Great Advertising, Great Videos

Today I had the pleasure of attending Damien Mulley's Online PR Training Course. Expect a full blog on it tomorrow, for now however, there are three video that I wanted to share with you. These are great international examples of how top brands are approaching advertising in completely different ways.

First up is NikeFootball's latest tv ad from Italy. Nike's approach is a hi-tech combination of stunning graphics and straight out football skill.

The second video isn't actual an ad but is definitely brilliant (inho). Levi's sent these cool pop-up closets to six popular fashion magazines in the Netherlands and Belgium. The fold out drawers were filled with several items from the new Levi’s collection.

Finally, the third video I have for you comes from Diesel. Diesel have gone a completely different route, and while this is a proper video ad, it relies completely on copy. This is brilliant copywriting and shows that you don't necessarily need huge sums of money to make a great video.

"That's Advertising, Baby"

A startling insight into advertising and inspiration, Doug PrayArt&Copy is one of the best films that I've seen, not just last year but ever! Pray shows a true gift in being able to open up a world that many feel is inaccessible to those not part of our industry. This is a window into work and wisdom of some of the most influential advertising creatives ever - a glimpse into the genius of the people who have shaped the way we think about the world around us. These are the people behind campaigns such as "Just Do It", "I Love NY", "Where's the Beef?" and "Got Milk".

This is the trailer...

Ads of the World Ad Campaign

Everyone's favourite advertising archive and community, Ads of the World has just launched its own advertising campaign. Consisting of 4 stunningly detail, yet simple and elegant print ads, this is an adman's ad campaign. Ads of the World is owned by WebMediaBrands.

The Advertising Agency who created the campaign was 1789; with their Creative Directors Baptiste Clinet, Jo Dubruque and Nicolas Lautier all working on the job.





If you look carefully you will see the following ads referenced:
Cadbury 'Gorilla'
Advertising Agency: Fallon London, UK

Ikea 'Lamp'
Advertising Agency: Crispin Porter + Bogusky, USA

Sony 'Bravia'
Advertising Agency: Y&R Asia, Singapore

Philips 'Caroussel'
Advertising Agency: Tribal DDB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Nova Radio 'Le grand Mix'
Advertising Agency: Young & Rubicam Paris, Boulogne Billancourt, France

Lego 'Imagine'
Advertising Agency: FCB, Johannesburg, South Africa

Greenpeece 'Boomerang'
Advertising Agency:DDB Paris, France

Subaru Legacy 2010

Loving the new ad for Subaru Legacy from Tribal DDB...

Creative Director: Dre Labre
Art Director: Barry Lachapelle
Writer: David Horovitch
Director: Ron Gervais
Post-Production: The Electric Company
Flash: Wojtek Arciszewski

Return Of The Wolfman

In 1941 Hollywood made what would become one of the all time quintessential monster movies, The Wolfman. Although this was Hollywood's second outing with a werewolf movie (the first having been 6 years earlier with Jack Pierce's Stuart Walker's Werewolf of London), it was by far the better movie and offered not only the writing talent of Curt Siodmak and direction of George Waggner, but it brought together a truly magnificent cast: Lon Chaney, Jr., Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Béla Lugosi, and Maria Ouspenskaya. Waggner's Wolfman really is brilliant cinema, even 68 years on.

The story follows Chaney as Larry Talbot, a man returning to his family home following a long absence. Talbot quickly becomes enamoured with a local girl, Gwen Conliffe, played by Ankers. In their first encounter, Talbot goes to Gwen's antique shop and ends up buying a silver-handled walking stick, decorated with a wolf's head and pentagram. Gwen explains that this is the sign of the werewolf, and recites a local poem:

Even a man who is pure in heart

and says his prayers by night

may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms

and the autumn moon is bright.

That evening while visiting a gypsy fortune teller, Talbot becomes involved in a wolf attack in which Gwen's friend is killed. The wolf turns out to be one of the gypsies who is a werewolf. Although he kills the animal, Talbot is bitten and so starts the misadventure that ultimately leads to his own death.

Last night I had the pleasure of being invited to the Denzille Cinema by Universal Pictures for a private screening of The Wolfman. The evening was absolutely great, and if you haven't had the pleasure of visiting the Denzille Cinema I highly recommend it. Of course this wasn't just a random screening of a classic movie just for the fun of it. Universal Pictures are currently gearing up for the upcoming realease of their remake of The Wolfman.

The remake is directed by Joe Johnston and stars Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving. The movie largely sticks to the original plot but adds a number of extra dimensions to the tale through stunning visual effects and an extended overall storyline. As someone who isn't a die hard horror fan by any means, I will say that the remake looks brilliant. Not only is it a cast made up of some of my favourite Hollywood stars but it offers a production ensemble of equally exciting people such as Scott Stuber (production), Danny Elfman (music direction) and Shelly Johnson (cinematography). Filming was done between 3rd March and 23rd June 2008 at Pinewood Studios, to a budget of US$85 million.

'The Wolfman' A Look Inside Featurette

'The Wolfman' Trailer (HD)

Correction
I incorrectly attributed the direction of Werewolf of London to Jack Pierce, who was of course WoL's Makeup Artist (one of Hollywood's greatest infact, having created such legendary creatures as Dracula and Frankenstein). Cheers to Niall for pointing out my error :)