Wodka is a product that has been out for a while now, and you just have to love their campaign!
With the influx of Poles in the UK, and the expansion of Europe, Polish Vodka Wodka has become a new item in UK’s shopping baskets. This has to be the best alcohol campaign I have seen in a while.
Still on the topic of alcohol consumption, I recently discovered another official anti-binge drinking campaign ad. You may remember that I was recently invited to the launch of the new Home Office’s anti- binge drinking campaign produced by ad agency VCCP. Although a little too long in my liking, the Scottish version is also effective at showing the effects of binge drinking…
This is the (in)famous ad that was withdrawn from television after 200 viewers complained that it was offensive. Heinz, which makes the New York Deli Mayo featured in the commercial, pulled the advertisement in response to the criticism.
Viewers told the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the ad was inappropriate and unsuitable for children to see. The ASA has not yet decided whether to launch an investigation.
I don’t get this ad, and it does not make me want to try or investigate the product but the gay kiss doesn’t bother me at all…
VCCP invited me yesterday, along with a bunch of other bloggers, to the premiere of the Home Office’s latest advertising campaign to tackle binge drinking amongst 18-24 year-olds. Sadly, none of us got drunk!
The meet up took place in Covent Garden at the bottom of Long Acre (towards Holborn) where there is currently a Selfridges-type window display with mannequins mirroring the TV ads. Passers-by can download a viral ad via Bluetooth on their phone, and also watch the TV commercials being broadcast in the windows.
Unfortunately I never received the Bluetooth ad – I think the poster should be a little clearer and let people know that they will firstly receive a push message and will then have to enter the code to receive the ad. How about giving a free number people can text to receive the ad instead? Here’s the viral ad:
Binge drinking is indeed a very serious problem in the UK and advertising won’t solve the problem, but early education could mean prevention. Hard facts:
A recent survey shows that Britain has the most drunk teenagers in the world
Around 40% of A&E admissions are alcohol related
There are 1.2 million incident of alcohol related violence a year
Alcohol related crimes cost £7.3bn
VCCP have come up with a series of print, radio, TV, and a viral advert targeted at 18-24s with the strapline ‘you wouldn’t start a night like this so why end it this way.’
I really like the fact VCCP have created two different ads for both male and female drinkers as male and female behaviour under the influence of alcohol is very different. I really like the concept of showing people what they look like when they are drunk as it works as a reminder of how they might have behaved/what they would have looked like after a heavy night out.
The male version of the ad shows a guy getting reading to go on a night out, smearing food onto his shirt, peeing on his shoes, ripping his earring out and violently kicking his stereo.
The female version of the ad shows a girl ripping her tights and shirt off, throwing up, smearing make up all over her face, pouring wine over her jacket and breaking her stilettos.
Both ads convey a very strong message – binge drinking is disgusting and can result in disgraceful behaviour. In fact, the male and female ads almost made me feel sick! Am I being too squeamish?
I just love the fact it is now trendy to ask for tap water in restaurants ! I was dining out with my friends a few weeks ago and we asked for a glass of Eau de Tap – you should have seen the waitress’ face: priceless!
Since 1945, the consumption of bottled water has experienced spectacular growth in France, in the context of a general development in industrialised beverages in Europe. Initially, mineral water had a clear medical status attached to it. This image changed over the century and bottled water is now seen as just one consumer product among many.
I have now been in France for over a week and have been amazed by the quantity of bottled water ads on TV, ususally two at lunch time. It’s interesting to compare the different product positionnings from one brand to another:
Times are tough for the bottled water market and I wasn’t surprised at all to see a proliferation of new products backed up by above the line campaign (including experiential marketing in Lyon town centre last week-end) for the new Contrex Frisson.
The flavoured water category in the UK is confusing with products such as Volvic Touch of Fruit and This Watercoming across as completely different products. This Water (part of the Innocent family), to me, simply isn’t water! Water is not supposed to be pink or yellow, water is supposed to be clear… You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t (quite) take the country of the girl!
The French have taken a more cautious approach by creating a new product category yet to be defined – it is definitely not water but it’s not quite soda either… Check out the ad for Contrex Frisson below and let me know what you think!
Did anyone watch The Apprentice last night? For those of you who didn’t, the task was ‘all about telling a story’. The remaining contestants were split into two teams and asked to develop a new brand of tissues. They must brand their product, design the packaging, produce a print ad, and film a TV promo for a blank box of tissues within three days…
Fair enough, the teams didn’t have an awful lot of time on their hands, but did anyone notice that none of the teams even bothered doing a competitor analysis? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to be doing when you launch a new product… correct me if I am wrong, but this might also have helped when producing the ads!
I simply LOVE the new Alcohol Units campaign by ad agency VCCP! The campaign aims at educating consumers about the number of units there are in drinks.
Adverts will appear on television, radio, advertising boards and newspapers advising that women should not regularly drink more than two to three units a day and men three to four.
The graphics are visually attractive, the message ultra-simple, informative and straight to the point! I am sure lots of consumers will complain that we live in a nanny state but I am 100% behind this campaign.
I simply wanted to point something I noticed when I was made aware of the campaign a couple of days ago… The first graphic I ever saw was the pint of beer with the number 3 drawn in froth in the London Lite (OK it’s not a broadsheet but that paper is great for stimulus!) – would it not make more sense to firstly educate consumers as to how many units per day are acceptable per day and then show the number of units for each drink?
I haven’t seen (TV) or heard any of the ads on the radio yet so I may be wrong…
The ads certainly won’t solve the binge drinking problem in the UK but they may help consumers realise how much alcohol they consume…
To be continued…
PS: In case you were wondering, the title of this post refers to the 10 green bottles song (and if one green bottle should accidentally fall… there would be 9 green bottles etc). My mum taught me that song when I was 4!
Dutch Pizza chain New York Pizza, one of the Netherlands fastest growing pizza delivery chains, has launched an integrated advertising campaign with three short ‘mafia style’ films featuring flour, tomato sauce and a pizza delivery boy, to prove that New York Pizza makes the best tasting Pizza around with an unrivalled passion for the best quality ingredients.
Don’t you love the Netherlands? I cannot help but wonder how they always manage to get away with everything! Oftcom would probably choke on their pizza at the sound of the F-word!
The flour ad is my favourite – you really wouldn’t know that they are advertising pizza. The tomato on is a little bit too gruesome in my liking and I don’t really get the third one… Pretty damn good!
I recently got involved in a proposal on the topic of country branding which immediately got me thinking about London vs. New York. Both cities are so similar yet so different…
The principles behind branding a country are not significantly different to the strategies applied to branding a corporation for e.g.
·Ireland – With help of Hollywood, Ireland creates ebullient images of a windy, green island full of freckled, red-haired children along with award-winning, creative advertising of a unique product like Guinness.
·Croatia - In the aftermath of the Balkan conflict, war-torn Croatia was left with a very negative international image. The chosen strategy was one of re-branding and aggressively promotingone sector that would prove the easiest win – upper market tourism. Croatia is now seen as a country of lovely beaches and picturesque towns for the more experienced traveller. Based on this attractive image, investors and tourists brought much-needed revenue to the economy, in turn raising its international profile
I love both London and New York for different reasons. New York is where I aspire to live, New York is appealing and sexy! Think Sex and City!
My blog stats yesterday were out of control and it seems that the Nokia Tube is creating a lot of buzz (see stats below)
HOWEVER, this post was about an ad I saw on the Tube (London subway!) not the new Nokia Tube! The stats are fascinating - sounds like the iPhone has found a challenger at last…
Just saw this ad on TV last night - it really reminded me of the Tango ads for a sec… I am just loving the black and white background with a hint of colour…
Recent Comments