Sometimes you see an ad on TV and think to yourself, "It's almost too good to be an ad." Take away the cheesy tagline, product shot and logo; soon enough you've got a work of art. It doesn't happen often, especially as a lot of ads are only good because they're funny. Not that I've got anything against funny ads (The Big Ad, VB Boony, etc), but too often do advertisers play the comedy card when they want to give their ad cut-through.
Advertising is a creative industry, but wouldn't you say it's at the bottom of the pile when compared to other creative industries? Time to sack the Art Director/Copywriter team, and bring in the artist.
Take a look at this brilliant ad for HP as an example. The creative team have come to Michel Gondry (Human Nature, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Science of Sleep) with a skeleton of an idea. Surely they would have said, "Salut Michel! Make us some of that 'dream' stuff you do!" This is what he came back with:
It does beg the question: Is Michel Gondry well known enough to speak to HP's market? There are millions of people who have never even seen his movies, let alone heard his name. But then again, he is a mainstream-cult figure with a legion of fans all over the world. This leads to one conclusion... HP is looking to speak to an audience that connects with Michel. Who are these people you ask? You guessed it, Mac people.
HP's new machines are interestingly slick. An obvious response to the success of Mac's consistent product design across all its hardware. I'll be very interested to see what the response is. Are we Mac users buying into the Mac brand merely because the machines look great on our desks? Probably. This may be the first test for Mac in a while. And as soon as Google releases an operating system that sinks Windows forever, the competition may get stiffer.
Before you scream nerd, let's get back to art. Another great director (and friend of Gondry) making quality ads is Spike Jonze. Everyone loved the Ikea lamp ad he did. Even more enjoyed the Adidas TVC he made to a soundtrack by Karen O. But my personal favourite was this ad for The Gap. I would have loved to be in the client meeting when the idea miraculously made it through.
I managed to see Spike speak at Cinema Nova on Lygon Street when he was in the country filming Where the Wild Things Are. Asked what happens when approached by agencies, he said (and I paraphrase): "When an agency brings me an idea, I usually tell them it's shit. I say, if you want me to film this ad, let me write it. So they do and this is what they get."
Apparently some turn him down. Their loss I guess.
If anything, the Gondry ad for HP is a step forward. Will they be able to catch up on lost ground against Mac? Only time will tell. But I'm pretty sure Michel would have taken his hefty payment from HP and bought some new Macs.
8 Comments
Spoken by Tait Ischia Ischia
on Tuesday, May 22 at 21:10.
Advertising is a creative industry, but wouldn't you say it's at the bottom of the pile when compared to other creative industries? Time to sack the Art Director/Copywriter team, and bring in the artist.
Take a look at this brilliant ad for HP as an example. The creative team have come to Michel Gondry (Human Nature, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Science of Sleep) with a skeleton of an idea. Surely they would have said, "Salut Michel! Make us some of that 'dream' stuff you do!" This is what he came back with:
It does beg the question: Is Michel Gondry well known enough to speak to HP's market? There are millions of people who have never even seen his movies, let alone heard his name. But then again, he is a mainstream-cult figure with a legion of fans all over the world. This leads to one conclusion... HP is looking to speak to an audience that connects with Michel. Who are these people you ask? You guessed it, Mac people.
HP's new machines are interestingly slick. An obvious response to the success of Mac's consistent product design across all its hardware. I'll be very interested to see what the response is. Are we Mac users buying into the Mac brand merely because the machines look great on our desks? Probably. This may be the first test for Mac in a while. And as soon as Google releases an operating system that sinks Windows forever, the competition may get stiffer.
Before you scream nerd, let's get back to art. Another great director (and friend of Gondry) making quality ads is Spike Jonze. Everyone loved the Ikea lamp ad he did. Even more enjoyed the Adidas TVC he made to a soundtrack by Karen O. But my personal favourite was this ad for The Gap. I would have loved to be in the client meeting when the idea miraculously made it through.
I managed to see Spike speak at Cinema Nova on Lygon Street when he was in the country filming Where the Wild Things Are. Asked what happens when approached by agencies, he said (and I paraphrase): "When an agency brings me an idea, I usually tell them it's shit. I say, if you want me to film this ad, let me write it. So they do and this is what they get."
Apparently some turn him down. Their loss I guess.
If anything, the Gondry ad for HP is a step forward. Will they be able to catch up on lost ground against Mac? Only time will tell. But I'm pretty sure Michel would have taken his hefty payment from HP and bought some new Macs.
