I'm just going to leave this here...

Advertising Tumblr of the Day:
This Advertising Life.

Image courtesy of the Jr Art Director Meme
http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/35dbfq/

Refreshes the parts digital can't reach

It's been a while since I posted any work. That's not because I haven't been doing anything for the past couple of months or that what I have done is of any less quality. No, I've still been ploughing away in the digital fields sowing Facebook apps and emails to the masses. One thing that did however get sent our way was a single 4pp post card/mailpack to announce the launch of the recently face lifted Citroen C1*.

Direct Mail in the age of the digital banner - OK, let's just get this done shall we! However, once the brief was 'briefed' and we dusted off the magic idea markers and layout pads it was actually quite nice to get old style creative on ourselves. Yes it was only a post card, but there was something nice about having to put an idea on something that people were going to pick up off their door mats again. I'm not saying we don't do that with the digital process but it was somehow new and exciting, like when it was the other way round and we were itching to do the digital stuff.

It won't win any awards and it'll probably end up in most people's recycling (if they're doing it properly) but I really enjoyed this little project and i'm quite happy to say it's one of the best bits I've done this year.

Of course the client should see the genius in the idea and stump up the cash for some 6-sheets and role out a nationwide campaign on this thought - but I would think that wouldn't I?

Anyway, have read of the stats - we had fun finding them.

*If you've seen my work, you'll already know that I've done a similar piece for the then updated Peugeot 207 that played on the plastic surgery facelift thought - bandages included. I even won an award for it (Trumpet blown). That does however mean I can't use it again for a few years.

Olympic Shames - #1

With the Olympics just 100 days away, I have taken it upon myself to share with you all the best (and I mean worst) of the products/services that have spent a small African country's budget to be allowed to put some coloured rings next to their logo this summer.

I actually like the Olympic games and if anything, all these promotions will only heighten the anticipation further - if only to find the most awful, possibly inappropriate Olympian relationship.

In no particular order, I begin with Panasonic.

It starts like the opening scene to '28 Days Later' - This is a good and honest start as every Londoner will have vacated the area or been forced to move out as prices from everything from a Starbuck's Latte to a single bus journey will have tripled for the duration.

Not one single frame shows a true reflection of the weather - 2012 umbrellas will be harder to buy than 100M final tickets.

As Jon W (who will be a vital contributor to this said), '...the natural look of wonderment in the 'passers by' is priceless...' 





The fusion of stock film, Olympic footage (tip of the hat for marrying the guys excited expression with the Rhythmic Gymnastics projected on City Hall) and rallying cries of 'Sharing the Passion' have blended together to give us something the world can all look forward to.


It's a strong start from Panasonic but with 100 days to go, I'm sure we'll find plenty of Gold

I've been far too busy Pinteresting

Unless you've been hiding in Google+ waiting for it to 'take off' for the past few months, you must have heard that Pinterest is the best thing since hot buttery sliced toast.

Pinterest at this time, is the fastest-growing social-media site in the world. It lets users visually organize their online world. Simple to use, it serves as an online scrapbook or bulletin board. Visitors create themed boards on which they put photos - A 'Pin'.

With Pinboards full of everything from 'cupcake designs' to 'toilets of hotels' (this could be my next board), it seems everyone is pinning their socks off.

Why?

Initially, it appealed to the housewives of America but since landing on these shores, it seems to be a bit cooler. At last we have a visual place where we can catalogue all the stuff we find (P)interesting - whether that be funny, indulgent, historical or you're building up a catalogue of hints, tips and inspiration for anything from Weddings to Star tattoos.

It was a bit like Twitter, we knew that only the cool kids were using it, we had no idea how it worked but we wanted it. It was all about getting the invite, becoming an early adopter - we'll work out how to use it afterwards.

However, unlike Twitter, it is really easy to use and everything's here - and if it's not, you just create a board of it. As we're becoming more visual creatures it's more satisfying looking at pictures than reading something squashed into 140 characters.

Speaking as a copywriter, I realise i'm dumbing down my own profession but there are still plenty of brochures, blogs, mailers and articles that need long sentences of opinions, adjectives and metaphors. And anyway, who says we can't appreciate a picture or a photo of a hotel toilet like normal people?

And that's what's nice about Pinterest, no-one has to worry about writing something witty, funny or controversial just to get people to like/follow us (Twitter). It's less about being socially accepted here. There's a more relaxed vibe here. It's 'this is the stuff I like, if you like it too, then that's groovy.' No-one is as cutting or opinionated here, it's all peace & love for the time being. Of course, the spammers will get here (if they're not here already) and we'll turn on each other, but for the time being, everyone seems to be enjoying the ride.

I suppose the only thing with Pinterest is don't spread yourself too thin. Don't make a board too specific that there's only a couple of things on each. Nothing looks more desperate than an empty board (it makes you look less interesting - that completely contradicts my previous paragraph).

I for one, love the place for the very reason everybody else does. You can see how uncool I am here

Pinterest/Monza77

Adland Reboot.

Advertising Re-imagined

Can America’s most iconic advertising campaigns be re-imagined for the web?

http://www.projectrebrief.com/

I love this idea from Google. Re-imaging some of the most iconic ads from yesterday using today's technology and new medias'. Makes me almost want to go back to my early work and give it a go. Although, I'm not sure how it would improve a shelf wobbler for '£100 off your holiday with Flash Multi-purpose' spray or an in-bank brochure for Visa where you could win a Vespa?

A window to the soul

And now for something either really useful in an emergency or something that will be classed as a way to inflict pure vandalism. I'll let your conscious decide.

The History of the Animated GIF

Worth nearly 7 minutes of your time if you like moving pictures on the Internets.

Keep Calm and Watch This

A charming short film about the iconic poster.

Ain't no Birthday like a Facebook Birthday

At the end of last week I turned 35

When I was seven I had a Star Wars party. I was Luke Skywalker when he was a Jedi (I was all in black, a single black glove, I even had a cape). Someone came as Buck Rogers but I let it slide.

At my 'Welcome to Adulthood' 13th, it was with a group of gay men singing 'Happy Birthday in a TGI Fridays in Key West, Florida.

My 15th was a more sophisticated affair - A dinner party (I now shudder having seen that Inbetweeners episode) followed by a showing of Robocop - a 18 certificate I hasten to add.

My 18th was spent in the Public Bar of my parents pub with a Granny-gram with a huge pair of droopy knockers bending me over a chair and whipping me while my 'mates' all looked on in awe/disgust.

My 21st was a blast - My folks came up to University - we went to the Student Union and then proceeded to take photos all of all my friends (head-in-hands). Another great family moment that day was when I unwrapped my gift from all my chums - Oh lovely, a Zippo lighter.

'Why would a non-smoker want a Zippo?' My mother would ask...click, click, click BOOM!

We then went to...I'm going to say 'TGI Fridays' again before heading back to my Halls of Residence only to be greeted on the way in by a flatmate quietly telling me that  had just OD'd on pills in her room. So after casually thanking my parents for a lovely day and ushering them out to the car park and waving them goodbye, I then had to jump in my own car and deliver her into the arms of the paramedics at High Wycombe A&E. (She was fine after a charcoal happy meal)

I've had many birthdays over the years - 35 to be exact. Some have been excellent - The Cannonball Run themed 30th was great. However, this year's was by far the dullest.

It started well. I had the day off and a mild hangover. However it quickly transpired that there were no surprise parties or long lunches going to happen as we (Mrs Cheese-on-Toast and I) had to come into town to clean and decorate our flat for new tenants. It then slowly got worse. I had do two runs to Homebase because I bought the wrong paint. I went to the dump and I sat in traffic for 2 hours to get home. I then had a takeaway with my in-laws. Not a classic by any stretch.

But on Facebook it was OFF THE HOOK!

I was getting messages from around the world. There were more 'likes' than a Fonz appreciation meeting and I even got sent a cake (Virtually, but how nice of them to know I'm watching my weight). It didn't matter that reality was ignoring my birthday - In the digital world it was Cool & the Gang and Celebration. But as they say 'reality bites' and it bit in the form of a card from my nearest and dearest work colleagues.

Roll on next year, where i'll be celebrating exclusively on social media outputs.

Welcome to (D)adland

10 years ago if I used the phrase 'I've been up all night' it was usually accompanied with a half-eaten kebab and an early morning smokers cough. Now if I use the phrase, the kebab's still there, but in the other hand is a baby monitor and the cough is no longer mine but a teething 16-month old who's addicted to Calpol.

Forget about how the industry quietly removes any female creatives who are caught within a 100 yards of a mothercare - there are better politically minded and more female orientated people who are much better at debating that topic - but this is for all the Man-boy creatives who have taken or decided to take on the fatherhood brief.

Being a creative (irrespective of gender) is a 24hr job. If you're not banging out ideas, you're trying to get them made and then you go to the pub to come up with more ideas and work out how to get them made as well. It's one big loop and the longer you manage to stay in Adland, the more of a way of life it becomes. Who hasn't phoned their other half on a friday afternoon and had to utter that sentence, 'I'm going to have to work this weekend'?

It's part of the magic of being a Doctor of Creativity - you're on call pretty much all of the time but you love it and you wouldn't want to do anything else anyway.

So after you've taken the brief and worked closely with a difficult client (mood swings, grumpiness, morning sickness, etc.) for a period of 9 months the execution is ready to go live.

Then. It. Arrives.

Up until now, the closet thing to fatherhood was the acronym D&AD and now this helpless, squidgy thing covered in (what looks like) concrete dust, feta cheese and blackberry jam is being given to you as they say 'Here you go DAD!' As a creative/boy/man/, this life-changing moment you always heard others talking about is now actually changing your life right before your eyes. Now the fatherhood brief has changed and its got two propositions:

1: Be a top notch creative, become rich and famous, go to Cannes for the right reasons
2: Work out how to be a dad.

In the beginning, number 2 is all you work from - you get a week of paternity (2 weeks and you're creatively dead to an agency) so all your attention is focused at home with nothing more than working out whether 'It' is hungry, wet or both - a simple brief and one that after a while is fairly easy to execute.

After that though trying to get an execution to work for both becomes a little more difficult but not a great deal at first. They say the first 3 months are the hardest and yes, to a point that's true. But as a creative, at work, life carries on much the same - you're a little more tired and you go to the pub less (you're certainly not the last to leave anymore) but ideas still happen, Facebook statuses get written and coffee still gets drunk.

At home, 'It' does very little - it cries, it sh*ts, it eats. The two worlds live apart from each other. You don't see your friends as much and when you do they have to be arranged within the vicinity of baby -changing facilities but that's a different blog - try mumsnet for a deeper insight into friends and having a family.

But after a while something happens. After months of nothing, 'It' starts to do things. it starts to smile, it starts to crawl, it begins to walk and it slowly learns to talk and you realise that you love this thing as well. And that's the problem of the fatherhood brief - you now love two things -  (Three, if you count Mrs Buttery Toast, but this isn't about her.) Your job and your 'It'.

You want to do the best work possible, you want to reach creative nirvana and give birth to that black pencil idea. But also, you want to see 'It' grow and develop. You want to see how many wooden blocks 'It' can stack and you want to be there to clap every time 'It' manages to put a spoonful of yoghurt in its mouth.

And because you want to answer both propositions of the brief well, you have to compromise especially with the timings issues.

With Adland, it's about getting in and leaving*. You get in on the dot, but because it's not at the crack of dawn, you feel like you're being judged for being late in. Occasionally, you want to leave on time. Whichever it is, you're can't help but feel worried that people think you can't be doing good work if you're leaving in normal working hours or you're obviously not doing this for the love of the game anymore. So you try to cram in more ideas over a shorter period of time but all the while, you just want to send an email to the chiefs making it abundantly clear:

'I love this job and just because I'm not the first in or last out that doesn't mean I'm not committed. I only get to see 'It' for 20 minutes in the morning. I'm here and I want to do great things but I don't want to miss out on the other things.'  

From "Its' point of view, you want to make sure you're there whenever you can be. The morning change and feed and the occasional bath time-bottle-bed evening fixture. It's not a complicated thing to want but it's a complicated thing to do when you love both.

The fatherhood brief was always going to be tricky, the proposition was never going to be single-minded and timings would always go out the window.

Perhaps it's my own insecurities, perhaps it's the way the ad industry makes everyone feel like it's an honour and a privilege to work in it (it hasn't escaped my attention that there aren't too many creche's in ad agencies either).

I do love being a creative but i'm learning to love being a dad too. I know the industry doesn't make it easy, however, at the end of the day, any creative worth his/her salt will ignore the brief anyway.


That concludes my one (and probably) only profound blog post about anything ad related.

Next week, a dog in a tank dancing to Yazoo.

*This bears no relation to my current employment, it's a generalisation of all the places I and many of my friends have worked at within the Advertising Industry.

Don't have creative nightmares...

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared from This Is It on Vimeo.


I'm scared to close my eyes or come up with funny Facebook stats and Tweets for FMCG companies now.

10 days to go...

In just over a week I will be right in the middle of my 30s. Slap bang, dead centre. As I'm about to hit my peak and begin the downward slope, I've been wondering what I should treat myself to on this momentous occasion. Do I get a tattoo? Perhaps a grown-up watch? A gym membership to try and tackle the issue i've carried around for the past 20 years? All of these have been valid and real possibilities that I've thought long and hard about. Today however, the internets made the decision for me.

Ear Candy 12 for 12 - Feb Ed

Quite the Nu-Disco vibe for Feb.

Best F*r*i*e*n*d*s forever

Like chain-smoking, F*r*i*e*n*d*s is one addiction that many of us just can't shift. As soon as one episode ends, we light up another one. Irrespective of how many times we see this modern (90s) version of the Famous Five +1 sat round the same dated apartment or coffee shop, we watch with the same delight as we did nearly 20 years ago. 

Yes we've all seen it so many times that we can date it to within one or two episodes in a specific season, but that's now part of the fun. Whether it's by seeing how big Joey's waistline has got, how unfunny Chandler is or how much Monica has turned into Skeletor, we still laugh at the same jokes and we're still all mesmerised by the nipples of Rachel - no matter which era, which haircut or what relationship they are always pointing and perky. I challenge you to find an episode without them making a guest appearance.

There was a point when I was up to 4-a-day and occasionally even revisited them on the +1 circuit too. I thought that when our Friends got up and left to go to Sky and Comedy Central it would curtail my want. And to a degree it has; that is until you flick through the 600 channels and you realise you'd rather watch the episode where Ross and Rachel almost get (back) together for the umpteenth time than see another sensationalist piece of work by Channel 4. But Why? Why not, is the answer. It's easy, it's funny and why wouldn't you? Plus, we're all holding out that it could be the 'one episode that I've never seen'! We all still have that belief, even now.

Anyway, with almost a fifth of a century under its belt, Friends seems like it'll always be with us. Yes, it'll slowly slip down the channel charts and eventually come to rest around the 500 mark. But 'I'll be there for you' as will many others because I, for one, am not entirely ready to go cold turkey or put on a '30 Rock' patch. 

I'll cut down but sometimes you just want one every once in a while. You never really quit. 

Note to self...

 ...and have a cigar. Because...

A Phantom Menace, not an Empire Strikes Back

The ad industry collectively held its breath with excitement when news filtered through from twitter and the vastly expanding ‘See all the cool stuff first’ blogs, that VW’s Superbowl ad was going to have another Star Wars theme.
Hooray! Who would be in it – would Star Wars kid feature again? Could it be Jabba the Hutt squeezing into a Golf? Perhaps Han & Chewy would be taking a VW camper to Florida.

I didn’t know. In truth, I didn’t care. I was excited because whatever it was, it was going to be a-m-a-z-i-n-g.
A few days later, a teaser circulates with all sorts of dogs sat on white plinths of various shapes and sizes (both pooches and plinths). After a few seconds I recognised the inane barking as the opening score to Darth Vaders entrance music. Da da da da ddda da da dddadda da. 
The Bark Side
‘This is going to be good’ I thought and it conjured up even more ideas. Ewoks on a road trip in a Polo? Are these dogs Chewy’s kids and he needs more boot space so he’s buying a Passat Estate? 

As the lunch bell silently rang at CMW towers today, one of the cool blogs announced ‘it was here!’ A preview of the ad that will be aired this Sunday during the Superbowl – an extended version in fact. Double-click!

What I saw was one minute of a fat dog exercising so he can chase the new Beetle before cutting to the infamous Cantina Bar (now taken over by the Sports Café with TV screens dripping from everywhere) where space pirates debated which of the ads was better. Star Wars Kid from last year or this year’s Fat Dog? The debate was quickly settled though by a returning Lord Vader, fresh from the sales at PC World - pink Dell notebook just £399 -  with a good old-fashioned death pinch.

Is it possible to be angry about an ad? I shouldn’t be but I am. I feel let down and hurt. I wanted Ewoks and Death Stars and AT-AT’s, and all I got was an even older cliché about dogs chasing cars. If you’ve paid all that money for the Star Wars franchise, you don’t bolt it on to the end of another ad. 

You essentially just wasted $15 million ($1million a second) on a gag that wasn’t funny to start with. All you’ve done is drag Star Wars into it. Just because everyone loved it last year doesn’t mean they’ll love it this time around. I think part of the charm of last year was that it was new. 
Now we’ve got Yoda selling mobiles, R2-D2 shaped washing machines and the Sith Lord telling us to turn right at the next set of traffic lights. I think the tide of Star Wars endorsements is well and truly out for the time being. It does make you think though -

I wonder what Bill Bernbach would think of the ad?

Personally, ‘Lemon’ is a pretty fair description.

Saying all this, it could be a fake, a rouse, only for them to reveal a full Jedi epic at half time on Sunday.

As a 34-year old who grew up wanting to be Han Solo and now looking more like his sidekick, I hope it is.

And now for something from BBC Radio 3

A charming Elizabethan ditty.
Join in when we get to the chorus...

Kid Logo Recognition

My 18-month old son recognises the Apple logo. He recognises that he can't touch these things and therefore his entire life is devoted to the capture and destruction of said products. He's almost been successful on a couple of attempts. Be afraid iPhone, iPad and AppleTV, be very afraid.

Wandering down memory lane near the Alps

I'll be blatantly honest and tell you I robbed these from an old Art Directors Facebook photo album. Ever since we went our separate ways nearly 7 years ago, I never got a copy of these. Well, as we did them together, I think it only fair I should at least take half the credit (He, on the other hand makes no reference to my existence or any of the other work there we did 'together'). So, Ben, if you're reading this, it'd be super-wicked if you could send me these and a few others, high res if you have them.

 P.S. There's a typo in the Co-op ad - proof it's my work if ever it was needed.

This is going to turn out well...

Don Winslow - The Dawn Patrol
Page 45

It's weird - where you used to see signs that read NO SHIRT, NO SHOES, NO SERVICE and might just as well have added NO ENFORCEMENT, now you see a sign in the club doorways banning gang colours, hats, hooded sweatshirts, and any gang related gear.


Not far off in hindsight.

PMSL

Scream if you want to lose an arm faster

I do love a good PR stunt.
However you try and sugar coat it, this is a great way to promote a scary and exciting new roller coaster.

Read the full article here: SWARM

More love for the cassette

Following on from my Mixtape app post, this appears on my Google Reader path. I don't know why, but it kind of feels that these two should somehow work together. Failing that, the website could be a great bit of PR to help get the film off the ground. So, I may not have donated any money but you can have the idea instead... I'll leave it right here if you want it.

Everyone's Mixtape.

My first bread related Toast post of 2012

Working as a creative in Adland can take you to some weird corners of the internet. Today we're looking at bread and I happened to stumble upon CM-302 (my favourite of all the bread slicing machines). However it wasn't the way it slices or the great use graphics, no, for me, it was the 80s style sitcom music that accompanies the footage that made me fall in love with this golden YouTube nugget.

Light, jazzy with upbeat use of brass instruments. I can just imagine all the scrapes and comedy mishaps that happen in the factory where they all end up laughing round the CM-302 machine as someone comes up with a bread based pun at the end of the show - 'I KNEAD a sit down after that!"- cue the canned laughter. This sounds like such a great idea now, this SHOULD be a sitcom.

Will someone please add to the footage 'CM-302 is filmed before a live studio audience'

Who's in the mood for Flap Jacks?

Proof that you can't make anything sexy by adding women in bikinis. Although I do fancy some pancakes now. So that's a win I suppose.