Find the agency that made this gash...

My usual procedure when analysing ads goes something like this:

See ad / respond with delight or revulsion / find ad on YouTube to post / find information from Campaign or other site to see which agency made it / post blog.

But for this Lynx advert, I seem to have drawn a blank. No-one's owning up to it. I'm going to be nice to BBH again and assume they didn't make this. Partly because if they did make it, it would be credited somewhere, and also, it would be quite possibly the worst work ever to emerge from the agency. My guess is that it's in-house, but I'd be interested to see if anyone knows.

Unfunny, badly acted, inappropriate music, a jarring pack shot with no relation to the ad, it's a mess all round. It's like the client told the agency "we want synergy with The Lynx Effect brand, but we need to differentiate too. So make it like it, but shit".

I love you really, BBH

Yesterday, I blogged about an advert for Dulux that I erroneously credited to Glue Isobar - turns out they're actually just handling the digital, and the TV ad was produced by BBH.

Which is nice as it redresses the balance after I was so critical of their Guardian ad, and gives me the opportunity to say that I think BBH are a great agency who have produced and are still producing absolutely inspirational work. They just drop the ball occasionally.

Dulux shag (and dog) story

I do rather like this ad, made by Glue Isobar [EDIT - actually made by BBH, see here for more]. It shows perfectly how advertising can demonstrate how their product fits, practically and emotionally, into ordinary people's lives.

The editing is great too - the change of pace when the door opens and closes is beautifully done, and adds just a little hook that makes the ad more attention-grabbing. And the story arc is neatly bookmarked by the painting red over white at the start and painting white over red at the end, as childish concerns obliterates marital lust.

What Dee and Ady taught me

First off, an apology. This blog was required of me by my school, so I apologise if it comes across like one of those awful student blogs that is clearly a mandatory requirement of passing the course, complete with a clunking "what I learned" section at the end.

Last week was the deadline for the D&AD student awards. I managed to get an entry away before the deadline - with my partner Olly we've entered the "Peace One Day" brief, which asked us to find ways to raise awareness of International Peace Day, which is on September 21st. Look, I'm raising awareness even now.

The first thing that I learned is that D&AD operate with a level of control and paranoia I haven't experienced since I had a call from the Disney trademark infringement department a few years back. To be fair, their staff are lovely, but their rules and regulations are remarkably stringent. For example, you can't use any copyrighted images without permission except those of the sponsor - and as ours involved suggesting a corporate tie-in, this meant half our time was spent on the phone begging them to let us use their logo.

My belief in the strength of creative partnerships was reinforced considerably. More than any other project we've worked on, where very often the idea has been mostly down to one of us, this was one that we could never have produced without each other. The strategy - finding ways in which the themes of peace and conflict can be found in our everyday life - was mine. This then inspired Olly to have an idea - which I then researched and suggested an improvement to, including the name. And then we pushed the idea forward together.

You have to learn to be careful when asking for advice, because you can easily lose sight of the objective - winning the award. We spoke to a very helpful industry insider and used many of his technical hints, whereas the creative advice suggested was more appropriate for a business pitch rather than an awards entry.

And lastly, I learned that Olly Wood is the most talented, dedicated, and reliable Art Director in the known universe.

Thanks. I'll be gushing or sarcastic about another advert tomorrow.

O2 stalking me over the weekend

On Friday I posted about a particularly aggravating ad from O2 that had polluted my consciousness.

The thing is, in bringing it to your attention, I wanted to find a clip, so I searched for it on YouTube. Then I wanted to find out the agency so I did a search on Google. Finally, I posted it here on Blogger, which is linked to my Google account.

It may be that only one of these was picked up by the ad servers. Maybe it was all 3. But the result was, the fucking ad kept following me around over the weekend, every time I tried to watch a YouTube video. I started making screenshots after a while...

I did so much skipping I felt like an 8 year old girl by Sunday night.

O2 - could be the longest minute of your life

Well sometimes I analyse ads on their business strategy, sometimes on their execution, or the acting, or the overall creative strategy. Other times I might take an amateurish look at the behavioural economics employed.

I'd like to give this advert, by VCCP, the same courtesy. But I can't get beyond the first 10 seconds without the single thought "oh God please just make her shut the fuck up" overriding all others in my mind, and blindly reaching for the mute button like an asthmatic for their inhaler.

This may be one of those occasions where I'm on my own. But is there really anyone who would hear the winsome trilling about "ticky-tacky boxes" and think to themselves "ooh, this is an advert I'm going to pay attention to right until the end"?

Mameshiba - don't eat cute beans

This, like much that comes out of Japan, is frankly weird. But it's also wonderful - and it appears to be the work of an advertising agency alone, made for no other purpose than to sell merchandise.

Mameshiba, produced by Dentsu, are a series of animated beans - with dog faces - that somehow prevent themselves from being eaten by sharing unusual trivia. Here they are...

And here's what they do...

We're currently working on a brief for Sherbet Fountain so the emphasis is on finding something to entertain kids and adults alike. I'm not sure something this surreal would quite work for the British market, but I'll be pleased to create something with half its charm.