Ad Awards

Sometimes ‘fun’ is the vital ingredient advertisers use in their commercials. But when is ‘fun’ fun, and when is ‘fun’, well, dumb?

Rocks

Pronutro has a few ads based on the theme: suspiciously good for you. I like that premise alone. The latest one with Ryk Neethling – who stops in midrace to sort out his googles (and is still able to stay ahead of the pack) – is excellent.
Dodge Caliber also has a couple of ads on the theme: anything but cute. It’s not as good as Pronutro’s, but it’s promising. In one rendering, a number of cute dolls and furry thingamajigs pass judgment on the Dodge. The ad I really like is the one with the fairy, shooting a train (turning it into a cute toy train) and so on. Its fairy sprinkles bounce off the Dodge though, but the fairy is persistent, and finally one fairy bolt ricochets back against the fairy, knocking her against the wall. Excellent rendering, excellent effects. A passerby walking his dog sniggers at the fallen fairy and the fairy lets him have it. Brilliant twist.

Huh?

I don’t get the Sissy Boy ‘love yourself’ ad. It’s not so much fun as it is sexy, but a girl kissing herself in the mirror doesn’t tell me a lot about jeans, but then I’d probably have to be a girl to appreciate it. And do Sissy Boy make jeans for guys?
Bacardi’s ad is a lot of fun. It shows two marathon runners dressed as fish, swimming upstream. It’s fun but again the link to Bacardi is kind’ve vague.

Rubbish

Jeep Grand Cherokee is the quickest SUV on earth. I think it can go from 0-100km in 5 seconds. There are some funny (as in weird) touches. Yellow doves landing on a desiccated tree, and then a set of green doves. Sorry but you can’t marry Formula 1 with the Ecosystem. Also, who in an SUV (and let’s face it, Jeep is supposed to be about going off-road isn’t it?) needs to go that fast? I find the whole SUV thing (especially when it’s a 4x4) laughable when these cars are used to demonstrate wealth and power, and are not really bought on the basis of functionality. People who drive these things to drop the kids off at school, or to commute to work are like…hmmm…like having a picture of your girlfriend instead of the real thing – quite a big difference.

Another strange attempt is Southern Comfort’s kaleidoscope-music video thing. Okay so Southern Comfort is colorful and confusing and there’s music. Thanks. Can I have a J&B (or something that actually makes sense please).

On the other hand, one person’s idea of fun is another’s idea of dumb. Like the idea of skinny dipping in Llandudno? Okay well, have you ever done it? Now then, if you were with a group of people, some would have called it fun, while others would have said you’re dumb. I thought it was fun. Millions, I’m sure, would disagree.