#canneslions bronze winner for Bayer makes fun of consent

I first saw this ad on Twitter, shared by marketer Cindy Gallop, with the comment "Don't use this to sell aspirin, male-dominated ad industry, & don't award it, male-dominated juries. #canneslions"

Seriously. I'm a male Creative Director in this industry, and I think it's awful.

The ad is part of a series by AlmapBBDO of Brazil for Bayer. It won a Bronze Lion at Cannes 2016 in the Outdoor category.

The other two in the winning entry were a little less explicit:

These are part of a over-arching campaign that describes situations that might give the listener/victim a headache. They play all kinds of stereotypes about ex-wives and protective fathers, and are mostly harmless.

But not "'Don't worry, babe, I'm not filming this'.mov"

I see a lot of regressive ads coming out of Brazil, and I'm used to a certain kind of humour in them. But this one, translated into English for an international awards show, is really bad timing for a joke about non-consensual filming of sex.

Yeah, yeah. Call me an "SJW" if you want. But I'm trying to raise a son into a man who doesn't exploit and abuse women. The idea of filming and possibly sharing an intimate sex tape of a woman without her consent is just not funny anymore. It's the kind of bro-attitude that we should be denormalizing, rather than normalizing, along with jokes about other kinds of sexual violation.

Bayer, BBDO, and Cannes should do better than this. It's 20-effing-16.

UPDATE: Cindy Gallop added, via Facebook, some further context as to why this ad's timing is so bad.

UPDATE 2: Adweek reports that BBDO global creative chief David Lubars, who stated: "I learned last night that one of our very own agencies had a pretty scammy ad in the festival, and it won a Lion, I told them to return it. Because I don't want that kind of Lion. BBDO doesn't want that kind of Lion."

It turned out that the sexism was one thing, but what the global ad giant couldn't stand was that AlmapBBDO had paid for their own media placement. Even though Bayer had signed off on the ad, the agency paying to make it official is against the rules.

The "tiny" world of the 1961 housewife

This 1961 Boston Globe ad by BBDO stars a certain Pat White as the saddest housewife I have ever seen in an ad:



The weird part of it is that she's supposed to be fulfilled by this isolated existence, but when she says "I wouldn't change a single peanut butter and jelly sandwich of it" you expect her to head for the medicine cabinet for some phenobarbital.

Instead, she pours a cup of tea and opens the Globe, to be reminded that there is a great big world out there. One she can only read about, briefly, before returning to the soul-deadening housework.

Sure, times have changed. But not for everyone. Jezebel just ran a post today about some place called "Fix The Family" that thinks women should not go to college/university because "If we look COMPREHENSIVELY at the Catholic doctrine, we’ll see very little that promotes a woman working outside the home" (ALLCAPS not mine)

You've come a long way, maybe?

Tip via AdAge

Caffeinated Aspirin — for prison rape?

The assumption that, in prison, men force other men into sex is a common one. One person I know who has actually done (light) time told me that it's something nobody dares joke about behind bars. In the world of popular culture, however, it's one rape joke that seems to persist in "polite" circles.

It's subtly implied, in this ad from Brazil's Almap BBDO, part of a campaign for Cafiaspirina, Bayer's caffeinated headache pill marketed in Latin America. But even without the underlying violent implication the homophobia still makes my head hurt.

See the whole campaign at The Drum.

Snickers ads feed off American political cynicism

What do you get when you ask a bunch of cynical advertising people to cynically advertise junk food during an extremely cynical American election? This.

The "Don't vote hungry" campaign, by BBDO New York, is an extension of the "You're Not You When You're Hungry" campaign, but while the mothership is slapstick, this one is almost too close to reality for a laugh. Art direction's nice, though.

According to The Drum, Snickers is giving out chocolate bars in key swing state Iowa, along with bumper stickers.

Happier endings through plastic surgery

Ads of The World featured this rather unsettling campaign for a Venezuelan cosmetic surgery clinic. 

Who needs a fairy godmother when you can just go under the knife?

I am aware that attitudes towards cosmetic surgery are different in South America. And I get the concept. But the unintended message to children is, at best, really unfortunate.

Needlessly creepy parental control ads

Why so creepy? My guess is that the Art Director watches a lot of vintage porn.

Unfortunately, the "parent" in these ads ends up looking like a predator. Which is pretty much the opposite of what was intended. (Also, why is the supposed protagonist made of porn? Hmmm...)

Ads by Sancho BBDO, Bogota, Colombia.

Via Ads Of The World

Drap(eri)ed nudes

Remember when George wanted to drape himself in velvet?



Well, thanks to this German online curtain retailer, it looks like his dream could come true...

Those Europeans. They're so classy and shit when they use naked women in advertising.

Ads by  BBDO Proximity, Düsseldorf, Germany
Via Ads of The World

F'd Ad Fridays: Yes, you should stop...

...before your head overflows all over the page.

Via Ads of The World

F'd Ad Fridays: Condom wrappers everywhere

Maybe it's just me, but I hate finding other people's condom packages lying around the streets or on other public places. Mostly because it's a reminder that there may be a discarded "white balloon" nearby, and also because it's litter. I'm happy people use them. I just don't want to be reminded that people are picking up street prostitutes so close to my home and work.

That said, I get the humour in this playful ad from K Swamy BBDO, India.  But why would an old married couple use one?



I do, however, love the brand name: Hindustan Lifecare Limited Moods Condoms

For all your limited moods?

Via IBiA

"Learn English Abroad" ads hit my communication sweet spot

I really like these Swiss learning travel ads in today's Ads of The World:

The copy reads, "Exciting conversations don't come out of your schoolbook.
Language courses abroad: www.smallworld.ch".

This struck me as such a perfectly true insight. So true, in fact, that there's no way it can't have been done many times before.

It also hits home. As an English Canadian of a certain age, I studied French as a mandatory school course from Grade 3 to Grade 10. Today, I cannot speak French to save my cul.

A few years later, I learned to speak Italian. Not grammatically perfect Italian, but enough to keep my culo out of trouble as I mingled with new friends in bars, clubs and parties — exactly the scenarios shown above.

And this is why I love the ads. Real language immersion is a full-contact cultural experience. You learn what you need to learn naturally, simply because you really want to communicate. And the payoffs, in lifelong beyond-tourism experiences, are immediate and more than worth the effort.

F'd Ad Fridays: Beer versus Wife

As awful as the message of these Australian ads is, the execution is quite hilarious:

By BBDO. Via Ads of The World

Wrigley's exploits drivers' disgusting and unsanitary habits to sell gum

"Einfahrt" Tee hee hee...

PFSK reports that Wrigley's is promoting its latest flavour of Extra gum in German parking lots by putting a thin strip of mint flavour on the tickets taken by the motorists and used to pay on exit.


Mint parking tickets from Art Directors Club of Europe on Vimeo.



Apparently, "the clever idea came about as many drivers tend to insert the ticket between their lips after paying and driving out."

Am I the only one grossed out by this? Maybe not. Imagine being the guy who has to take the tickets.

The return of the long-copy ad?

Oh, how I missed you. But is it any surprise that it is a agency self-promo? No, none at all. Copywriters can grow up to be Creative Directors too, don't you know.

Click to enlarge and read, if you have a spare half-hour...

I'm left cold by this one, though. It seems desperate. Plus, you're not supposed to talk about. Also, while it is a defence of branding as a creator of perceived value, it would also drive a smart consumer to generic products. Why not? They're all the same anyway. Why pay the agency?

From BBDO Brazil
Via Ads of The World

Hey, look! A great Google ad.

Reminds me of a time when I looked up my hometown in an Italian travel guide. It listed the historic Plaza Hotel (home of Shakers Lounge) as a "small, central, and family-friendly hotel".

So while the concept feels like it has been done before, perhaps it's because to the budget traveller the experience is all too real. Social media may help some these days, but not always.

By BBDO Moscow
Via I Believe in Advertising

F'd Ad Fridays: Wake up and scream... again

Is he dead? Is he naked? Is he about to attack her?

Is she dead? Is she naked? Why does it look like she's been run over?

You've got a lot of 'splainin to do, BBDO Romania...

Via Ads of The World

If there's grass on the field, give it a Bronze Lion

These ads raise so many questions: Is it really a good idea to use a razor down there? Does she shave her pits and crotch, but not her legs? And why the hell does he depilate a semicircle above his junk?

These towels were created by BBDO Germany and supposedly left in grassy parks to promote Gillette's brands to men and women. Cannes gave them a Media Bronze Lion for "best use of ambient media, small scale."

I give it a "meh". I'm so tired of this "look how I represented the brand in a surprisingly visual way!" trend that's been prevalent in international advertising for the past 15 or so years. Awards judges (and ad bloggers) are not the client's target market.

Link via Copyranter

My fellow admen, this is why they hate us

Via Sociological Images

Yes, it's superficially kind of amusing on a frat boy level. And the woman is certainly appealing. But as Dr. Gwen Sharp at Sociological Images points out:

"I suppose someone could argue that the message that you shouldn’t 'care' whether your women/cars are 'used' rejects the sexual double standard, but the objectification and the implication that non-virgin women are 'used' undermine any apparent rejection of that double standard."

In layman's terms, "comparing a sexually active woman to a used car is pretty f'ing offensive".

The ad appeared in the London Free Press.

Not only is it offensive, it's a ripoff. Another example of the same concept that made the internet rounds three years ago is this BMW ad that claims to be for their Premium Selection Used Car program in Greece:

Doesn't she look a little... Nabokovesque?

Gwen thinks this creepy ad must be unpublished spec creative, but this blogger gives full credits and a publication date:

Advertising Agency: BBDO Athens, Greece
Creative Director: Theodossis Papanikolaou
Art Director: David Kaneen
Copywriter: Daphne Patrikiou
Published: June 2008
Source: adsoftheworld

Oddly, though, the Ads of The World link doesn't work. Hmmmm...

Bum lookers!

Here is a very clever viral ad from New Zealand (filmed in LA) that aims to prove that men and women alike cannot avert their eyes from a really well-turned bum in a good pair of jeans:



You might have laughed. You might have been offended. But do you feel like buying a new pair of jeans? And which brand?

This video was produced by Levi's,  designed to promote Levi's Curve ID range for curvy women. But you don't know that, unless you read marketing blogs or mainstream media, or cared enough to follow up on Google.

According to SMH, Levi's doesn't even know if it will work:

"The aim of this campaign is for people to connect with the brand and walk away feeling good about their body,'' said Levi Strauss senior director of public relations Alexa Rudin. ''We need to look at how we convert that into sales. We have to be strategic and long term about it.''

That is certainly sound. But The Guardian's Arwa Mahdawi, while not offended by the ad, thought it was a little too "stealth":

"Personally I think it's a great idea and an entertaining video. It's just a pity that Levi's didn't have the guts to put its name to it to begin with. Even now the jeans company is quick to point out that the clip, created by the New Zealand agency Colenso BBDO, was an "experiment without any creative direction from us". To me, that translates as, er, we're not sure how people are going to react, so we're keeping a safe distance. But if a safe distance means that everyone misses the fact it was a Levi's ad, then the exercise was pretty much futile."

What do you think? If the content was branded, would it have been more effective as marketing? Or would cynical viewers have been less likely to watch if they felt they were being "sold to"?

Or, do you just want me to shut up and embed the "making of" video?



Have a happy and safe weekend.

In other words, "watch your ass..."

Kiddieland

Copyranter posted this PSA by D’adda, Lorenzini, Vigorelli, BBDO in Milan.

In this scenario, Zimbabwe is an adult-free playground for kids. But the fantasy is actually a nightmare.



No, it's not an ad for the new Logan's Run remake. It's an appeal by Italy's Associazione Amici di spagnolli, who work to help people in Africa, to do something about the AIDS epidemic that is killing Zimbabwe's future.

Pretty hard hitting stuff.

Causing trouble south of the border

Here we are up here, trying to make a good impression on the world, and what happens?

These ads:




Oh, Jesus. (And I don't mean "hey-seus".)

I mean, I get the joke. The wrestler one is kind of cute. But up here in Canada, we are so removed from Mexico as anything but a tourist destination and source of tequila that it's easy to see parodies of Mexican culture as harmless fun.

But, down south of our border, where racism against Mexican-Americans is a constant issue, our neighbours in the industry found it a little less amusing.

"BBDO Toronto sez "Real Mexicans" are lazy and dirty, or wrestlers."

- Copyranter


"Canadians Think Real Mexicans Are Lazy and Dirty"

- Adrants


Ouch. One of my colleagues at Acart is from Mexico. So, on behalf of the Canadian ad industry, I'd like to say... sorry, eh?