"A Damn Good Movie" - Daily Mail

Why do movie posters have to have quotes from journalists about how good they are? It almost feels like they are suffering from a lack of self-confidence and that they need to be reassured that they are are not... crap.

It's not just movies. Musicals and plays are at it as well.

I remember seeing a poster for Green Street a few years ago that had 'A Damn Good Movie - Daily Mail' plastered across the top. I'm not sure if that is actually a good thing or bad thing.

Likewise, this picture I grabbed from the official site. It looks great, sounds great but why do I need some journalists' quotes to reinforce how good it is? Don't get me wrong. I do read movie reviews and such occassionally but I don't think I will be swayed over to watch a movie after some over enthusiastic reviews. Certainly not after seeing one or two quotes on a poster.

This morning I heard a radio ad of the latest John Cusack film and it is all but a collection of tense voice-overs from the movie. I didn't know what the movie was about. Something about 'one man and his mission to.....' and 'Now showing nationwide.'

PS Our 100th post coming up next. It's something rather special and that we've been working on for a while.

Shall I be mother?

Funy new vid for Smirnoff green tea follwing up the east coast tea party video for Smirnoff Ice Tea.

Here's Johnny

I went down to see Johnny Borrell perform for part of a Ben Sherman tour last week at the proud bar in Camden. Not the best gig ever as the girlfriend ended up passing out due to the heat!! I did manage to take a few shots though on Janson's wonderful pap cam, god I looked cool. The whole experience got me thinking about the results that brands hope to achieve through these sorts of gigs.

These are my main gripes:

1:Most of the people there were on the guest list with all the fans waiting outside, unable to get in due to the size of the venue. Some had been queuing since 4pm only to be told at 10:00pm that they couldn’t get in. Nice.

2: Johnny left as soon as he had finished which shows that he doesnt really care much for the cause.

3: Ben Sherman wasn't mentioned at all, not once.



The PR must have been good but i just feel for all the fans who queued, they would have been better off spending the night in the Hawley Arms across the street where Johnny went straight after the gig!

Back in '64...

More old D&ADs... I was looking through the one in 1964 (only the second year of D&AD's inception) and I realise how difficult it is to look at book of just black and white pictures.

Quite amazing book though.

At the end of the annual was where sponsors put up ads and job opportunities. Pretty tough job, writing an ad for your agency for the D&AD annual.

Some clever copy from FCB.
A classic 60's style ad from Y&R
But this takes the cake. Respect.

Red Rock Cider

Rob our new creative director brought in loads of old D&ADs the other day and I found these old red rock cider ads in there. I remember watching them as a kid so they might go some way to explain why i got myself into advertising. They are still fresh now using that great american style of putting the product at the heart of the ad but using irreverence to pull it off.
Good old Neilsen.

Those little things

I have probably fulfilled my ice-cream consumption intake for the year last weekend at the Ben and Jerry's Festival. I said this to myself this time last year and went on to buy more Ben and Jerry's when there's a 2 for £5 offer at my local supermart.

It was the same usual affair: Free ice-cream but this time they served them in cones (which I suspect is a cunning ploy to make you feel fuller so you ask for less ice-cream, but then again i saw many empty cones in the bins), great music on stage and the eco/green brigade was out in full force.

One funny thing I noticed this year was a RIP corner for ice-cream flavours that didn't quite made the cut over the years. I didn't know they had so many other flavours and some of them were quite unusual, to say the least.
Small little things like these that just adds a little bit more to a brand. Have a read at this well-written article from Richard Huntington about the Innocent Fete he went to last weekend. He's a planner. He says it better. Even his 'helter skelter ride' picture is better than mine.

Special delivery

I got sent this film today from my girlfriend, she works for the PR company Canoe. With the help of Grain Media they've made a beautiful little film for New Balance to celebrate 25 years of domestic manufacturing. Sweet idea, well executed.

Same Execution, Different Strategy

I found these ads while browsing through WPP's 2005 yearbook. They are from JWT, Argentina.

Funnily enough, a few months ago, we submitted similar looking ads to a competition organised by some low carbon/green organisation. The ad was originally for SMART but we tweak it for stopurban4X4.org to enter it for the 'responsible vehicle use' category. We did win it but was later disqualified and given commendation instead because we made a schoolboy (quite literally) error.

Anyway, not to digress further, I just find it baffling that while we are mocking 4X4 users about urban road conditions, the Argentinians actually use them as product benefits.

Maybe it actually is an urban jungle in Buenos Aires.

Never quite like this

Upon the discovery of quite possibly Britain's biggest hand-cooked crisp, we've decided to call in the experts.

*measurments in centimetres.