Innocent Smoothies

I love this advert. The first time i saw it it had me smiling and giggling, mission accomplished. I think one of the best things about the ad is that you can see they have had fun making it, clearly not taking things to seriously by having flying smoothie bottles on string and poles ( to blatantly say we know smoothies cant really fly). I do love the addition of the cape, maybe this could be a new theme like they have the knitted hats in 2010 which resulted in them donating 20,000 euros to age action ireland, they could have the capes for fathers 4 justice superhero's campaign or tie it in with help for heroes.



Also very appropriate time to get back on the advertising with it being the new year and people trying to start diets and cut down on nibbles.

A store opening and a half...

One word, WOW!

A friend of mine showed me this little gem. I love when companies push the boundaries, obviously with great risk comes great achievement, if it pays off, which it did. This is an amazing advertising piece and will put most other store openings to shame. It is all performed by a light sequence, amazing i know. There is slight confusion over the 4d element but it seems that the 4th dimension is the release of the scent (thanks to new retail blog). The project happened in both London and New York at flagship stores. A huge lighting spectacle, I am in awe of the results and wish i had seen it live. The building starts in its original form, then bricks and mortar move in front of your eyes to create the catwalk and the show continues. I have two favourite sections, firstly the part near the beginning, with the light flying around the building, in and out of the windows, it looks like it is actually happening and secondly where it scans over the building revealing what is actually in the store behind the tough exterior, you still might not be able to touch but you can certainly look.

It's good to see the brand being daring and splashing the cash on this advertising and it certainly makes a bold statement about the brand but it also brings there products to the masses in one swoop. We all like to treat ourselves every now and again and those of us that don't have the luxury to regularly shop in stores like this will save and spend on those classic pieces, an interesting move to include all even though they know who there core market is. On top of this with technology, phones and cameras etc in everyone's bags, the viral on this will have been huge, so they may have paid for the actual light installation but they wont have needed to spend a penny on the advertising.

Its worth taking a look at the making of, wish it was more in depth but gives you a brief overview and how the project mapping technology made it all possible.

the Apple of airlines

Virgin Atlantic are definitely flying the flag for airline advertising making there 'Your airline's either got it or it hasn't' more prominent than ever with there latest advert, and they certainly have it. If I was going to be a hostess I know who I would be working for hands down. To be fair I have had a soft spot for Virgin ever since I flew with them to New York, maybe because it was my first long haul flight, or maybe its because I just love the brand. All of the other airlines are so humdrum and boring whereas Virgin lets its hair down and is playful, none of this stiff upper lip old England we associate with British Airways.

Thanks to the bnet blog, the supposed brief to ad agency RKCR/Y&R -

Budget: Spare no expense.

Creative: Give us every airline ad cliche in the book. Make it look like a James Bond title sequence crossed with a Busby Berkeley number. Get plenty of references to Mad Men in.

And don’t be afraid to make it look too gay!

I think they are about spot on with the latest advert to hit our screens from Virgin, taking on a James Bond tone, creating a world of how we wish our flying experience could be. The women strut in red patent heels (good job virgin has good brand colours) , immaculately polished and happy to be at work. At about 30secs in it reminded me of a Guinness advert (tick vs tock vs tick), the colours, like they are flying through the cloudy stout and thankfully not turbulence. Maybe there is symbolism written all over it, phallic objects, the old olive and martini combo the ultimate cocktail and a tabloid story a while back about removing one olive from each passengers meal saving thousands, and here Virgin are merely playing with it as a toy. They have created an idealistic world, an image of what it feels like to fly with Virgin (maybe not so true in reality), but we can all dare to dream that the beds are so soft it is like you are in the clouds, maybe it is in first class.

Muses version of 'Feeling Good' is a fabulous choice, lyrically sound complimenting the visual perfectly, it oozes sex, power, and perfection, pretty much rubbing it in peoples or should I say airlines faces.

I have read many mixed reviews across the internet about the advert, some people enjoying it for what it merely is, an advert having fun with there brand and making a world we wished we had whereas some seem quite put out about the symbolism and even suggest that much of it is pointing to New World Order (NWO)... In my opinion their adverts are always a step above the rest, you can tell time and money has been spent on creating them, Virgin would be a dream company to work for. If only all companies took note and viewed advertising this way we probably wouldn't be so annoyed at having adverts breaks. Keep up the good work Virgin.

Taking advertising to different levels...

Gone are the days of mouse mats and rubbers, pens have always been an old favourite as you know they will probably be around for some time as people always need pens, my pot on my old desk used to have various ones advertising anything and everything, they were just there in case i needed them, I am very funny about my pens... That's another story for another day. So pen advertising, obviously you normally get the usual, just a pen with a companies name on it, possibly contact numbers web address etc but I stumbled across this pen at work and was quite amazed, I have never seen this anywhere before and it is a clever way to pack information into a small space, and moreover I was so impressed I showed about five or six people, immediately spreading the word and generating interest as people wondered who was advertising what, Lumix camera's by the way. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least, obviously price would be more expensive than your average pen but it could just be worth it.






I have to admit it has won a TIPA award in 2009 for design innovation, behind the times again...

The I by The Independant

The newspaper that actually got me to buy a newspaper. An ingenious idea by the Independent, helps to give those of us who would like to know whats happen but not necessarily all the detail a snippet of whats actually happening out there. Obviously there are times where you would like to know more but you simply log on to the web and google away. I also managed to get printed in one of the editions for my tweet (@mollyhee), check it out, was pretty chuffed.

Dating Website...

If you have not already seen this advert take a peek.





When i first saw this i thought it was going to be for another dating website, there seem to be a few round at the moment, probably new year new start and all that jazz. So when it finished up being for the Cooperative i was surprised to say the least. I understand the concept that its saying its convinient and local so you can do all the things you love doing without food being a hassle, but personally i think the message got a bit lost along the way, but it does make a nice change to the foody ads we usually see.

Whereas match.com seem to have hit the nail on the head with there new commercial's message. A great little ad showing two individuals sharing things about themselves through the joint passion of music. My brother pointed out that this would never happen, but i think he missed the point of music being a common interest for both of them, therefore a starting point to develop the relationship advert. Nice and light hearted and probably helping to soften the image of internet dating sites.

iPad

Okay, so i know this is a bit behind the times, but I can now admit how totally amazing the iPad actually is no we have one in our household. It was technically a present to my parents from my brother however i am fully getting the use out of it. There are a few niggly bits like no usb port, but in the grand scheme of things its not a major issue because i still have my old timer Powerbook G4 going strong. Either an amazing piece of kit that i think will impress most, it even had my dad and step mum battling it out at Angry Birds.