Glass and a Half Empty

Sometimes there are ads that are just plain bad. Work that makes you want to tear your hair out (or whats left of it if you are a planner...) like Go Compare, DFS, etc. That's just life in advertising.

What's more disappointing for me is when a good campaign loses its way, and sadly that feels like the case with the new Cadbury's Dairy Milk ad from Fallon.


While 'Charmer' keeps the trademark decent soundtrack, this ad feels like it shouldn't be judged against Gorilla and Eyebrows. Where they were about branded content, conveying a mood and a feeling; this is a product ad plain and simple. You can almost hear a client shouting "more product" like Father Jack at a wet t-shirt contest... "That's it, more chocolate, more milk, more chocolate, muah ha ha ha!"

The poster campaign for UK advertising as branded content has gone back to the old ways. A shame, but I hope they will return to the new (so the speak).

That said, judged as a product ad it does the job. 60 seconds is too long for an idea that can be more than explained in 30, but it's a nice enough way of getting the point across; and it does make the product look good.

I guess the view on this ad depends how you base it: A decent product ad vs a rubbish follow up to those that went before it.

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

Bonnie Wee Ad

Ah the user generated mash up. Party to a million you tube views, promoter of good ads and rubbish manga with MOR rock mixes.

Fallon have seen fit to air a user remix of the Gorilla ad, featuring Bonnie Tyler's total eclipse of the heart. Nice idea, except it doesn't work anywhere near as well. The build up is weaker, the payoff is weaker, the drumming is weaker.

Also, if (like me) you hadn't seen that remix before seeing it on tv; you watch it thinking its a spoof, or they have tried to change it, or make another ad on the cheap by using a different song.

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.

Stone the Crows

Here in one ad, we are reminded just how good Gorilla was (and I frankly was muted on it compared to most people), how good the old flake ads were, and how inconsequential the new one seems to be.

It might as well be a promo for her new album. In fact the only good thing about it is the reference to the sexual innuendo of old by having her drop bits of the bar down her top. But even that feels weak compared to the simplicity and power of even the most over the top of the old flake ads.

Besides, when dropping chocolate into cleavage is the highlight of your new ad (and you aren't advertising Lynx) be very worried.

Three words repeatedly come to mind here, apart from 'poor casting' and 'a celebrity does not work as flake girl', they are this: Trying.Too.Hard.

Review of the Year! - Part One

If I have time I still hope to organise the blogosphere ad awards for 2007 once people are back online, but in the meantime here is my personal review of the year in adland and marketing.

Best ads of the year:

3. Irn Bru - Snowman. Alright, technically it was from last year, but I never saw it; and it is a perfect pastiche in every respect. It commands your attention, and the moment when you hear the music and get the joke is just wonderful.



2. Cadbury's - Gorilla. Ok, I like it more now than I did initially. Having thought about the message hidden away it's cleverer than it appeared. But the real magic is in the CGI, timing, choice of music, and the direction. Admirably subtle, jumping on the 'big ad' wagon whilst keeping a sense of compactness and personality (unlike Guiness Domino for one).



1. Carling - Space / Igloo. This might be controvertial in some circles. But I stand by my comments in campaign. This ad singlehandedly expands the Carling brand without alienating it's core users. It's almost perfectly produced, the atmosphere, the timing, the writing, the way it understands male friendship without being patronising or stereotypical (*cough* Carlsberg). I finally see the distinction between BMB and TBWA under Trevor Beattie, this has the humour and disruption of old, but with a subtlety and message that is significantly better.