Alcoholic Horses

I was tickled by the thought of alcoholic horses when I saw this advertising hoarding for Fuller's London Pride ale at Harrow-on-the-Hill tube station today (Thursday 3 October 2013).

BASF: 'We Create Chemistry'

(Agency: M&C Saatchi; Air date: 11/9/13; Length: 40 seconds)

I was surprised when I saw the new spot for BASF a couple of weeks ago; not particularly because of the content of the ad but because I was struck by the question of why the German chemical giant would need to advertise on television in the first place. The vast majority of adverts made for the general, TV-watching public are for products or services that we as consumers can go to the high street or online and purchase – washing powder, DVDs, packets of crisps. However, this isn’t the case with BASF. The products they produce are only sold to trade, not sold to the end consumer at all.

No doubt aware that to most people a chemical company would create an image of a cold, faceless, sterile entity, M&C Saatchi are keen to dispel that image by showing how BASF’s work touches every aspect of human life and, as such, humans beings are present throughout. Backed by a magical, Harry Potter-esque soundtrack, we see humans at work and at play, in a children’s playground, a sunny French-looking market, a Chinese restaurant and, finally, at a young family’s cosy bungalow in the countryside. The ad suggests that BASF have a hand in making glass products, and the voiceover hints at the future prospect of windows that can turn sunlight into electricity. The plastic bags BASF produce could one day be biodegradable, and their wind turbines, which overlook the young family’s bungalow, could be more durable. 

But why are BASF telling us all this? It isn’t to persuade us to buy a bulk order of their wind turbines or plastic bags as these are obviously items the average consumer will never purchase. Windows, on the other hand, are purchased by TV viewers; however, whereas BASF may produce the glass for the windows, the glass is sold to trade rather than to the end consumer. And even then, when I walk into the shop to purchase my windows, the glass doesn’t have the BASF logo on it, so I’m not to know if it was made by BASF anyway. Therefore, if BASF don’t have a specific product to sell us, is this campaign more about improving the brand’s image and reputation?

Wikipedia states that BASF’s recent trial of a new genetically modified potato in the UK faced opposition from anti-biotechnology protesters. Perhaps, then, the campaign is designed to distance the brand from their association with the toxic topic of Frankenstein foods. Indeed, BASF suspended their research in the UK in 2009 and halted research in the rest of Europe earlier this year, so this could be a possibility. Whatever the ad’s purpose, clearly a lot has been invested in it: Campaign report that BASF spent £2.6 million on media in the UK alone in 2012 and that this ad is part of an integrated campaign across Asia-Pacific, Brazil, Europe and North America. 

A page in the news section of BASF’s website proudly announces that this advert ‘will be broadcast more than 1,750 times on UK terrestrial and satellite channels’ in its two weeks of airing, and that its UK debut was during an episode of Emmerdale on ITV1. I suspect, however, that the average Emmerdale viewer won’t pay as much attention to this advert as they will to the ads for those brands they are able to find on the high street.

Audi RS 6 Avant: ‘Power From A Less Obvious Place’

(Agency: BBH London; Air date: 23/8/13; Length: 60 seconds)

I was struck by the high production values of Audi’s latest TV spot for their RS 6 Avant station wagon and at first thought I’d stumbled on to a real boxing match. In high definition and crisp, bright colours we see a fighter, flanked by his entourage, enter a floodlit arena to the familiar fanfare of a screaming crowd and media scrum, with his opponent awaiting him in the ring. The fight gets underway; however, unusually for a boxing match, the camera doesn’t follow the fighters but rather the referee. We see the ref stalk about the ring and watch the two fighters like a hawk, not afraid to jump into the path of flying fists or admonish the boxers if they break the rules. When the fight is over, we see the ref quietly exit the arena down a darkened tunnel, leaving the victorious fighter to soak up the adulation in the background. From the tunnel emerges an RS 6 Avant with the words, ‘Power…from a less obvious place’, before the car roars out of shot.

What we are seeing here is not actually a real boxing match but an ‘almost real’ fight between former world cruiserweight champion Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham, in the black shorts, and contender B.J. ‘The Stinger’ Flores, in the white shorts. The fight was arranged specifically for this ad but Flores attests in this article that the punches were very real. The impressive look of the ad is explained when one learns it was directed by filmmaker Jonathan Glazer, responsible for, among other things, the acclaimed Guinness ‘Surfer’ ad of 1999. So, who is the third man in the ring? His name is Tony Weeks and he is one of the most respected referees currently working in the sport. He is also a metaphor for the RS 6 Avant: the advert suggests the role of boxing referee, like the car, is understated yet powerful, or, as this reviewer neatly puts it, is ‘not too flashy, and not the highest profile, but the right place for somebody who likes to be in control’.

I like this ad because it is visually compelling – there’s something very primal in humans that makes it hard to tear our eyes away from a fight, especially in the hyped up, electric atmosphere of a professional boxing match. The use of boxing referee as metaphor for Audi’s station wagon is also quite clever, even though the car is very sleek and certainly at the top end of the estate car market. BBH London probably didn’t have any trouble picking a boxing referee to cast in the ad, as none currently working in the business could be considered too high profile to ruin the metaphor. However, I think the agency will have consciously chosen not to look within the heavyweight division to cast the ad, for fear that the reputation of, say, a David Haye, Tyson Fury, or one of the Klitschko brothers would overshadow the referee and distract viewers from the ad’s message (not to mention the astronomical fees they would probably charge). This is why we see a bout between two cruiserweights who I, and presumably most other viewers, would not previously have heard of. Cunningham and Flores have never fought each other in a ‘real’, sanctioned fight before; however, I wonder if that will soon change after the exposure this ad has given both fighters.

O2: 'Be More Dog'

(Agency: VCCP; Air date: 4/7/13; Length: 60 seconds)

O2’s latest TV advert implores us all to ‘be more dog’. We are shown that cats, with their aloofness and cold indifference to life, live a humdrum, boring existence, most of which is spent comfortably sprawled out on something (sounds quite appealing to me). Dogs, on the other hand, have an irrepressible lust for life and are bursting with excitement and exuberance, whether they are digging a hole, chasing a car or grabbing a frisbee. 

Now, this may well all be true, although cats appear quite content with their job in my opinion. And O2 probably don’t want their customers to be more like those dogs that maul a toddler and are promptly destroyed afterwards. But what the hell has any of this got to do with mobile phones? This is one of the most bizarre ads I’ve seen in a while. It’s essentially a 60-second video lolcat. But the cat they’ve got looks really sinister, not helped by the Exorcist-like head twist it does a quarter of the way through.[1] Then, as the cat decides to be more dog, the first gentle notes of Erik Satie’s beautiful ‘Gymnopédie No. 1’ give way to Queen’s ultra-camp theme tune from Flash Gordon, two tunes I never thought I’d hear back-to-back. Finally, did anyone at VCCP (the agency behind the ad) consider the fact that, on the whole, cats and dogs aren’t usually the best of friends in real life? A cat deciding to be more dog is like a Crip one day deciding to ‘be more Blood’. 

Being more dog, it turns out, means playing with and exploring the new technology and software that O2 has to offer. I learned this from visiting their website. Had I not done, I think I’d still be as bemused as I was when I first saw the ad. It really is an odd strapline for a telecommunications company, particularly when read in isolation and out of context, like the other day when I saw it on a banner ad on YouTube. The ad announced details of Plan B’s promotional concert at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Academy, followed by ‘be more dog’. Is Plan B more dog than cat, I wondered. Considering the amount of endorsements he’s doing lately – Hewlett-Packard, Bulmer’s and now O2 – I think he’d be a monkey if you threw enough money at him. 

Finally, there’s also a simple problem with this slogan. Yes, dogs do seem to fizz with delight each time they go out to play, but they get the same delirious pleasure from playing the same handful of games – like fetching a stick or chasing their tail – day-in, day-out for the rest of their lives. Contrary to what O2 want us to do – i.e. keep upgrading our phones to new and better models, and keep buying new games and apps to play with on those phones – ‘being more dog’ would more accurately mean bounding with joy every morning at the prospect of pulling out the old Nokia 3310, having yet another game of Snake and never getting bored of it. My prediction for this campaign? It won’t be long before this puppy is put to sleep.

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[1] Even more bizarre is the CGI rendering of the cat on the campaign website, this time with its tongue hanging out, panting expectantly like a dog.

Tetley: ‘Make Time, Make Tetley’

[Written September 2012]

(Agency: Dare; Air date: 11/8/12; Length: 40 seconds)

 

In recent years, Tetley have revived the Gaffer and the rest of the Tetley Tea Folk from ads of old, but their latest offering eschews that bunch, favouring the very topical theme of social media instead. It wouldn’t be hyperbole to say that social media has literally changed the world we live in – arguably both for better and for worse. In the eight years since Facebook launched, the site has acquired 955 million users worldwide (as of June 2012) and on 18 May 2012 floated on the New York Stock Exchange for over 100 billion dollars. We use it to chat with our friends instead of using the phone, we like each other’s posts and share pictures and videos, and use the site to plan get-togethers and other social events. Twitter has been praised for providing news in real time and thus helping to break news stories quicker, and has played an important role in the Arab Spring, helping protesters to assemble and coordinate their actions. However, Facebook has also been used by some to create false identities to deceive and hurt people, and Twitter has been condemned for the part it played in helping the 2011 London rioters plan their carnage. Both sites have also facilitated the rapid rise of trolling on the Internet.

Tetley’s latest ad is interesting because it engages with the debate surrounding social media by offering a critique of it. In the ad, we see a young woman called Kate sitting at her computer and beginning to post a new status on ‘Social Scape’, the Facebook of the Tetley universe. ‘Guess who got her dream job!!!’, Kate writes. But, with her finger hovering over the ‘share’ button, she hesitates, imagining the consequences of her post. Suddenly, her imaginings come to life. We are then treated to a rapid fire succession of annoying and oh-so recognizable characters that populate many of our social network ‘friends’ lists:

‘Like! That’s totes amazing!’

‘Congrats! Lovely! Kiss kiss! Hug hug!’

‘Best wishes for the future. Kiss.’

‘Sideways smiley face!’

This is followed by a deafening cacophony of sounds from the 15 people who surround poor Kate.

Kate sees the packet of Tetley tea bags, then deletes her status update. Instead she takes to email – ‘Right girls, fancy a cuppa?’ the message reads. Three steaming cups of Tetley sit on the sideboard and Kate’s two female friends are round in person to congratulate her on her new job. ‘When you need a real catch up’, the final voiceover goes, ‘make time, make Tetley’.

This ad is interesting because it repeats the question of whether the people on social networks we call ‘friends’ are really so, and more generally opens up the question, What is a friend? As we grow weary of these ever present social networks, at our desks and in our pockets, we may speculate that real friendship isn’t clicking an icon or typing behind a screen but actually taking the time to hang out with someone in person, looking them in the eye as they talk to us and we talk to them, offering emotional support and having physical contact. The ad also addresses the question of the number of friends a person needs to be happy. In the ad, Kate swaps her 15 virtual friends for the two close friends she invites round for a cuppa, suggesting that humans only need a handful of close friends to be happy and the vast majority of the hundreds, or even thousands, of friends some people have on Facebook and the like are not really friends in the traditional sense of the word. 

This is an intelligent ad because it uses a simple premise we can all relate to – bonding over a drink – to not only sell the product but also offer a snappy little critique of social media, whilst most other brands implore us to ‘Follow them on Facebook’. Though they use a very modern theme, Tetley are reminding us that good old fashioned friendships still have value, and have been shrewd enough to link their brand with this sentiment at the same time.

British Heart Foundation: 'Hard and Fast Hands-Only CPR'

[Written January 2012]

(Agency: Grey London; Air date: 16/12/11; Length: 45 seconds)

Footballer-turned-actor Vinnie Jones channels the spirits of Big Chris and Bullet-Tooth Tony (from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, respectively) for his role as the cockney gangster in the new British Heart Foundation TV advert for hands-only CPR. The ad, produced by Grey London, features Jones’ hard man, backed up by two henchmen, explaining to us that, despite what we’ve been told, there should be ‘no kissing’ when performing CPR, because ‘you only kiss your missus on the lips’. Instead, it’s getting the speed and strength of the chest compressions right which is important.

In order to demonstrate, Jones’ cronies retrieve a ‘volunteer’ from the back of a lorry, recently deprived of the ability to breath by our boys, and slide him across the floor, cartoon-style, to Jones, who declares, ‘Here’s one I made earlier’, in best Blue Peter fashion. First, we’re told to dial 999, then to push hard and fast in the middle of the patient’s chest to the beat of the Bee Gees ‘Stayin’ Alive’. Jones then pumps the chest of his volunteer/victim as the tune’s chorus plays, raising his shaven head to the camera and giving the viewer a cheeky grin, while his leather-jacketed henchmen nod their heads in the background, stony-faced. No sooner is the volunteer/victim resuscitated, than Jones slaps him down to the floor again, and we are reminded what to do: call 999, then push hard and fast to ‘Stayin’ Alive’, finally being told hands-only CPR is ‘not as hard as it looks’. The final shot is of Jones glancing down at his volunteer/victim with a menacing look in his eyes, suggesting the poor bloke probably won’t be breathing for much longer.

The BHF have succeeded in making a really funny ad which is entertaining and also gets its message across to the viewer. According to this article in the Huffington Post, the BHF say people are reluctant to perform the kiss of life for various reasons, including a lack of knowledge, fear of infection, or even being sued for performing it incorrectly, hence the ‘no kissing’ advice. Instead, for people untrained in CPR, it is best to forget the kiss of life altogether and focus on performing hard chest compressions, which are apparently best done at 110-120 beats per minute, which, by a happy coincidence, is the same BPM of the aptly titled ‘Stayin’ Alive’.

Performing chest compressions to ‘Stayin’ Alive’ has been advised in the past (along with ‘Nellie the Elephant’), but using the track in this ad was an astute move as it’s a well-known, catchy tune that will have viewers’ tapping their toes or singing along, helping to make the instructions memorable, should anyone actually find themselves in the unfortunate situation where they need to perform the procedure. It also makes for the wonderful comic image of three hard-as-nails gangsters getting down to the Bee Gees. Jones is well-cast as the brute in the suit, which he plays with relish, and I particularly enjoy the blink-and-you-miss-it moment after he advises us to call 999, where he looks up at the camera, aggrieved, and mutters ‘I know’ under his breath, playfully acknowledging that calling the emergency services is the last thing a gangster would do. The use of a criminal underworld theme wouldn’t be what one would expect in an advert for a charity aiming to save people’s lives, but Grey London have made it work.