Pes Films

"Western Spaghetti" is the new stop motion film by Pes. Using fun household objects as ingredients, the film is a feast for the eyes and ears. My favorites are the pick up sticks (as spaghetti), that turn into rubber bands when cooked and post-it notes as butter. Satisfying sound effects enhance the whole experience, making a truly bizarre meal.

Overall, the film took two months to make with 35 shots, 35 days of filming and a week of editing and sound design. It's been a huge hit and made it to the front page of YouTube.

As well as other quirky short films, Pes has made films for ads, for brands including Orange, Nike and Tic Tac. One of my favourites being the collection of 4 Bacardi ads below.



Check out his website at www.eatpes.com

Battle Of The Broadsheets

I was sitting on the Tube just over a week ago, when I got distracted by a series of ads without any branding. On my carriage, six different images appeared on a black background in place of the usual train advertising. These included Barack Obama standing in front of 10 Downing Street, a boy in swimming trunks, a golden football and the image above of a portrait of Winston Churchill looking over David Cameron. Unbranded ads are something you never see, so being a curious cat, I tried to get a closer look to get any hints as to what these mystery images were. But nothing gave them away.


Only last Friday, it was revealed that it was the new campaign for The Times. All the same images were re-posted sitting behind "The Times". The campaign has been a big viral hit, with lots of other confused bloggers, like me, questionning what it was for. The Times said,

"The purpose of the campaign has been to encourage readers to question and challenge, to think again about our times and to think again about The Times. The same rationale was behind the decision to drop the end line, Join The Debate. The paper wants its readers to make up their own minds about what the paper means to them."


The campaign has been a big success and getting people talking is what all brand want. However, the same day the campaign was revealed, The Times got out-trumped by it's competitor, The Independent. Using the same format The Times had used, with three images on black backgrounds, a copy line reads "Ahead Of The Times", using the same typeface as The Times. The idea was to represent "The Independent's reputation for tackling news stories ahead of the pack". Ha!



The Independent ran the billboards for 24 hours, in order to counteract The Times' campaign. The editor in chief of The Independent said, "The Independent has always had a reputation for innovation and quick thinking and these adverts are another example of that."
There's nothing better than a media cat fight to get us all talking. Miaow!

Advertising Is Dead. Long Live Advertising!

This is an amazing book for anyone into ambient media. It's full of cool alternative advertising campaigns that have made people stop and take notice of brands. We're so overwhelmed with above the line communication messages that it's got to the point where people stop taking them in. Brands need something fresh, clever and witty to stand out from the crowd. Ambient media campaigns often allow brands to get closer to consumers and target them more specifically. And by catching them off guard, they're less likely to block out the messages as people do with traditional advertising. I could go on about the perks of ambient media but it'll take a while. If you want to learn more about it and see some amazing ideas, take a look at the book. It's a great source of inspiration.

Quirky Korea part 3: Metro Advertising

Seoul is a commercial paradise- it's an advertisers dream! You can't escape from advertising wherever you go. In the metro stations alone, you're bombarded with different types of media.

There's TV screens on the tracks playing ads...


...while at the same time, there's different ads being shown on the platform screens. And they're not silent either, so you'll be listening to one while the other's playing a different jingle. Someone obviously didn't think that one through very well.

On the trains themselves, there's your typical posters, plus TV ads on loop...

...and walking through the stations there's adverts winking at you everywhere you look.

And when you think you can't face any more messages, you discover a tranquil framed painting to lift your spirits. How pleasant! Then you look up close and realise it's an advert for a holiday company. Ha!
Although I'm someone who's fascinated by advertising, overkill can defeat the point as all the communication becomes one big blur. It's not until you come across a fresh idea like the one above that your attention is really captured.

Foot Pedalled Mini Coopers

OK, so the Olympics might be over, but I came across this great little piece of branding used in Beijing. As one of its sponsors, Mini Cooper transformed traditional Chinese rickshaws into

contemporary bike powered Minis. I love the golden dragon embellishment and dangling ornaments. These little touches have kept the vehicle in tune with the culture. The brand doesn't over dominate the tradition, but works with it in a light hearted tone.

Wallace and Gromit: The New Stars of Fashion

Wallace and Gromit have been chosen as the face of the launch campaign for Harvey Nichols in Bristol.  Looking slick in Dolce & Gabbana and Paul Smith, they've been joined by Lady Tottington who models an Alexander McQueen dress. It looks like Wallace is enjoying his new role as a fashion icon, while it's nice to see that Gromit's familiar quizzical expression suggests he's taking the fashion industry with a pinch of salt.  It's always nice to see some humour injected into fashion advertising and it's something that Harvey Nichols does well.  The campaign was created by DDB London.

Nokia Music Almighty Campaign

The microsite for Nokia Music Almighty is worth a look for a bit of fun. The interactive site allows you to choose from 5 sets of headphones, each representing a different genre of music. Once you plug a set into the phone, the headphones come to life as the music starts to play. You can then upload your own picture and wear the headphones. Your face can be transformed to look more like the stereotype associated with that genre of music (yes, that's me looking bling with a beard). It can become more of a caricature and be made to look older/younger and happy/sad.

http://europe.nokia.com/musicalmighty

This is the second part of the Music Almighty campaign by Wieden + Kennedy. It was created by Ida Gronblom and Fabian Berglund who I met a few months ago at a book crit at the agency. After meeting them in person, it's inspiring to see their work in action.  The TV ad is visually stunning and also celebrates the diversity of music.

Philips Satinelle Ice

I think this ad by DDB London is brilliant. I came across it today but it apparently came out a few months ago (I guess I'm a bit behind the times). It's a refreshing change from the typical ads for beauty products and their shiny, happy, unattainably beautiful models. What better way to promote the fact that this product is gentle and pain free by using a man (yes, men can't handle pain like us girls) to promote it. And can I say, this man is one hot mamma. A memorable, real and inspirational ad- bravo DDB!!

Doritos Ad Competition

So, over the past year I've been doing bits and bobs of work for a company called Face. They're a youth marketing agency and they get young people to think of the ideas behind big brands. So far I've done work for Sure, Lynx and I'm currently working with Doritos for the next year. A couple of months ago they had this national competition to get the public to make their next ad. I think it's a pretty genius idea as it's fun and it gets the consumer involved in the brand. They also offered a whopping £20,000 for the winning ad which was to be aired during the World Cup and it was also the first ad to be beamed into space!! I helped judge the entries, and week by week we whittled them down. Unfortunately I couldn't make the final judging session but this is the winning entry:



Personally, this wasn't my favourite. Considering over 900 people entered, I thought this was a pretty disappointing choice. It's been well executed but it lacks edge and excitement. One of my favourites was this one, which I think is hilarious:



I think it's quirky and witty. I love how they've elevated Doritos to being currency- something that's of value. They're selling Doritos from a different angle to your typical snack advertising which I think would have made this ad stand out on TV. If you want to see more of the ads go to

http://www.doritos.co.uk/