Ads That Improve Your Mood – Guest Post

Marketing Humor — By Guest Author on September 30, 2011 7:56 pm

Do you ever watch an advertisement and imagine the marketing department sitting around discussing the idea? I’m sure most people don’t even consider the processes behind advertisements but once you do start to consider the process, you begin to formulate the question “why the hell would they think that was a good idea”.

This is the case not just for ads on TV, but also billboards, taxi advertising, bus advertising, newspaper ads and Facebook adverts. It surrounds us every day. But some advertisements are there to to tell us what to do, where to go and above how to behave.

Some sales advertisements tend to follow the same tired storyline of the protagonists who are in need of something and suddenly find a product that meets this need, or they already use a product that makes their life complete and this thing is then desired by others whose lives are incomplete due to lack of the aforementioned product. That’s why it’s so refreshing when an ad simply makes you laugh, or makes you stop and think, actually think. Of course it’s intention is to get you to notice the product, desire the product and finally purchase it, but for a second its simply something rather wonderful.

This article is about a few brands who decided to give their customers something a little different, I hope you like them and that they cheer you up.

1.  Campaign name - Headlights

Brand - Mercedes-Benz

Ad agency - Jung von Matt/Alster (Germany)

Agency Jung von Matt/Alster based in Hamburg were asked to create a print campaign to promote Mercedes-Benz safety features. The idea was that “its not just humans that benefit from the advances in Mercedes superior safety features”. This wonderful idea brings into focus the animals with whom drivers share the roads, who in most some cases never survive that initial encounter with a car. This campaign is subtly done and with a sprinkle of humor it reflects on not only the extraordinary technology behind the Mercedes-Benz, but also the power that being behind the wheel gives us over another sentient beings life.

2 . Campaign name -  Single Ladies

Brand – Vodacom

Ad agency - Draftcb, Joannesburg

Taken from both Beyonce’s ‘Single ladies’ video and the viral video ‘where the hell is Matt’. This fantastic advert for African mobile phone company Vodacom, has been called both unoriginal and parody of its self by some. If you are anything like me, you will find it refreshingly funny.  Beyonce has been replaced by a hipster dude surrounded by African citizens dancing to the ‘Single Ladies’ hit.

3. Campaign name - Granny

Brand – Bosch Purolator

Ad agency  - Grey New York

When Bosch wanted to reassert the new Purolator oil filter Brand, their idea was that the process of changing the filter is so simple, anyone can do it. Its a brilliant piece of marketing that  gives the consumer not only freemium content in the form of a video showing ‘how to change an oil filter’ but also broadens Bosch’s target market.

The videos cover a range of people who you wouldn’t automatically think of when considering any kind of car mechanics role. The videos featuring a Granny, and older Amish man and another with a Geisha are all titled “Can a …………… do an oil change”

4. Campaign – No surprizes

Brand – Renault service

Ad agency – Publicis, Romania

The beauty about this is Campaign is its simplicity, its such a clever idea in that it isn’t clever at all, it is purely factual. What works here, is that it plays on peoples child like love of naughty scribbles in school books with the new way of consuming data in the blink of an eye. These sketches tell you the whole story in one childlike drawing, leaving nothing to the imagination… as with a Renault service, you get what you expect.

5. Campaign – Social Network

Brand - Toyota Venza

Ad agency - Saatchi & Saatchi LA

When marketing to Baby Boomers you need to think like one of them and this advert does just that. Its wonderfully hypocritical. Over the 5 videos you follow the stories of a bunch of self obsessed Twenty somethings openly criticizing their parents lives, calling them pointless, dull and near death. You then see the parents are driving their Toyota Venza up a mountain, to a festival etc.

6. Campaign – Mobile Home

Brand – Mini Cooper

Ad agency – Bcube, Italy

This is not necessarily a clever advert in terms of content, but it is quite beautiful. The camera work is remarkable and flows perfectly with the music. The end of the advert might seam rather clunky and slightly arrogant.

7. Campaign name – Carma

Brand – Bridgestone

Ad agency – The Richards group

Anyone who has watched the Super Bowl will be familiar with Bridgestone, their ‘scream’ advert showing a squirrel running out in the road to fetch a nut, finding itself facing a speeding car and screaming, setting off a chain reaction through the woodland population became world famous. This ad is very similar only the protagonist is a beaver, again the advert takes you to a quiet country road and a car heading towards a busy beaver dragging a large piece of wood.

8. Campaign name – Kid in a candy store

Brand – CarMax

Ad agency – Amalgamated

In true Austin Powers “Why it looks like a giant …. Johnson!” style, this advert for US car sales colossus Carmax, is aiming to prove that they give the customer everything they want… like a kid in a candy store.

9. Campaign name – Practice makes perfect

Brand – BMW

Ad agency – Dotglue, New York

This one really makes you question time and time again “what are they getting ready for?”, its an intelligent ad and one that looks at the enjoyment of a product from a very different angle.

dang video’s not on YouTube

10. Campaign name - Paws Up. Hoedown. Lady Gaga goes to Farmville

Brand - Zynga

Agency - Evolution Bureau, San Francisco

When Zynga the creators of Farmville were looking for promotion they looked to one of the biggest pop stars of all time. This wonderfully campy campaign will have you glued to it, you can image what Lady GaGa would look like on a farm, and how the farm would react to Lady Gaga.  Almost makes you want to block all those annoying games on Facebook, doesn’t it?

Tags: ad agency, advertisement, advertisements, billboards, bus advertising, campaign name, facebook, hamburg, headlights, initial encounter, intention, laugh, marketing department, mercedes benz, protagonists, sprinkle, taxi advertising