Commercial Reviews

1.     This is wholesome (HoneyMaid snacks): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBC-pRFt9OM

This was an advertisement created by HoneyMaid snacks on March 10, 2014. The original advertisement called,  “This is Wholesome” was a celebration of all families no matter the sexual orientation, race, gender or color. HoneyMaid took a stand with what they believe in. They knew when they aired the commercial that the ad was going to receive a lot of criticism.  The ad showed a gay couple and their child, as well as an interracial couple. The ad received hundreds of hate messages on social media sites across all platforms.  How HoneyMaid responded to the negative comments they received is what is truly powerful. HoneyMaid hired two artists to create a collage using the negative comments and turned them into a symbol of love. With all the positive messages they received after their response, over ten times as many, they added to the collage to show that the positive comments prevailed over the negative.  It was a very timely response by HoneyMaid, which can be one of the most powerful advertising tactics if done correctly. Although the commercial provides very little information about the actual snacks that honey maid is trying to sell, it shows that they aren’t afraid to make a stand.

We are beginning to see more and more companies begin to take a stand for what they believe in. Along with HoneyMaid, Cheerios and Swifter Sweeper have created similar commercials that received similar backlash. I think that it is a good thing that these big companies are starting to take a stand in what they believe in instead of just doing it for the money. That being said, It made me wonder whether or not HoneyMaid had already planned their response before airing the original commercial. The company knew that they were going to receive hate mail because this is such a controversial issue. Who’s to say that they didn’t already come up with the response before they even received the hate mail? Either way I think it was a great campaign and I think it deserved to win a Gold Lion at the festival.

2.     “Mistakes” New Zealand Traffic Authority http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvLaTupw-hk

This advertisement was created by the New Zealand Traffic Authority to show drivers that other people on the roads make mistakes and it is important to drive the speed limit so that when others do make mistakes they don’t pay the ultimate price. This commercial tugs at the consumer’s emotions. Anyone that drives a car or has a child can put themselves in the position of either the father who made the mistake with the boy in the back seat or with the man who was driving a too fast. 

The advertiser uses very powerful images throughout the entire commercial. The first is when the driver pulls out thinking he has enough time and time suddenly freezes. He looks at the steering wheel as if he has no idea what he’s done. The first thing he does is check back to make sure his son is ok and then steps out of the car. The two men approach each other as everything around them is at a stand still. As the two men converse, the cars inch closer and closer together which hints that there is no way a collision can be avoided. The father begs the man for fear of his son’s life. As he turns away, he puts his hands on his head and winces at the thought of what is about to happen.  Once he gets back in the car he looks into his sons eyes. Any parent can relate to the feeling of helplessness the man feels when he realizes there is nothing else he can do.

Another very important element to this commercial is that there is no music. It is very powerful and raw because the silence adds a realistic feel to the commercial. I think that although this ad is very emotional, it is also very effective. Sometimes you need to see an advertisement like this to make people realize how dangerous driving a car really is and how quickly something like this can happen. The whole point of the video is to show drivers that this all could have been avoided if people would just slow down and avoid distractions when driving.     

3.     Marmite Rescue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3SjrX7nUu8

This is an advertisement for Marmite Jam created by adam&eveDDB Marmite’s new campaign is called, “Love it. Hate it. Just don’t forget it”. Personally I think the ad is very creative. The advertisement takes us into the homes of everyday people where a team of professionals whom resemble animal control are asking questions. After going through and inspecting each household they find a jar of Marmite in the back of the kitchen cupboard. They the proceed to take the Marmite from the home and relocate it to a shelter for Marmite where other loving families can pick up the jars and get good use out of it. The commercial attempts to mimic the relocation of neglected animals in a funny parody.

After doing some research on the commercial I discovered that it received over 250 complaints that the ad was in bad taste and is offensive. It is accused of being offensive towards animal welfare charities and child protection agencies.  Many complained on Facebook that the ad was in “poor taste” and “makes a mockery of animal rescue. The judges at The Cannes Lions awards seemed to think otherwise and awarded the campaign with two gold awards in the press and outdoor categories.

Personally I think that the ad was fantastic. It was very funny and I didn’t find it distasteful. I thought that Marmite did an excellent job taking a product that most people care nothing about and creating a campaign that people find amusing and will most like share with friends and family. I applaud them for their work and think they deserve the awards they won.

Titanium and Integrated Awards

Titanium and Integrated Awards:

The jury understood that not all countries could create the same quality videos. The jury’s main goal was to look beyond the videos and focus on ideas that are pushing boundaries and redefining the way we look at advertising. 

Integrated Gold Lion:

Volvo Trucks
The New Volvo FMX

I would imagine that it is really difficult to get people to talk about trucks. Volvo introduced 5 new models of trucks and had to figure out a way to advertise them and actually get people to care. So they brought in Jean Claude Van Damme to do an unbelievable split in between two moving trucks and the video went viral.  This is a perfect example of how YouTube can be used to promote a product. The videos were released solely on YouTube and now have over 100million views.  I applaud Volvo for taking a product that no one really cares about and producing these Live Test Series films to add a creative side and demonstrate the trucks state of the art capabilities. 

Integrated Grand Prix:

Harvey Nichols
Christmas
Adam&EveDDB London
United Kingdom

I thought this was a really great idea by ADAM&EVEDDB. Harvey Nichols is a high-end luxury fashion retailer in the UK.  The concept was to create a line of gifts that you could give to your loved ones called the “Sorry I Spent It On Myself Gift Collection.” The collection consisted of presents like rubber bands, drain plugs and paper clips. I personally thought the film campaign was much funnier and more engaging than the print campaign where they just showed the products that had won earlier in the week.  The campaign had huge success with 26,000 products selling out in just three days.  I thought it was a really funny idea and obviously it was very effective.

Titanium Award:

UN Women
Gender Equality
Memac Ogilvy Dubai

I thought that Mermac Ogilvy Dubai did an excellent job in forming a creative advertisement that brought to light the issue of gender inequality.  They used Google’s autocomplete function and showed that gender bias is still prevalent. The search results became the center of the campaign with phrases like: “women should stay at home” and “women need to be put in their place”.  The lips of several women are covered in the ads by these appalling comments. The campaign reached 1.2 billion global impression with over 224 million twitter impressions. I think it was a brilliantly obvious way to use something we all use everyday to show that gender inequality is still a major issue all over the world. 

Project Daniel
Not Impossible Labs
3D Printing Prosthetics

This was probably one of my favorite campaigns of the festival for a couple different reasons. Mike Ebling founder of impossible labs was inspired by Daniel who had tragically lost both of his arms in an explosion near his village in Sudan. Through Not Impossible and with the help of Intel Corporation, Ebeling was able to get the funding to go to the Sudan and create prosthetic limbs for Daniel using a 3D printer. I’ve always been interested in 3D printing technology and I think it was a great cause. I don’t think it was a very good advertisement for Intel but I think it will help Not Impossible grow.    

States United to Prevent Gun Violence
Anti Gun Violence Organization
Unloadyour401k.com allows owners of a 401k-retirement plan to find out if they are investing in guns and to take their money out. Many people had no idea that their 401k is invested in gun companies. This advertisement does nothing more than making this issue known to people and allowing them to do something about it. 401k.com allows people with a 401k to divest their money away from these companies.  I think this is a great campaign not only because it brings awareness to the issue but it also offers a way for people to fix the problem easily. 

Titanium Grand Prix:

Honda Motor Co.
Internavi
Dentsu Tokyo 

In the year 1989 Senna set the worlds fastest lap during the Japanese Grand Prix qualifying. Using advanced sound and LED technology, paired with the raw data recorded in 1989, Dentsu Tokyo brought the original race back to life. The video became the most watched video by an automobile company in Japan’s history. I’m on the fence on whether or not I think this should have won the Titanium Grand Prix. I understand that merging data with creativity was the main reason this campaign won however; I don’t think it was the best advertisement in the world. I honestly thought Project Daniel and Not Impossible was better than Internavi.  

Day #7

Today was the last day of this week long festival. Although everything was closed down and only a few seminars remained, they were some of the most interesting. They didn’t really have much to do with advertising, PR, or marketing but they were all very creative. Today was innovation day, and all of the seminars revolved around this common theme. The first seminar I attended was called Innovation Day: Make the Future. This was a really powerful seminar mainly because of the story that Mick Ebeling, CEO and founder of Not Impossible, told. It all began with a boy named Daniel. Daniel was from a refugee camp in the Sudan. Ebeling had read about his story in a magazine.  Daniel had tragically lost both of his arms in an explosion near his village. Through Not Impossible and with the help of Intel Corporation, Ebeling was able to get the funding to go to the Sudan and make a real difference. His main goal was to go to the Sudan and create prosthetic limbs for Daniel using a 3D printer. Not only did he create these limbs at night, because it was so hot during the day, but he also taught the villagers how to use the 3D printing machine and left it for them to make more limbs for others in need. Ebeling says that he lives by two simple principles: the first is, “you never change things by fighting against the existing reality”, and the second is “to change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. These project is so powerful because it shows technology can be used for the sake of humanity, it doesn’t always need to be used for capitalism.  In our day in age, technology is so affordable that nothing is truly impossible any more. You can watch about project Daniel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDYFMgrjeLg

The Second Seminar I attended was called Synesthesia- A Creativity Showcase. Phillip Sheppard is a composer and fantastic cellist. With a state of the art looping station, Sheppard was able to create a beautiful symphony with a single instrument, the cello. His inspiration comes from the world around him. Throughout the seminar, he asked members of the audience specific questions such as: “what is the date, what is your phone number, and even questions like what is your name? “He then took the numerical values given in the answers and applied it to the musical scale and preceded to change numbers into beautiful music. His creativity ability is unattainable for most, but by looking at the world in an unusual way he has created something beautiful. I believe that this was the main point the audience was supposed to take away from the seminar. The next speaker to come on stage was Neil Harrison. Neil was born with a rare disease called achromotospsia meaning he could only see in black and white. Fascinated by the thought of colors, Neil created a special antenna which was implanted into the back of his head allowing him to sense and feel the vibrations of certain wavelengths of the light spectrum. Neil can literally sense which colors are around him based off of vibrations. Through persistence and determination, Neil accomplished something surgeons told him would be physically impossible. He is now known as the Human Cyborg and invents new breakthrough technology for other people with disabilities as well as regular people.

The last main seminar of the entire festival was interesting to say the least. The seminar was called, “A conversation with Bono and Jonathan Ive”.  Bono, lead singer of U2 and creator of (Red), has paired with Apple as well as several other supporters such as Bank of America. (Red) is a charitable organization set up to fight AIDs in areas across the globe with less access to the drugs that help prevent the disease. Bono and Jonathan Ive, Apples Senior Vice President of Design, spoke of how the simplicity and availability of the drug give no reason as to why it cannot be spread to the hardest to reach parts of the world. My favorite part of the seminar was when Bono took off his (Red) Apple Ipad case to point out that the (Red) logo is super small on the inside of the case where no one can see it. He called out Jonathan Ive on the design and said it “was a crap” way to market the organization. Ive was caught off guard and his reaction was priceless. Bono asked everyone in the audience to contribute to the cause and many people had great ideas on how the campaign could grow and reach more people.  

I can honestly say that this festival has been one of the best experiences of my life. If I learned nothing else its that you can learn so much from professionals whom have both failed and succeeded throughout their careers. There is no other place in the world where students can get the opportunity to talk to David Nutter, director of Game of Thrones and Fred Cook, CEO of Golin Advertising in the same day as well as hundreds of other extremely other influential advertisers and creatives. This study abroad program is what you make of it. If you put yourself out there, try new things, meet new people and learn as much as you possibly can, you will come out three weeks later with a completely different outlook than when you entered. I would recommend this program to anyone that wants to have a blast in the south of France and listen to the most creative people around the world. 

Day #6

As the week comes to a close, more and more people are leaving the festival heading back to their busy lives all over the world. The auditoriums are beginning to look like ghost towns. There were slim pickings today with regards to which speakers I wanted to see. Today was music day at the festival. Many of the seminars were music themed, whether it was the top 10 commercials with best music or executives from Pandora.

The first session I went to was The Top 10 Greatest Music Moments in the History of Advertising. Co-founders of Synkio gave the seminar: Ben Perreau and Vince Lynch.  It was an interesting look at how we as consumers subconsciously associate the music in the background of commercials with the product being advertised. When we here the song like a rock, by Bob Dylan, many people immediately think about Chevy trucks. The song is coupled so well with the product that consumer’s automatically assume it was written specifically for the commercial when in reality it wasn’t.  The number one spot went to Run DMC’s song My Addidas in the Addidas sneaker commercial. I didn’t entirely agree with this selection. I thought that there were several other music moments that should have made the list.  Some better examples could have been:

1.  Chryslers “Born of Fire”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3guZ7dMAkc&feature=kp

2.  Beats by Dre “Hear What You Want”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yUj0Ta44DI

3. Budweiser’s “Clydesdales”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTbLBL2P6YA

The main seminar I wanted to talk about was Brands, Brands and Fans- How Collaboration Is Driving Music Creation and Brand Storytelling.  Anthony Reeves, Chief Officer at Moxie, Chester See, Artist and YouTube sensation as well as Michael Gross, Head of Music Worldwide, Allsaints, presented this forum. The main reason I wanted to talk about this forum was because I didn’t agree with some of the things Chester See was saying. For those of you that don’t know, Chester See became famous for his cover of All Of Me, originally written and performed by John Legend.  You can listen to both versions here:

John Legend's original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=450p7goxZqg

Chester See's cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P45PPDXN5wg

One point See was trying to make was that, if you make a cover of a song and it becomes more popular than the original song, then it can be argued that the version that is more popular then it becomes “your” song in a way. I do not agree with this statement. Just because you do a great cover does not mean that you put the same amount of time and effort that the original artist put in creating the work. In this case, All Of Me is a love song John Legend wrote about a woman HE loves. Chester See may have someone in mind when he performs the song, but he shouldn’t be able to take credit for the time, effort and heart John Legend original put into the song. That being said, I think many of the points See made were valid. YouTube has become a medium in which people don’t need to be signed by record labels for their music to be noticed. Another point he made was that collaboration is one of the best ways for your work to be noticed. I believe that this can be applied to marketing, advertising, or anything else in the entertainment industry. 90% of the time you are better off collaborating with others whether its musicians or brands, that have a larger consumer fan base than you do.

Tomorrow is the last day of the festival. The beach cabanas, forums, tech talks, and workshops will close up shop. Only one theater will be open to view the last day of seminars. Bono and Jonathan Ive are the two main speakers I’m looking forward too...