This guy needs to work on his smack talk. Fail trolling.
A few days ago, I blogged about the tricky challenge of making ads as creative as possible without sacrificing relevance in the eyes of ordinary consumers (http://bit.ly/MVPnJL). The point I made then is that if your creative meanderings take you far away from the actual product you’re selling, you will need something in your ad that is plainly connected to the reality of your product or service. In my last post, that “something” was the icy highway where the consumer would need reliable control.
In this 2011 Volkswagen campaign for responsible driving, the “something” is the speed of the child’s fall, which is stated as if it were the speed of a car. With that plus the line “Drive carefully,” Volkswagen has found a wonderfully simple and economical way to say, “Even low-speed collisions can be catastrophic, so please drive with the care necessary to avoid them.” There’s no car in the ad, but we’re still left with an awareness of the huge responsibility involved in driving. And though the ad says nothing about Volkswagen’s cars, we still infer that safety is top of mind with VW’s engineers.
Wonderfully inspiring work, as is so often the case with VW.
Thanks, as always, to the fine folk at Ads of the World for the images and credit info.
Advertising Agency: DDB Buenos Aires, Argentina
Executive Creative Directors: Hernán Jáuregui, Pablo Batlle
Creative Directors: Lisandro Grandal, Fernando Tchechenistky
Art Director: Alejandro Hara
Copywriter: Emilio Yacón
Account Manager: Cecilia King
Producer: Nelson Zeljkovich
Published: 2011
I can dig it.
Dear Advertising Students and Juniors…
You know, I wasn’t going to write about this, but this sh*t really got me heated. 
Dear Advertising Students (Including Myself) and Juniors,
You are not a big deal. No one cares what you have to say about Advertising; especially considering your meager portfolio probably only contains one or two good ads that show potential, not talent. Perhaps you have completed an internship at a very well recognized agency. Good for you. You should feel good about that and I fully congratulate you because it means that maybe you are on the path to success. But I do not believe that you can sit there, with only a few banner ads to your name as officially produced work, and judge an agency as having “Crap Work” when you yourself have no award-winning work to your name.
Obviously with this blog I am exploring Advertising and often critiquing it myself, and I think it’s incredibly important to stay current and stay critical so that your ideas are fresh. However, I would not for a second allow my ego to get so large that I can’t see all the hard work that goes into every campaign— which is why it’s so important to have a great idea in the first place so that your time is not wasted.
Even those ads which I criticize, I still have enormous respect for the people behind them because they have worked very hard to get where they are, and I’m a firm believer that you shouldn’t say anything that you wouldn’t be willing to say to someone’s face. Despite all my faults, I am not a two-faced person. I don’t ass-kiss if I think the compliments are undeserved. I will tell you what I did and didn’t like about your work with sincerity because I would hope that someone else would tell me the same, always with the intent of getting better.
I’m getting a little sick, however, of hearing the other students in this school sit comfortably behind Twitter accounts, and Tumblr blogs, patting themselves on the back for a print ad they created in Photoshop that has never run and never been proven to be effective. Although I can’t speak for every school, if the students here are anything like the larger population, then we’re all a bunch of bobble heads; meaning, we are students with heads so large that our necks threaten to snap underneath either the weight of our collective egos, or by the hands of the higher ups who are sick of hearing us critique the work of others as if we are even playing in the same league.
My parents raised me to be humble, and by that I mean they beat the snark out of me if I back-talked. They taught me that when applying to a job, I should always be willing to do any task assigned to me without complaint. If you want to make it in this world, you have to be willing to put yourself aside and give others their due notice. Have respect for your elders, kids, because it’s more than likely that even their bad work is better than yours on your best day.
I’m not saying you should assume that everyone knows better than you because there have been times when my instincts told me that my elder’s advice was outdated, but even so, learning from these people has given me a firm foundation for how Advertising has worked and should work in the future. The core concepts haven’t changed just because the technology has and the reasons people share memes are still similar to the reasons that people used to tear ads out of magazines and newspapers.
I am fully aware that I am not an authority on this topic and my opinions often reek of youthful inexperience, which is why I’m thankful that anyone at all would take in what I have to say. I know that I have not yet proven myself in Adland. Through this exercise I can only hope that I am training myself to be able to one day look back and say with confidence, “You did good, kid.”
Until that point, I look to the people who know better than I do for advice so that I can observe and soak up every little success and mistake then ask myself, “How could it have been done better?” I assume that every ad person, no matter how old or experienced, asks themselves the same question after every campaign is completed. Every business should be about progress and improvement, and pride is the enemy of these goals. Just because you’ve scored a few goals, doesn’t mean you’ve won the game. Don’t get cocky, get better.
Sincerely,
An Adland Embryo
Chrysler “It’s Halftime in America”
The winner of this year’s superbowl is Clint Eastwood.
So damn on point.
E*Trade “Fatherhood”
The best thing Grey’s got. Possibly my favourite ad so far.
cars.com “Confidence”
Men in Black. ‘Nuff said.
Sketchers - “Mr. Quiggly”
Running shoes on a dog?! Insanity, I tell you!! They’ll never buy it! But, apparently, America found it hilarious. -sigh-
thatgirlgwen asked: Just a quick note to let you know I enjoy your blog! The creative campaigns and infographics you find always brighten my day (and my dashboard) and get me excited about the world of advertising.
I'm a student/wannabe/rising account planner, and I love finding other advertising students on Tumblr and in the blogosphere. I'm always looking for new blogs and people to follow! Do you have any suggestions for a fellow advertising student? :)
Thanks -- and have a blast with your internship with Draft Malaysia!
Thanks for your submission—much appreciated! Lucky for you I’ve actually been meaning to post my recommendations for a while. Here are a few blogs and twitter handles that I know of that are owned by established ad men and women, as well as a few student blogs that I enjoy.
——-
www.drnoor.tumblr.com
@drnoor
Digital Creative Director at DraftFCB KL
I’m sure every aspiring ad person wants to get inside the mind of a CD, and at least with tumblr you can get a glimpse. His tumblr also presents a great (instagram) picture of life here in Kuala Lumpur.
www.brainmanure.tumblr.com
@peterogden
Creative Director at JWT Auckland
Again another great Creative Director, Peter Ogden from JWT in Auckland, New Zealand. He blogs often and posts some truly spectacular photography and other creative pieces.
www.crunchman7.tumblr.com
@Crunchman_Shai
Copywriter at DraftFCB KLShai has been working in advertising for about ten years now and several agencies here including TBWA and Publicis have had the pleasure of working with him.
www.devuschka.tumblr.com
@devuschka
Social Media Executive at DraftFCB KL
I’m sure many of you tumblr ad babies have an interest in social media, and Diyana Shahrum is an expert.
www.suffianr.tumblr.com
@suffianr
Group Head at Tribal DDB KL
He and his wife Nora both work in advertising and I’m always hovering on the like button on his tumblr.
www.danwrites.tumblr.com
@CopywriterDan
Copywriter at Lucideas in KL
Dan Watson is a junior creative with a lot of insight into the Advertising world. He writes not only about the industry but also some funny observational pieces. I would highly recommend his blog for all you aspiring copywriters because you could learn a lot from his writing style and he’s generally keen to answer questions.
www.stepa.tumblr.com
@iWannaWorkinAd
Digital AdMan at Progressive in Moscow
Stepa posts some excellent stuff and is a consistent top contributer on the advertising tag.
www.advertisingovereverything.tumblr.com
@matthewstasoff
Matthew Stasoff is an advertising student at Seneca College in Canada who seems to be very passionate about advertising and cognizant of social media.
www.amacdonald13.tumblr.com
@aMelia_M
One of the first advertising blogs that I’ve followed and enjoyed, Amy McDonald is (I believe) an aspiring media planner studying at BCIT in Vancouver, Canada.
