleezy commercial and I'm surprised the client even funded it. It just has nothing to do with the benefits of hiring someone with a disability, or rather, the fact that they are equals.

The Kenneth Cole tweets aren't horrible, just insensitive and not a good idea for building brand character. It's just horrible PR, its not really THAT offensive. It's more just stupid and an example of how an online presence in the social media isn't always a good thing if its not done well.

An ad I always thought was offensive was the Mr. T ad for Snickers. The ad was taken down due to numerous complaints from the LGBT community, and rightfully so. The advertisement did nothing except embed cultural stereotypes of a violent and aggressive african american male, and an effeminate white homosexual. The ad almost promoted violence in that Mr. T. was screaming and shooting at the man for being not masculine enough. It just wasn't funny at all and made the black man look like dangerously aggressive, and the white homosexual look weak and defenseless.

Outdoor Advertising

The copy here is really effective. Without saying "second hand smoke kills" it says "second hand smoke kills". As a series, these ads are really neat. They take really common-place expressions and idioms and make them much darker and engaging. The copy is brief, but gets the message across in a way that is clever and gives the reader that "a-ha" moment.
What I love about outdoor advertising is that it is so easy to take something that is common place- such as a basketball hoop- and turn it into a great ad. We're expecting to see ads that look like "billboards" and I really love when an ad takes the billboard- and turns it into something totally relevant. The basketball hoop gets the entire message across of the YMCA without any words at all.
This is another example of using aperture--- by taking this image, something so common for drivers and flipping it on its side, it makes a really visually shocking image due to the placement. This would not have nearly the same effect if it wasn't an outdoor ad. Furthermore, the ad captures the message, that this car can handle pretty much anything.
Here's an example of effective copy. Because of the placement of this ad-- the consumer will be driving, and a pretty good chance they'll be tired. It reaches the right person at the right time with the right message. The copy is short and effective, something that you could read driving 50 mph on a highway.
I noticed I was really drawn to outdoor advertising that utilizes the surrounding area... This one is for Guiness-- the idea is to drink responsibly and that your reflexes are delayed after you've been drinking. Putting this outdoors takes something common place-- a street with a stop sign, seem out of place and really makes for a thought provoking advertisement.
A totally visually compelling idea-- taking the material of the ad- in this case wood, enlarging it to such a degree that you can see every single detail, and making the ad for a camera lens. The idea is simple, the message is clear but its equally interesting. These are an amazing campaign. For outdoor-- simplicity is definitely required.

Lotto 649 Ads: DDB

The ad campaigns for Lotto 649 is a clear example of "Mixing and Matching". Taking a mundane activity, such as ironing and juxtaposing it with the surfboard provides a playful insight to the product benefit. Furthermore, the similarity of the shapes of the two objects makes for a very exciting visual. The other ads in the campaign, such as the fit flop breaking through the work shoe continue this same idea of taking two seemingly unrelated objects, and physically combining them to let the consumer know, hey if you win the lottery you don't have to iron, you can go surfing instead.

Yalook Ads:

I love this ad campaign. If I had to categorize it, I'd say it utilizing the optical illusion tactic. By presenting the clothes in these various tribal faces, the site is really able to differentiate itself in a marketplace that is crowded with very cliche fashion advertising that tends to all look kind of the same after a while. I love the way they twist the product (literally) in a way that is totally unexpected, creative and original.

Viagra Ads:

This ad campaign is just actually hilarious-- seems like its using the exaggeration technique. I love the simplicity of the idea behind it, that with Viagra you can be ready to have sex anywhere- the cushioning of the grass of the lawn, and in this one the roof of the car communicates all of the product benefits without any words at all. For a product as taboo as Viagra, I think this advertising is actually really clever, and somehow manages to be tasteful, without being tasteful at all. What else do you really need to know about Viagra?

Super Bowl Ads

show details 11:16 PM (0 minutes ago)

My favorite Superbowl advertisement was for the Chevy "Tommy" ad. I thought the ad was a major departure from conventional car campaigns. Chevy used the product as a hero technique in a way that brought emotional and comedic appeal to the ad. By referencing Lassie, the ad was nostalgic but still humorous. In the form of a narrative, the ad was memorable and unique. However, it still successfully communicated product benefits, such has durability and reliability. It also remained true to Chevy's image as a family oriented car.

First Post

Hey