#04 - LIDL / Live like a lettuce

Brand: LIDL

Agency: O Escritório, Portugal

Year: 2018

Who says supermarket ads have to be boring and dull, shot inside supermarkets filled with people that smile like robots while walking? 

This is a great little ad that captures your attention without having to be loud (a thing that is very much en vogue nowadays) and that delivers one of the cleverest jokes ever seen on TV. Sure the concept itself isn't anything new but, just like our previous ad, this is another good example that the concept doesn't have to be new or amazing when the execution is clever and made with finesse.  

AD BREAKDOWN

This ad does not wastes any time and the first shot just puts you where you need to be, right on the ocean. No title cards needed, no 'this is a very famous surfer guy', none of it. It shows you what you need to know and does not bother the viewer with extra information that he/she does not need to enjoy the ad. 

So someone's taking a lesson, or maybe they're just two friends, but one is scared as hell about the amazing huge waves that he'll need to surf. No dialogue is needed here since the casting was such an amazing one and the actor's face delivers the scene with, once again, no need for superfluous dialogue. Then it comes the line that makes or breaks this ad "Remember, you're a LILD's lettuce!". And like all great lines on greats ads this is a line that will certainly leave you confused. What is he talking about? A lettuce? What is this about? - you'll ask yourself. This is what makes this ad a great one. You're captured by it and then it does what most good and all great ads do: it makes you want to see what's next, you want to know the payoff, you have to know how does this ends and what's this all about. Yes, you already know this ad is about LIDL and you already know that it's about lettuce, so in a way, in the clients POV you already are involved with its brief. Speaking about this, I also have to state the amazing contribute that a good brief has on making a great ad and here you can almost see how simple the brief was or how simple the client and the agency made it. 

So then we have the guy surfing a giant wave while screaming that he's a LIDL lettuce. Next comes the payoff and once again this is a line that's used and abused since the old days but here it is placed within a new context that makes the old line new again: "Live like there's no tomorrow.". But wait, this is a two part payoff because next we cut to a shot inside LIDL supermarket where we see a tray of lettuces and the payoff ends with "For our lettuces there isn't" and then we have the logo and that's it. Unlike other supermarket ads there's no "Maybe we should explain the joke!". This ad treats people like intelligent creatures.  It bets the house on the audience being able to follow the story and to figure out that the payoff just really means that LIDL's lettuces are fresh everyday and because of this there the best lettuces you can get.

Like so many great ads, simple, effective, clever and clean. It knows what to do, what to say and how to say it. And that combination is what makes this a great ad.

TAKEAWAY

SIMPLE BRIEF + SIMPLE MESSAGE + CLEVER & CLEAN DELIVERY + GOOD PRODUCTION

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OLD SAYING MADE NEW

#03 - Harley Davidson / Peanuts

Brand: Harley Davidson

Agency: Carmichael Lynch, USA

Year: 2002

I can imagine a marketing department today looking at this amazing print ad while foaming and yelling something like "Where's the product?" or " Yeah... can we insert the features somewhere? Maybe in bullet points over the image? I mean you can hardly see the motorcycle!" or even "Why can't I read the text? And can you make the headline the bottom copy and the bottom copy the headline?". 

In my opinion, this is an ad for the ages. It's so simple, so beautiful and so clearly made with care and dedication that if it hadn't won any awards it would have been a crime.

AD BREAKDOWN

Take a look at that headline. Really. Just take a good look at that headline. If that doesn't make you want to throw your work in the trash and work harder I don't know what will. This headline is a masterclass on how to tell a story in a single line. It's not only funny but it's emotional. You can easily relate to the story it tells, even if you've never been on an airplane. In all fairness the overarching concept has already been done to death but to me this only elevates the ad even more as it takes a lot of effort to be able to create something this original and good out of a concept that's so overused (it's the concept of freedom, just in case you didn't get it).

Then you have the photo. Shot by Chris Winpey, this photo integrates a whole campaign that won many awards in its own right but for me this ad is the best one of the series, not only because of the headline - I mean the other headlines are clever and all but none reaches the heights of this one - but also because of this amazing shot of a motorcycle just going its own way (you know, freedom!). Plus the art direction is also spot on. Choosing this particular photo with this particular framing instead of going the easy way out with a close-up was the touch of genius needed to elevate this ad to the stratosphere and in all fairness to turn a simple line into a great headline. Ok, the layout is a bit dated but it really doesn't take anything away from the mastery of this print ad.

TAKEAWAY

TRIED AND TRUE CONCEPT + WHOLE BEING MORE THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS

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A STORY WELL TOLD

#02 - Volkswagen / Snow Plow

Brand: Volkswagen

Agency: DDB NY

Year: 1964

For all those that praise storytelling like it’s the new thing in advertising, here’s the one that started it all (or one of them, created by the legend that was William ´Bill´ Bernbach). This is storytelling raised to the highest degree. In the words of  the great John Hegarty “That’s a print ad, not a Tv commercial”.

AD BREAKDOWN

What make this ad great right from the start is its premisse “How does the guy operating the snow plow gets to the snow plow in the first place?”. Starting your ad with a question is always a great idea. It seems really simple, you just pose a problem and then try to give it a good answer. Plus, sometimes the question is right there on the brief so why not use it as a starting point? Well the problem with this strategy is twofold and that’s why it isn’t as simple as it seems. First you don’t need just any question, you need THE question. You need something that is common enough to be relatable but not so common as to be banal. Then you need to nail the execution of the answer.

This is a brilliant ad because it poses an interesting question and the path it takes to  give you the answer is brilliantly executed.

By taking its time it forces the viewer to take notice on what’s on-screen. Ok it’s a car. Oh it’s a Volkswagen Beetle. But what’s it doing on the snow? Then the question is asked and you get it immediately. You know where this is going but truth be told, you don’t really care that you’re seeing an ad. You were guided from point A to point B, from beginning to end. And you got the answers you needed. Just in a very clever and interesting way.

There’s a certain beauty about the way this ad is filmed, revealing bits and pieces and taking its time to reveal its big secret. Oh, and one more thing. The way the line “This one drives a Volkswagen” is delivered. Damn that’s smooth. And it is left implied all the characteristics that make the Volkswagen so powerful without having to spell them out to you. This is an ad that guides the viewer without dumbing the viewer down. It doesn’t need to and it knows it.

If this ad was done today how would it look? Probably it would not have the breathing room it has. Probably it would start with the question and then we’d cut to multiple beauty shots of the car, followed by a list of its traits and specs (horsepower, etc.) and then it would probably end with the price “Starting from xxx amount”.

What we can learn from this ad is that when you have peoples attention you don’t need to flood them with information. When you think people are dumb and you dumb down your work you’ll make ads for no one (probably just for the client and in my experience probably not for very long). “Snow Plow” is the exact opposite. It’s a very clever ad made for everyone. It grabs your attention, it poses an interesting question and it delivers a stunning execution.  

TAKEAWAY

CLEVER PREMISSE (INTERESTING QUESTION) + INTERESTING ANSWER

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BRILLIANT AD

#01 - Fox Regional Sports / Turkey, India, China, Russia

Brand: Fox Regional Sports

Agency: Cliff Freeman & Partners

Production: Partizan Midi Midnuit

Year: 2000

What makes these spots so great is how they just hit you like a freight train.

Sure the shock value always helps but in this case the presentation is executed so well that the shock value really serves a purpose and it works in favor of the ads, making then fun instead of frightening. Plus, and going on a tangent, in my opinion these are some of the best examples of simple classic advertising that would still work today in a world where our attention span is approaching that of a goldfish.

The Turkey TV Spot was one of the first ads I’ve seen while working in an advertising agency and I was just blown away by it. It is quick, fun and packs a punch. Plus the message is simple and doesn’t get in the way.

And if I had to guess I’d say that the creative team came up with the “Turkey” spot first and then tried to stretch the idea into more spots, hence the lack of equal creative brilliancy between them.

Now, I say this with a grain of salt since I wasn’t there and was not able to get any insight about this campaign other than some articles about the agency and about their work in the industry.

But the signs are all there. The “Turkey” TV Spot is conceptually much richer than the others, having for example a punchline that’s far more interesting than the other 3 spots. When we see punctuation being given we can’t help but to chuckle at the absurd of the situation. That’s good writing, good art direction and good direction. And that’s what makes a Real Ad of Genius.

AD BREAKDOWN

Breaking down these ads we can see why they work so well. First the choice to show what seems to be unadulterated TV channels from other countries was just spot on. Usually subtitles would be mandatory but that would remove something from the ads, the realness or the feeling of realness would just evaporate leaving the ads exposed as just that, ads. Their effectiveness would be crushed right from the start.

As the ad progress we get a sense of being showed something strange but still grounded on reality. We get a familiar sense from the delivery of the speakers and the shot direction is quick to place us (the viewer) exactly where we’re supposed to be. This is an event, a sports event. But which sport? Here is where the different ads differ in terms of creative efficiency, and here we can see why the “Turkey” spot functions so well in relation to the others. From the moment we see the diver we know what’s about to happen. Or so we’re led to believe. It’s when this tie to reality is broken and our expectation is curbed (“What? There’s no pool! There’s no pool!”) that we instantly react with awe and laughter. It’s simple. So simple in fact that it could turn this into a mediocre at best or just plain bad ad. A lesser creative team would just cut to the name of the brand “Fox Regional Sports” and something like “Now playing on channel 99” since they would figure that as the gag is over their job is done, so cut to the brand. And it’s here we can see how and why a good copy can make all the difference. In these ads the copy is spot on as it provides that extra information as well as breathing room after the shocking image shown before - “Sports News from the only region you care about. (dramatic pause) Yours.” - is just brilliant and a very good example of a creative team where everyone knows its place. The copy doesn’t try to sell us another idea or retrace the steps taken explaining the joke. It just does what it should do tying the spot together and giving a little breathing room after the gag and before we can cut to the brand.     

Props to the creative team, to the agency and to the client for having the balls to put this on the air.

TAKEAWAY

Reality +  Expectation + Twist + Non intrusive & Informative Copy
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A Fun Real Ad of Genius