My Cabinet of Curiosities

Welcome to my Cabinet of Curiosities. This is a collection of what I believe are some of the best examples of great advertising to date, advertising that does more than advertising brands and defies the ridiculously high level of nonsense out there. So there’s still hope.

The ad reads: “The whole idea here was supposed to be a picture of some guy in Air Bohemian shoes way high in the air to demonstrate how it is so light that you could fly and all but at a certain point I thought the drawing was unrealistic (besides the fact it’s a drawing and not a photo) so I started adding hair and that made the legs start looking like a cactus – so I thought maybe it needed a lot MORE hair so I added a lot on the bottom of this —> leg and it looks disgusting like Air Bohemian volleyball shoes for monkeys. So hopefully you get it anyway. The clouds and legs (not including hair) are decent. The birds suck I can’t draw birds.”

 

It’s good to see ideas expressed without Photoshop being the source of these ideas. I mean seriously, it’s full of cheap ads out there that strive to show off the creator’s editing skills. Anyone can do editing. And if they can’t, they will learn how to do it. It’s the quality of the very idea that really matters, even though that might mean just using a blunt pencil and a piece of toilet paper. Good advertising is about ideas, not about Photoshop.

Tamiya, a company that deals with plastic model kits and radio control model kits, managed to convey how good it is at assembling things through these brilliant print adverts which won a Gold Lion at Cannes in 2005.

Have a look under the bonnet of a BMW. Be amazed.

While most whiskey ads play on traditional elements, the semiotics in this particular advert for Johnnie Walker redefine the image of a well-established brand, yet without losing the traditional feel. Thus, the stark contrast between the android and the old surroundings highlight the aspect of progress in a somewhat natural way. It is common sense that using direct address in advertising gets the consumer’s attention. But when an android from the future looks you in the eye – now that’s what I call attention grabbing. 

It’s sugar free.

 

A simple idea on a larger scale.

You know they say that in order for your life to be complete, you should build a house, bring up some children and plant a tree. Well, I think this Honda commercial offers its producers a greater sense of achievement than the house, the kids and the tree put together. Joke.

And this is how you change the freakin’ world.

Beauty that sells.