Raised Eyebrows

Welcome back to the Cadbury's Dairy Milk campaign. A campaign crushing under the weight of more expectation than Barack Obama.

Yet despite some glowing reviews elsewhere I struggle to like the new ad. The idea of setting the Dairy Milk moment as that moment of glee when kids are left on their own to cause mischief is nice; and far better than Trucks. The use of humans is much better than inanimate objects (unless you Pixar them).

But as my colleague Steve mentioned today: The ad sets its stall out to be entertainment, so we judge it differently. And in this campaign the benchmark is very very high.

The problem seems to be that the tone of the humour doesn't quite fit with the idea. It's trying to be Vic and Bob with serious faces and silly movements, but it just feels too forced and lacks the emotional quality that made Gorilla great. Besides, the joy of Gorilla was that you felt the joy of the moment even if you didnt understand the message; but here that joy just doesn't hit.

That said, the balloon is great and the music is spot on. A disappointment, but not a catastrophic one. This is better than Trucks, better than average, but just nowhere near Gorilla. Which, unfortunately for Fallon, all these ads will be compared to.

Best analogy I came to so far is Manchester City. They wake up expecting Kaka, and ended up with Craig Bellamy. Not a bad signing, but not what they were hoping for.

Image from Skillsspace

But Why Sir?

The latest Budweiser ad was passed round the office yesterday:



The ad itself is alright I guess. I like the tie up between musicians and dedication, though I don't really feel that dedication is put across in any seriously meaningful way.

However, some people were still humming Popcorn today. While its always been a catchy tune, I suspect it might creep up on a few people again.

It does feel like its being hyped up because it's a Fallon ad though, I wonder how long before it goes to their heads...

Also, it does remind me of:

Glass and a Half Empty

The problem with hyped ads is that they rarely live up to expectation, with the possible exception of Honda's Grr. Well, here is Fallon's Grrilla...

Hype means that instead of 10 "It's good" reviews you get 5 "Not as good as the original" and 5 "ad of the year!" reviews. People drastically over or under rate the ad because of what came before it.

A good ad with a good soundtrack. Good idea. Good Follow Up. But, it's just that; good. Not great, not exeptional, not the wonder we were expecting. Also, seeing people spoils its transformers like quality. Problem for me is, if this was their second best idea... what's next?

Maybe the fall of the BIG ad starts here... discuss.

Review of the Year - Part 2

Still to come are my picks for worst ads of the year, along with some other ads worthy of mention.

Most Improved Advertising

Two picks here. The first was just totaly unexpected, and really went a long way to removing the horrible memories of their past ads from my mind.



The second was BGR Bloomers radio ads (forklift, executive driver) for making injury solicitors ads that aren't patronising, were decently written, and not a misplaced ladder or kitchen slip in sight.


Best Agency

Difficult. Most people would say Fallon for their numerous successful ads, and it would be hard to disagree with that. Though I think that BMB have had a great year, and if W+K can be treated as gods after 2 Honda ads then BMB can tie this category after two brilliant Carling ads and some other good work.


Best Blogs

I can hardly pick a top 10, let alone a single winner. So in no order, here are my 5 favourite blogs of this year.

Charles Frith - Punk Planning - Intelligent, not afraid to think differently or say things people won't like. Now providing us with a fascinating look at Beijing.

Rob Campbell - Musings of an Opinionated Sod - That he is. But this is the only blog where you can take part in fascinating ad debates, controvertial and bold marketing theory, and yet still debate the merits of sausages vs bacon.

Northern Planner - Brilliant posts on getting into planning, plus great recipes and tea tips. If advertising was astrology he would be the North Star.

The Kaiser - Marcus is back, and despite moving frequently, he always omes up with the goods. Excellent posts on agencies and the internet, plus the genius of Charles Stab.

Scamp - He isn't campaign's number one ad blog for nothing.