Buffalo Plaidness Fabulous

The following is a billboard that changes when water touches the paint.  It promotes safe driving during the rain.

While this billboard certainly catches the viewers’ eyes, I feel like it would distract people while driving —even momentarily when just viewing it—which could cause for a riskier situation.  Then again, it clearly forces the viewer to see an immediate consequence of not paying attention while driving.  I still like this ad though because it takes an interesting approach to a serious issue and doesn’t sugarcoat it.

An ad campaign that’s gotten a lot of buzz recently is (unsurprisingly) one from the United Colors Benetton. 

It’s a message that promotes “Unhate” among people of different cultural backgrounds, which I think is important, but does the execution reach the audience it needs to or further polarizes the ones that need to hear this message the most?

A Huffinington Post article states:

The stunning (albeit photoshopped) images are part of a new campaign by the United Colors of Benetton. Alessandro Benetton, executive deputy chairman, who presented the ads in Paris on Wednesday, said they were meant to promote the idea of “unhate,” The Times Of India writes. “The images are very strong, but we have to send a strong message. We are not wanting to be disrespectful of the leaders … we consider them “conception figures” making a statement of brotherhood with a kiss,” he reportedly said.

Benetton hopes the campaign will contribute to the creation of a culture of tolerance and combat hatred, the group writes. It plans a series of live actions in which young people will post the images of the smooching world leaders “on the walls of locations symbolic of the desperately-needed peace process: Tel Aviv, New York, Rome, Milan, Paris.”

I personally don’t care for these ads.  I recognize an important issue needs a campaign that gets people’s attention, but does this get the right attention?  Would this ad really affect the way people think?  Or does this ad further cement people’s thoughts regarding this subject?

Also, given that it’s Benetton, the “shock” value is expected.  Thus, it takes away some of the power of the advertisement, because while it is shocking, it’s really not that all surprising given the company behind the message. 

This is a recent article from The New York Times.

The company, called Jingle Punks, is sending its own Jingle Punks Hipster Orchestra to perform at the offices of advertising agencies in the United States and Canada. The idea is to bring to life, in a soft-sell manner, the company’s goal of delivering music to its agency clients.

Here’s some more on it:

The Jingle Punks musicians are a string ensemble that plays versions of popular “indie” songs by artists like the Strokes and Nirvana.  In the concerts, Jingle Punks isn’t championing certain material but rather trying to illustrate that, depending on the setting, even familiar music can surprise and amuse.

I like taking something that’s familiar and giving it a twist or subverting it.  I find instrumental songs of really popular pop/rock songs really interesting, especially if they serve as the background to a scene or commercial.  Ithink music in advertising is huge.  Part of me would love to be part of the agency that seeks out music to place in advertisements.  When I connect a product to a song I really like, then it enables greater brand recall.  I also like finding new music in a variety of ways, commercials (admittedly!) included.