Blog Posts

If you're tired of your cat being a couch potato....May 26, 2023Artificial intelligence (AI) is now cropping up in conversations everywhere, with tech Luddites as well as digital disciples questioning what's going on.Given some of the mash-ups being produced by generative AI, you may be wondering if we'll ever be able to say "Now I've seen it all" again.If you're also wondering what's with the 'Mighty Miaow' pump-up-your-cat parody above, it just caught my eye: Whiskas ads have long been a favour
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Detail from #DGEyewear 2023May 18, 2023Hi everyone,It's pool-time, sure, but not all of us will be wearing full evening-dress into the water.Yet models Cara Delevingne and Kylie Jenner make it look so easy...Erm, why?Glad you asked.There's nothing shady about this ad for luxury sunglasses featuring US socialite, media personality, businesswoman, and former model Kylie Jenner.The 25-year-old displays some of the latest sunglasses from Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana by wearing them - and
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Detail from the Royal Mint of new official coinsMay 18, 2023A purpose-led, people-driven, taboo-tackling, headline-hitting sovereign.Long a maverick who spoke out against "ugly" modern architecture and campaigned in favour of youth and environmental causes, the then-Prince of Wales first came to many people's attention as a 21-year-old in the extraordinary 'Royal Family' documentary of 1969.Detail from ´Royal Family´ documentaryMilitary modelThe young Charles subsequently served in the Navy after
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Detail from 2023 launch of OPT-INKApril 27, 2023It's perhaps not an area we'd immediately associate with consent, but varying national laws can lead to confusion and distress when it comes to organ donation, which remains a contentious and emotionally charged issue.This recent initiative out of Germany provides a free tattoo for those wishing to be organ donors.As well as attracting attention and sparking conversation / awareness, the inking makes the wearer's wishes visible in situations where a
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April 23, 2023We weren't going to mention Bud Light's recent mis/adventure, but it's sparked noteworthy follow-up, including this near-parodic 'Shared Spirit' campaign:For those not abreast, things kicked off when Bud Light delivered a campaign featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, 26, which went down like a lead balloon - as did sales.Critics say Belgian-owned Budweiser then stepped in its own mess by avoiding the issue, alienating core customers, offending both men and women, and att
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Detail from 2019 Walkers crisps campaign, Gary LIneker and Colin FurzeMarch 15, 2023For those not already abreast, there's a "hot mess" in the UK at the moment involving sport, government and the media.Golden Boot Gary Lineker - a former England footballer and long-time presenter of the popular TV show Match of the Day - side-stepped a clumsy tackle from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to suspend him over his tweet about the government's proposed Illegal Migration Bill.Lineker - the on
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#QuienNoLloraNoMama / If you don't cry you don't get fedThe crying of a huge baby figure sitting on the ground outside Madrid's Reina Sofia Museum makes for an attention-grabbing installation. It aims to secure a law to protect breastfeeding in public spaces in Spain: a recent study indicated that 52% of mothers conceal breastfeeding, while 63.5% felt judged.The campaign embodies the common Spanish saying 'quien no llora no mama' - a phrase from the political protest song 'Cambalache' by Argentin
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Not that it went away, obvs, but there's a distinct sense of religious regeneration in the air: uplifting pastoral story 'Jesus Revolution' opens this week; and many of you will already know about the 'Love Your Enemies' Super Bowl commercial.Popular comedic actor Kelsey Grammer ('Cheers', 'Frasier') plays a churchman whose faith is on thin ice in 'Jesus Revolution'. It's based upon the life of US pastor Chuck Smith (1927-2013), the sometimes controversial founder of what he called "just a Christ
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.....well, finish that phrase as you choose, but we're looking specifically at the UK, where a campaign featuring a skunk holds up an olfactory mirror to the cost of living crisis - aka #CostOfGreedCrisis.Skint stinksFor first direct bank, it takes a swipe at how cr@p it feels to have money problems. Indeed, especally in a world where we can all see/hear about unbelievable amounts of money that are only available to a tiny percentage of people. The big tail and say-it-like-it-is attitude of the s
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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:".
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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
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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
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#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
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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
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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
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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,
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