Lurpak butter

Seen on Camberwell New Road on my walk home from class.

The main thing that needs to be praised is the art direction - it's a beautiful image. It makes me hungry. I urge you to take a look at the full size image.

I wasn't so sure about the headline "noble", but in context with the rest of the campaign, which is headed with words like "salvation", "heroics", and "empires", they deserve their space.

The stated aim is to "reinforce the brand’s position as the natural choice to enhance good food", and in a marketplace where there is no discernible quality or price difference, it's as good a way as I can think of to swing your decision. It is, let's face it, an appeal to the middle class foodie, the people who want simple homemade food with good quality ingredients, and are sceptical of packaged sandwiches and fast food. Yes, it's preaching to the converted, but it's beautifully done.

A little research going a long way...

 

I started seeing these posters for the Paralympics yesterday on the tube. Apparently they're by McCann Worldgroup, and they're certainly striking - they command attention far more than most other posters currently up there. I'm a little dubious about the copywriting on this one, because strictly speaking he doesn't just use his arms. The wheels help.

This one is a whole lot better, and a really good example of research driving the copy. You push your client for all the information they can offer, then pick out what's interesting. In fact it's so strong that they should have have used this powerful theme - the minute difference between success and failure - across the whole campaign.

I also like this one because it doesn't explicitly reference the disability - it just shows it in the image. I think people are used to the idea that Paralympic achievement is against all odds, and just want to treat it as any other sport. Having said that, I assume someone at the Paralympic Association signed it off so if they don't mind, I suppose it's hardly something to make a fuss about.

Every day is everyday

Saw a little item on the Campaign website which tickled me. You might need a subscription, but the gist is, Carlsberg are launching a new campaign with the strapline "that calls for a Carlsberg". Incidentally, I think it's pretty good, it's clear and concise and alliterative and has a nice rhythm, although I'll wait to see the actual ads before reserving judgement.

Anyway, the part that made me raise an eyebrow was the quote from Carlsberg's "brand controller", who says "the partnership with Sky Sports is the perfect vehicle to communicate with our target audience and reinforce our new 'That calls for a Carlsberg' line. For this campaign, we’ll see the Carlsberg brand positioned as the perfect every day reward."

Now what I suspect he meant was "the perfect everyday reward", suggesting that it is unpretentious, low-priced, and to be enjoyed on a regular basis. However "every day" means just that - he's suggesting that people should drink beer every single day of the week.

Morrissey knew the difference, that's why it's "Everyday Is Like Sunday" and not "Every Day Is Like Sunday"; there's a sly joke in there at the people who label him as a misery-guts.

postscript: I just looked at the thesaurus entry for "everyday", and the synonyms include "chronic" and "habitual". Perhaps either way, it's a phrase best avoided for Brand Controllers selling alcohol.

The Sun - new football season

Link to story and video here



It's tempting to think that the softened visual and verbal tone of this new campaign, devised by WCRS&co, is an attempt to set the Sun apart from its departed Sunday brethren, to ditch the cockney-geezers-shouting schtick, and be seen as sober and, dare one say it, cultured. However the adverts were clearly in production long before the walls around that particular fan got a lot browner, so what's the idea?
I suspect they're catching up with the fact that football is increasingly a thinking man's game. Or woman's. When arch-strategists like Wenger and Mourinho roam the touchlines, and Fergie's power lies as much in his head as in his hairdryer temper, the old days of "I hit the ball first time and there it was in the back of the net" seem a long way away. The average fan likes to talk strategy, not just tactics, loyalty, and partisanship, and they want to be fed arguments and lines for the pub.

I do think the advert is flawed though. The animation - by Richard Swarbrick, best known for his rendering of Gareth Bale's sensational performance against Inter Milan - depicts a moment that simply does not need bringing to life. I don't need Terry Venables to tell me how good the overhead kick was, especially not in prose over-reliant on clunkily inserted similes. If you're going highbrow, take it all the way and stick poetry over the top. It's really not as daring a departure as The Sun would like you to think.