A good consumer ad, for a change*

Via IBiA

Attention-getting visual? Check!
Makes want to decode it? Check!
Product benefit clearly communicated? Check!

It didn't even need copy. By Euro RSCG, Tel Aviv, Israel.

*This post is dedicated to Kel, who wanted me to post more ads I like, rather than those I hate.

Epic brand failure at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel

Last week, while on a TV commercial shoot in Montreal, I stayed at at The Fairmont Queen Elizabeth. It's a famous hotel, that has hosted leaders and celebrities. Its most famous moment came in June 1969, when John Lennon and Yoko Ono recorded "Give Peace a Chance" in room 1742 during their honeymoon.

This is a brand that should have everything going for it. You walk into the lobby and it's all elegant and pretentious. Its web site makes it look luxurious. But expensive hotels somehow always seem to fail at the most essential elements of branding.

My room, going for almost $250 a night, was no better than a discount hotel — despite having three different kinds of marble in the bathroom.

And a gross wallpaper stain.

Branding is all about the smallest details of the brand experience. And Fairmont screwed it up by failing to splurge $12 on a new alarm clock.

How long has it been since you've seen a putty-tone digital clock like that? You could see its age on the discoloured plastic:

Can anyone interpret the date code?

The best part was, when I had to get up early the next day for the shoot (kind of a big deal) the damn thing didn't work. I had carefully set it, and it didn't go. Fortunately, pre-shoot anxiety usually wakes me early, and this was no exception.

I complained, and they offered to send up a new one. I opted for a wakeup call the next day.

And then came my hand "express checkout" receipt under the door.

That's right. They charged me twice for "daily" wifi on the same day.

I already have huge issues with higher end hotels charging for something that motels and discount inns give away (along with breakfast, etc.) But charging me twice?

I took it down to the front desk, and asked WTF? The rather surly concierge told me it was policy to charge per device. I had checked in on both an iPad and iPhone. I was on expenses, so I really just wanted confirmation that it was policy.

She took the charges off anyway, but right next to me my colleague was arguing with them about charging for parking. We had arrived (and were about to leave) by train.

As a business traveller, you (or rather, employer and/or client) pay big bucks not to have to deal with this shit.

Hospitality branding, whether you're an independent business inn or a grande dame hotel, is pretty easy to get right: You just put yourself in your guest's shoes, and make sure that every detail of their stay is up to the expectations your marketing and reputation have set. Make sure the alarm clock is not a grubby, non-functional hairband-era artifact. Make essential business services all-inclusive—or at least don't make them an excuse for annoying overcharging. And treat the guest like they're welcome.

Why is this so often screwed up? I'd love to hear your own similar experiences.

The view, however, was nice.

Japan presents: Running shoes for creeps

This new online video showed up today in the Viral Videos Facebook feed:



He'll really need those fast shoes, once he runs past the wrong woman.

Pepsi steals away Coke's most famous spokesperson

Michael? Oh wait, he's dead.

Britney? Naw, she was fired.

They went after Santa:



As #2, Pepsi has a history of implying that Coke truck drivers, etc., would switch to Pepsi if they could. But is this shot at Coke's most famous imaginary icon warranted?

All's fair in love and cola wars, I guess.

Via MTLB.

Artline campaign draws lots of conclusions

Via Ads of The World

I like these Australian Artline marker ads because it makes me think much more than an art supplies campaign should.

About smoking:



Motherhood:



Sun exposure:



Class:



The urban environment:



And culture:



The YouTube videos also issue the challenge to get involved:

"We're all familiar with the phrase 'the pen is mightier than the sword'. A few strokes of a pen can change the course of events, sway opinions or re-engineer meanings. And when it comes to pens, Artline is the mightiest of them all. With Artline pens in hand we've shown you what the world looks like from where we sit but now you can share your perspective too. Come and have a say at Facebook.com/Artline"

Cool stuff.

Tea ads that read like whisky ads

Is it an Australian thing? I've never seen tea look so... macho.

Except, that is, in rural New Brunswick, where my farmers-in-law have been known to brew tea on the stove in a saucepan. (You don't question the tea ceremony of a man twice as big as you who's been haying all day.)

Sexist? Certainly. Funny? Yeah.

Via Ads of The World

What do you think?

A great Kraft Dinner ad

Well, okay. It's American, so it lacks the folksy branding that Canadians know and love. But still a great idea and sweet execution.



Who hasn't stolen off their kid's plate?

Social responsibility disclaimer: Please feed your kids this comfort junk food in moderation. Try the whole wheat.

As if anyone has served it as a side dish to a healthy dinner in, like, ever...

I sofa, therefore I am

There's a fine line that separates all we have accomplished, culturally and intellectually, from our savage animal past. And according to this campaign, that line is actually an online store for Australian furniture:

Furniture. It's what separates us from the animals.

Furniture. It's what separates us from the animals.

Furniture. It's what separates us from the animals.

Clever campaign, actually, despite its obvious ethnocentrism.

After all, can you really claim these guys aren't enjoying some highly civilized awesomeness?

I want to live in a yurt.

Ads by George Patterson Y&R Melbourne.
Via Ads of The World.

Voyeurtising?

Aubade, a French lingerie company, came up with a rather naughty ambient campaign to promote its new campaign web site.

Over a three week period, in three high-traffic locations around Paris, lingerie models performed an elaborate striptease — silhouetted by curtains — to make passers-by stop and watch.



(via Ads of The World)

The campaign ran about four times a night. The woman pretended she was unaware of the show she was putting on, making the people on the street (men and women alike) voyeurs. The advertiser calls it making "the girl next door" fantasy a reality.

From the video, it's fairly obvious the bystanders know they're being advertised to. Which is a good thing, because it sort-of lets them off the hook for a gross invasion of privacy.

What's that, you say? Well, let's put it this way: how would your real-life neighbour feel if they saw you standing outside their window, taking in their intimate life?

"I am calling zee police, Monsieur LeCreep!"

At the end of the show, the woman made a brief appearance in Aubade lingerie, then drew a new curtain with the call-to-action: frenchartofloving.com.

Although when I tried to access the site this morning, I was exposed to something much more shocking than a semi-nude woman drying her hair:

After all that tease, the ultimate letdown.

("That's what she said?")

Lego my Imagination!

Ever since the late '70s, I've been kind of a crotchety old man when it comes to Lego. That was when the iconic building blocks went from focussing on generic pieces to what can only be described as glueless modelling kits.

Okay, so a Lego AT-AT is really freaking cool, but where's the imagination in that? And how impressed would you be if your kid was able to design one using only those old primary coloured blocks?

But these fancy model kits aren't necessarily the end of imagination — just a lazy way out. Really creative kids ignore the instructions and make whatever their fantasies demand.

And that's why I love... no, LOVE! this campaign I just saw in I Believe in Advertising:

[click pics for larger versions]

Thank you, Leo Burnett Moscow. That's a truly refreshing and inspirational campaign for a parent like me!