My all-time top 10 TV adverts.

I was chatting to a colleague the other day and we talking about our favourite ads of all-time I casually rattled of a couple of mine and she responded and said perhaps you could share your top ten, well I made a list and below is my top 10 ever. > > In first place is 'Snow Plough' from 1964 for VW. I saw this advert in the late 80's and it's one of those adverts that attracted me to go to art college. Timeless and the voiceover is so dry, just brilliant. A very close second was 1999 Surfer from Guinness, I literally got goosebumps when I heard and saw this at the cienma. Those close ups and the beginning combined with the booming soundeffects, the build of the story as we pan out to sea, the editing is top notch. It sold product as it was based on a product truth but it was also the closest to been also a work of art. Tick Tock, tick tock. In at number 3 is Dambusters by Carling Black Label Loved the way this was shot I remember at the time this was one of the first UK TV commercials to have that cinematic feel to it, the pay off at the end and twist is just so good. British humour at it's finest. Another beer advert! Seem to have a theme going on Heineken. 'The Water in Majorca' they say refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach well I can watch this spot again and again and I'll never get tired of it. I know the gags as I watched it so many times but the performances are just esquiste. Gosh. Volvo featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme is in at number 6, here he is carrying out his famous splits between two moving trucks. Apparently it was never done before,and I can see why it bcame viral with so many hits. A wonderful demo and I loved the choice of music from Enya, which has a very sedate pace to it as the story unfolds and with that end shot, for us boys it's eye watering brilliant. I saw this advert for Tonka Trucks one Christmas as a 5 year kid, I wanted one for Christmas. When I did I tried everything to smash it as boys we do but alas the advert was true, it did not smash as mauch as I tried. Another brilliant demo around a product truth. This advert still makes me laugh, it was at a time when a lot of adverts were very Punk rock and disruptive was a common thread as the agnecy HHCL at the time who did this advert also did Ronceal and Pot Noodle. This Tango ad was my favourite it was even better than the orginal 'orange man slap' 'Let's break for lunch' what a line and what a performance!! An idea that'so simple, locked off camera just a mamma mia of an idea. The cast and the surpise product makes this piece, it's so left field in its creative execution. I love it, the dude is brilliant. and my last one for Nike - Parklife, yes it's still a cracker. The blend of superstars with everyday Sunday league players and those third shots too all round a top draw spot from Nike. So there you have it, these are my top 10, any others you think should be included or taken out?

Good ideas are timeless

I love ideas as in creative ideas that are playful with the written word or art directed in a way that captures your eye. (Ideally both of these skill sets work even better in conjunction). Take these two examples which came up in my social media feed, they stopped me in my tracks, my thumb came to juddering halt, I wondered why? Both have charm in tone of voice, both are also informative. They treat the viewer with intelligence and there's no need to 'fill in the gaps' as many marketing director's these like to do. This is what great ideas do, it moves you to act. To buy product, ohh those dirty words that seems to be the trend these days, to avoid selling stuff, ironically at all costs. 'Brand purpose' is all the rage but these posters have a purpose and their purpose is to flog stuff. What is also of interest, these two posters must be at least 40 year's apart, the Tide poster was conceieved just after the end of WW2, when Britain was in rebuilding mode after her cities where bombed, this is my hometown, London, East London to be precise. I love the line, it even has the brands name in the headline. (Dave Trott would I'm sure be impressed) and if you look closely it even has a bit of a special build going on, the use of type and graphics is dated but somehow would look fresh now, it has that retro feel to it. The headline" Tide's in - Dirt's out! what a line - just 4 words and hits a home run and the product benifit pitched in a charming way. Fast-foward to the 90's and we have a poster van driving around selling a bedside cabient. Again what a headline this is, it made me smile and again just 4 words to sell the product. How many ads have you seen lately that can do that? B&Q is the only work out of Uncommon London I can recall that has acheived that lately. These are timeless and like all good ideas will be remembered and recalled, as for the 99.9%, they'll all go in the black hole of nothingness. Work to be done for all creatives to get noticed and sell stuff. Tick,tock.

Sick Beats

When you see so much work throughout your career and as a Creative Director you see a lot - the good, the bad and the dam right ugly and then, a couple fall out of the bucket that come under the title; 'fuck me that is so bloody brilliant, oh my God what a fucking brilliant idea' title. 

Kids with cystic fibrosis have to go through a daily chore of airway-clearance therapy, it's not nice to say the least. 

So some smart people have created Sick Beats which is the world's first music-powered airway clearance vest. The prototype, a redesign of Woojer's consumer vest, syncs with a smartphone to pull therapeutic 40Hz frequencies from music and send them to the chest. Which helps clears the patients lungs of mucus. Bloody amazing.

Rightly it won awards but if I was the creative who came up with this idea, would I care it won? Not really but seeing the joy on the little girl's face after her treatment through Sick Beats, now that's worth its weight in gold. #hatTip team at Woojer and Area 23 FCB 

Neymar and Pokerstars shaking up poker

I'm drawn to Heinz

How about this for brand recall? To be fair it’s a bit like Hoover. Top draw work though from Heinz.This is also another great example of true 360’ thinking. Love the fact they also used the research as part of the actual campaign output.

Wow!! I need a cigarette after watching this

Wow. When advertising is done right. An incredibly powerful new campaign from Bodyform developed by a female led creative team out of AMV. #WombStories Truly magical story-telling. Serious #HatTip.

Bit of Retro

These vintage fast food ads by TBWA\Paris for McDonald's are a classic and noteworthy example of clever advertising. To celebrate the restaurant chain's iconic burger — the Big Mac. Loved the art direction and I'n noticing a trend at the moment for comfort during Convid19 lockdown many of us are resorting to watching old films as kids and teens. Call it comfort food in this instance. Nice work.

Caples Awards

Caples Awarads was announced last night 13/4/ some really lovely work all announced via Zoom in these strange times but two things that never change and always remain, one, creatives will always have a drink in their hand and the two; there's even more importance in the value of the creative idea, like I said, even more so now. On a side note you might rightly question why do awards while this is going on? Well it was this year free to enter and I think it was good to bring many creatives together from all over the world via Zoom, creatives from Sydney, NZ and LA all coming together, much better I think than some gaff in London, seemed more inclusive. Anyway clients need to be brave, innovate, explore new ways of doing things. Companies regardless of size or sector need to stand-out combined with creating ideas/products/approach that is aligned with the reality of Convid19. Create work as John Hegarty mentioned at the start of the Zoom presentation that all great creative must adhere; be memorable, motivating and truthful. The work tonight I saw some real corkers. />

100% Flaming savage

Any social media folks out there look at what Burger King are doing - love their response and the tone of voice- cheeky and so right for their target audience. #hatTip

Drinking Horror Story This Halloween

Don't let Halloween haunt you forever. Budweiser and DAVID Miami worked with real people arrested for irresponsible drinking, turning their mugshots into reminders that drink driving can easily turn into a horror show. Be warned.

Unbelievable in this day and age.

This was aired on my Facebook feed from a female colleague bemoaning in this day and age this type of work is been produced. It’s shocking really and when you work in the industry you feel quite embarrassed even when you had thankfully nothing to do it with it. As I’m in the industry I also know that ‘creative’ work and I use the term loosely here, has to go various rounds of sign off, from internal sketches and finally mock ups to present back to a team of marketing directors. SO at what stage did anyone question this headline: ”You look like you would fancy a 50 year old..’ In an industry I know from colleagues at various agencies the sly bullying and ageism is rife in our industry. This type of work just encourages that behaviour further. I also noticed today the new Campaign Faces to watch what was so refreshing was the vast majority were female, so change is happening I just hope that the change will also come when it comes to hiring mature and experienced talent. How refreshing would it be when the day comes when you have a creative team one in their 20’s and one in their 70’s in a top ad agency. - now that’s something that I would raise a drink to. Time for change let’s as creative’s not encourage work like this if we want to attract the best talent into the industry.

Blah Blah Bollocks

Thursday Thought: Filling in the blanks with a formulaic approach in writing creative briefs produces formulaic creative solutions. We need to think and dig deeper into out clients needs beyond marketing jargon. (The solution might not even be an advertising campaign). Think differently and make a real difference.

I don’t need two hands to hold a Gold Cannes

Came across this belter this morning and I had to share. Yes yes I know you could write this script for any beer brand and my response would be; yes you could but bollocks! Why? Because they did it first and to be frank this has everything in my book; a simple idea, art directed and the cast are spot on, and the cherry on the top is the writing of the lyrics, pure class as is the production, it’s off the chart. I watched the full version, transfixed and laughed at each scenario, really lovely work and when I finished viewing I thought to myself;that should do well at Cannes this year. ‘I’m drinking this for you’ with their classic line; 'I don't need two hands to....' Apparently didn’t win anything, please correct me if I’m wrong but I just read it on the forums. If that is the case then something is seriously wrong there, this is a piece of old (maybe that is the problem) school approach but goes one step further in treating the viewer with intelligence that entices you in, rather than a quick blunt gag. One thing that I do know; if I was the creative behind this work; I wouldn’t need two hands to hold a Gold Cannes, to know this is a cracking piece of creative communication. View this gem here

So few words but says so much

I saw this and it literally stopped me in my tracks, like all good design and creative ideas are suppose to do. (Let’s not discuss BT’s new logo redesign shall we). I do however I love this quote as it’s beautiful clear and to the point. So many people in our industry who over cook briefs and presentations, I wonder why this is? Does it make them feel by rambling it makes them smarter? Here my friends and colleagues is what you must always do; be clear, keep it simple and outline the business objective/opportunity. Simples as a meerkat once said.

IKEA Game Of Thrones

IKEA does it again. Whatever the medium, no matter what, they can make any space creative. You know too people will take selfies. So this isn’t just a display unit, this is branded viral content. Great stuff #HatTip

Ecom Mobile Utility Ideas

Here's a free scamp of ideas that really could apply to any online shopping portal, this was done for Sendo Vietnam which has some local ideas that only work in VN like TET but most of the ideas could work in most parts of the world. Shopping online is more that just a well executed UI, pick and click is vital as always but more and more shopping sites are interlinked with their social marketing or CRS programs, take for instance the idea here for Sendo, where during TET families come together, some people are alone, so during this very important gathering wants stopping Sendo as a shopping portal to bring people who have no one together. Just a thought but more and more brands will be judged not just on words but their actions. That is why each silo in companies and agencies are brought together as the thinking and experience has to be seamless and truly connected.

Instagram Good Time To Post

Beautifully Sad

These ads from Refuge have been popping up in my feed over the last week or so, you would have thought this type of behaviour from men would have been a thing of the past, but sadly if anything it's on the increase :( but this is wonderful work from a creative perspective to the work they do in supporting women in abusive relationships. Very well written and art directed. #HatTip to work like this McCann Bristol.

Love this, sums it up.

Sharing Creativity and Thinking

As a Creative Director with over 25 year's experience 18 years of that in pure play digital agencies one thing has taught me is that we all need mentors or teachers, even after all these years you can never stop learning, that is why I took my teaching degree at Falmouth University recently, spending long nights for over 26 weeks including weekends, all of this was online and while I was doing my day job. It was extremely hard and I now have a real appreciation for students currently studying, they get a bad rap sometimes and for the most part unfairly. One thing that taking this course has taught me is that you need people to talk and share your thoughts, collaboration is key to any form of working relationship either in the office or in the student halls, you need that interaction. Even though the course was all online, the platform we had gave us the opportunity to talk via forums and through weekly Hangouts, I didn't feel isolated far from it. I did however have one mentor behind the scenes a colleague I had worked with when I first started in advertising, the lovely Gail Parameter she's now a lecturer herself and I relied on her a lot, especially when it got a bit wobbly, tight deadlines, papers to write and lead pitches in my day job. So all students out there young or old, a word of wisdom find your mentor(s) we all need them from time to time. Have a great weekend.