Clear Your Head

This advertising thing is going to drive me crazy! Hairs are tuning grey! The mixed emotions IV been going through in the last couple of days have been intense, who needs Ratanga junction?  Become an ad man (or woman) and you’ll be on a constant roller coaster. Sometimes rolling, sometimes coasting. Feeling like I’m king and pauper in the same breath. One minute the crown is on my head the next I cant get an idea out of my head, cant get it out of my hair. Ironically where my crown is.

And this idea of being stuck in your hair is what my next ads are all about. The hair on your head can put you in many types of places mentally. If your hair is dirty or if you have dandruff or even worse lice, your confidence withers. You don’t want to hug any one is case they notice. Going to have your hair cut back is a nightmare if you have lice. I’m ashamed in admitting it but it’s true. I had lice. Getting rid of it is hell!

So this in mind, I chose these ads, they kind of depict how IV been feeling. Having way too much in my hair. Think I have to CLEAR my head.

This one resembles a crown on her head. A crown of construction, also demonstrates what makes your hair dirty. I can imagine needing a good scrubbing after being on a construction site all day.

This one is really good. I like it. Even her facial expression is telling a story. The smell of smoke stains your clothes, your fingertips (if you smoke), your hair and everything! She’s like” awwww no not my hair! I just got it cleaned!”

This one shows what happens when you use Clear shampoo. The metamorphosis from grimy to shiny is demonstrated here. The expression on her face is clear, she’s happy about her hair getting clean. Ridding herself of the self-consciousness she might have been feeling. 

Appearances are a big part of life these days, the make-up and jewelry industry are testament to the resilience of the human condition. Surviving recessions and getting people out of depressions. The incredible power of the media and how it has been sculpting the minds of the masses over the years is a massive influence. Perhaps turning us all into robots flashing the red and green lights when ‘they’ see fit.

This is an ad for IT works security solutions.

Well off the bat I like how it is art directed. The visual gets your attention, and that’s half the job done. The art director was having lots of fun with this ad. Set on an office block with lots of people walking about. The people could pose a security risk.  They could be scoping out the place. Although they look like they’re just going about their daily business.

There is also lots of traffic moving around the block. A busy place has more security risk, I think what IT works is saying here is that it is more secure than other solutions.

I may be thumb sucking here but the fact that the office is in the middle of the Print, making the office harder to get to may mean that the security device is more effective. 

The use of fingerprints on a print ad is quite clever. Fingerprints are also a good way to keep things safe for the obvious reason that every print is unique, although if the criminal wanted what ever is being kept safe badly enough, the costumer might lose a finger.

Security companies should get creative, like maybe using a tongue print to get in. Those are also unique, although I would rather lose my ability to press buttons than my ability to talk. 

There has got to be something that is harder to crack than a fingerprint. There are retinal scanners and voice recognition devise out there. All of which are dangerous to the person using them if an Oceans 11 type deal goes down, which is doubtful, unless you have a safe full of cash in it.

I think things like this are for people who are paranoid about theft, or paranoid about life. If you live in Jo’burg it’s a way of life. Driving around (was going to say walking but no-one is brave enough to do that) scared of smash and grabs, running red lights at night. Even using their fingerprints to start their engines.

In our ever-changing world, security is a big issue. And finding ways to combat crime is quite a big market. Security was our fastest growing industry at one stage.

All in all this ad is effective, it speaks to its audience and has a USP. The art is awesome making me think I wish I did this! I like it!

Fortune favours the brave.

Ok so I went to the Bronx on Somerset road for the first time. As I walked towards the door it was like an age passed with every step. I really did not want to set foot inside this place. Id avoided doing this to myself just fine until now. I swallowed my pride (the only thing I’m swallowing!) and entered the one place I knew I would regret.  It is a gathering place for the sexually confused, or the homosexual. Me, being heterosexual, found myself in a very abnormal environment. I felt as if I was prey, being hunted by sexual predators ready to pounce!

I got there at 22:00 so it was still early, my earliness gauged by the fact that I was one of the only people there at this time. Seems the gay (happy) hour hasn’t started yet. 

So there I was, sitting at the oddly shaped bar that lies in the center of the floor. Looking at the décor around me I saw screens flashing disturbing images of half naked men, I saw platforms with stripper poles, and a sort of stage that I can only imagine being used for debauched things…

I turn around to face the bar and to my surprise the tender is a friend of mine from high school. He quickly explained to me that Bronx only employs straight men to bar tend because of past cat fights involving the bar men and customers.

We caught up on 4 years in 40 minutes. He told me the bad, the ugly and the nasty little secrets the Bronx would rather not have publicized. I was horrified to say the least. I remained glued to my seat, as I did not want to unwittingly take a false step and plunge into the abyss. I did eventually need to break the seal and find the toilet.

I briskly walked toward the gents, and I swear I was being followed! I turned around, trying to lose my tail, and went looking for the ladies. Id rather unzip there especially after the stories Iv just been told. I walked and asked around but for the life of me I could not find the ladies. Then it dawned on me, I was in a gay club. There probably aren’t any ladies! So I hurried back to where I was sitting only to find someone else’s ass where mine was. This place was getting busy now.  I was bursting; I needed the toilet so I left, found a willing tree and relived myself.

I did not want to venture back into the unknown and risk rubbing my body up against another. But I had to say goodbye to my friend. Didn’t want to be the rude straight guy that just left without saying goodbye. So I went in again, twice in one night! Never thought it possible. Never say never they say.  And I say that growth comes from breaking your mental barriers. I did not want to even go near that place. But I had a good time by the end of it.

Life has a lot to offer, there’s so much to learn, so much to see! My sexuality will not falter however, sorry gay guys, I like women and I love my girlfriend!

Mercedes Benz

Another blog entry, this time I chose a series of three ads. The ads are for Mercedes Benz. The ads are very visually stimulating. The copy is equally as interesting. Informative too. They clearly illustrate the distinctions between the left and the right side of the brain.

All the ads have a common theme of the Mercedes Benz designers using both their left and right sides of the brain to the fullest capacity. The first one shows Mercedes passion. The strong images depicting the emotion are sprawled all over the right side of the brain. Easily giving away what was on the creators mind at the time. The left side has a chessboard and some modern looking structures. Running with the idea of castles on the chessboard. Literal and lateral trains of thought are moving along the right (or left) side of the track.

The theme for the second ad in the series is music. It has instruments playing notes and a dancing stave. The copy of the ads stays the same; the strong ideas and distinctions have a balancing effect on the ad, as the visual is very artistic.

Paint, the theme for the third ad of the series is a good chose for part of the campaign. Besides the body paint of your car, again it plays on the creative us humans are capable of. Having a passion for music, a passion for paint. These series have a profound and deep meaning playing on human curiosity.

The right, creative side of the brain is always changing, imagining and creating. The left side sort of stays the same, following the lead of the right side. I feel as though Mercedes Benz cracked it with these ads. They are single-minded although double sided. The creators of these ads should be proud of themselves but only until the next ad of course.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge, for knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world and all there will be to know and understand” –Einstein.