Blog Posts

Here's our annual look at six areas that either remain firmly taboo or that we'd expect to see among the barriers coming down in 2023.CashAn outbreak of 'contactless' hot spots sparked a showdown as defenders of cash pointed out the dangers of relying exclusively on digital payments. While some love the idea of paying by waving or winking, others are profoundly mistrustful of invisible money movements.Fintech continues its upswing, but as the cost of living bites hard, even such upbeat campaigns
Read more...

Welcome to our annual review of Taboo Topics that have been tackled through advertising over the preceding year. Here goes:E-wasteYes, we all enjoy a shiny new gadget, but awareness is dawning that we need to question our rampant digital consumption - and consequent waste. French company Back Market raised the standard for refurb with a series of ads using different techniques. The U.S. one (top image) depicted a stop-motion animation Monster that makes us buy new 'stuff' compulsively.This 2022 r
Read more...

Prostitution - still taboo?Belgian singer-songwriter Paul Van Haver - better known as Stromae - sets out to re-position society's attitudes to sex workers with this music video advertising his new album 'Multitude'.The 'Fils de joie' track depicts an imagined state funeral for a missing sex worker in a fictional country. Stromae takes the chorus role of the 'son of a whore' while also depicting a pimp, a client, and a policeman through the lyrics of the verses.The singer's tone and lyrics in expr
Read more...

Set what free?You may well ask. Freedom heads south in this 'OODYSSEY' campaign by hair removal brand Veet.The name riffs off the title of an epic Greek poem, Homer's 'Odyssey'. Some would say 'Odd'yssey would be a better name for this ad.The one-minute footage depicts a pair of giant rubbery balls on a journey all of their own, to encourage men to set free their testicles by using Veet Men cream.Sample reactions:"Love it, fresh re-arrangement of perceptions""Doesn't make sense, they'd still be w
Read more...

AI audio gets emotionalYikes or Likes?Artificial intelligence (AI) already plays a huge part in our lives, underpinning a lot of our 'choices' on where to eat, what to watch, which news and products we are exposed to and so on. Increasingly, life-or-death judgments formerly made by the likes of pilots and doctors are in the hands and minds of AI.And now, computer-generated (CG) audio seems ready to toy with our emotions.UK-based software company Sonantic has launched this video, which they say:".
Read more...

Here's a coincidence:-Commercials for the February 13  Super Bowl football event are everywhere right now, and the same morning I picked the Kia Robo Dog offering for ADDS, I read about robotic dogs being tested as 'force multipliers' along the US-Mexican border.Parents across the USA and beyond look set to hear howls of longing for 'Robo Dog's car' from captivated kids. The South Korean multinational pulls out all the cute stops in a 1'10" mini-movie that you'll probably want to watch to the end
Read more...

Machines v mandates Canadians of all ages bundled up against sub-zero temperatures to line highways across the country last week, cheering and waving flags to show support for the hundreds of truckers thundering towards the capital Ottawa to protest Covid mandates.Having dubbed those in the reportedly 70-kilometre-long Freedom Convoy a "fringe minority", Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went into hiding as the mighty machines poured into the city, heading for Parliament and attended by supporters fr
Read more...

#coercivecontrolCoercive behaviour in relationships is not always easy to spot or understand - by either the perpetrator or the victim. The UK organisation Women's Aid deploys a familiar TV game show format, with a clapping/cheering studio audience, three female contestants, and a perky host. The increasingly uncertain participants give 'wrong' answers to loaded questions, illustrating how coercive control (illegal in the UK since 2015) can unfold.Shots of the participants' male partners at the e
Read more...

Giving voice to male suicideThis campaign continues the awareness-raising of a taboo topic by adapting the iconic Eighties song 'Boys Don't Cry' by The Cure.Their re-work includes specific new lyrics delivered by a mixed male choir and the title 'Boys Do Cry'.Boys Do Cry, an Australian initiative for men's mental health, says that "in the last 12 months in Australia 2,384 men have taken their own lives. That's an average of seven men every day, making suicide the leading cause of death in Austral
Read more...

Tesco Christmas ad attracts hundreds of complaints, its own boycott hashtag, and.... eyeballsSocialBritish multinational supermarket chain Tesco has achieved the coveted position of standing out in the flood of Christmas ads 2021. It's a moot point whether the 1'30" commercial garnered the response it might have been after: it sparked a social media storm as soon as it launched, and quickly acquired a #BoycottTesco hashtag on Twitter, counteracting its own #NothingsStoppingUs slogan. The ad appea
Read more...

You wait for ages,then three come along at once...Not three Matt Damons, obvs.But three recent campaigns that illustrate how the Hollywood actor ('The Bourne Identity'. 'The Martian, 'Good Will Hunting') uses advertising to fight for what he believes in...Early drop in stream of Christmas adsThis partnership with pilsner beer-maker Stella Artois sees Damon, a co-founder of Water.org, reminding us that "...in developing countries, women around the world spend hours collecting water.""This season,
Read more...

Okay, it was only one sharp knife, but supported by an axe, an arrow and a stick of dynamite. And many would argue that the humour is not blunt, but really sharp.These two ads, both from a sector we might think of as fairly stodgy - insurance - have each sparked unexpected controversy, with reactions ranging from disgust to delight.Hit or miss humour?US digital life insurance company Ladder serves up a slapstick black-humoured conceit around family members, even the dog, trying to do away with th
Read more...

As the US Secretary of State winged his way across the 'pond' to push back against some political pooh-poohing by the French, Paris-based luxury fashion house Balenciaga created waves with a campaign featuring The Simpsons.The Spanish House has always known how to surprise and to stay in step with the times. This new 10-minute animation features the popular - and dysfunctional - US family negotiating comical everyday situations in the long-running TV series 'The Simpsons', which started  as a tel
Read more...

From banners, balloons and boats to drones and animations, stunt masters Greenpeace sure know how to work the campaign optionsHow do they do it?Well, they nailed the brand name.Approach, Green. Mission, Peace.Job done.Job never doneThe non-governmental organisation (NGO) launched in September 1971 when a ship named the Greenpeace set out to confront and stop US nuclear weapons testing at Amchitka in southwest Alaska.Since then, through the bombing and sinking by the French of the Rainbow Warrior
Read more...

Packing an indefinable punch Canadian actor Keanu Reeves hit the screens in commercials for Coca Cola and Cornflakes back in 1983 and 1987 respectively.Sandwiched in between came his big movie break, 1985's 'Young Again', playing "a 17-year-old body with a 40-year-old mind".  Beyond trilogiesBuckle up now for the fourth instalment in his hallmark movies series 'The Matrix' (December 2021) and 'John Wick' (May 2022).Reeves' commercial punch is reflected in the just-out 'Matrix Resurrections' trail
Read more...

Sensuality, science, and - dearie me - even a spot of consent education as this musical ball of feline fantasy unravels in front of our eyesCat music? Yep, it's a thing!Cat lovers in Russia were the first to be treated to the one-minute 'Purr More' promotion for Whiskas, which has a proud tradition of creative cat work such as the 'Kitten Kollege' ad series.This first-of-its-kind ad features original Cat music from National Symphony cellist and 'animal composer' David Teie. Erm, 'cat music'? Seri
Read more...

Amazon One enables digital identification by waving the palm of your hand over payment devices to complete a transaction. Biometric handoverThe e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence multinational explains that the system studies subcutaneous elements such as vein patterns as well as lines and ridges in the skin to establish a person's unique 'Amazon One ID'. This harvested data can then be used to connect the individual's Amazon-registered activities across b
Read more...

Would you buy an ice-cream from this man?Brilliant ad? Downright offensive? Either or both?To celebrate the US's National Ice-Cream Day (July 18) and this whole week, we're taking a peek at our fave summertime treat through the ad lens.Although the ancient Greeks were eating a mix of snow and fruits in the 5th century BC, ice-cream didn’t reach America until 1800. The USA is now the world’s largest producer and consumer, with the average American eating some 20 pounds of the yummy stuff a year, a
Read more...

Cruel metricsOne ball doesn't go in, another ball does.It's that simple.Net zero goalsThe net looks empty but it's rammed with expectations and emotions.Did you know that they christen a new type of ball for major championships? The art of getting the balance, shape and dynamics right has come a long way from the original cow or pig bladder encased in leather.UniforiaThe one in use at the highly-charged Euro 2020 tournament final stages was an Adidas Uniforia - a combination of  'unity' and 'euph
Read more...

Ronaldo stays cool, but do big brands like Coke and Heineken need to pay better attention to their sponsorships?BackstoryWhen superstar footballer Cristiano Ronaldo (aka CR7) removed bottles of Coca Cola at a recent European Championship news conference, pointedly opting for water instead, the images went viral. Coke's stock immediately dropped $4 billion (but soon recovered).Subsequently, Italy's Manuel Locatelli followed Ronaldo's lead over Coke, while practising Muslim Paul Pogba removed a (be
Read more...