GSD&M Idea City: Marshalls "Faux Pas"

I think the concept of "shamelessly shopportunistic" and even the new "faux pas" that GSD&M idea city has thought up really delivers a good message for Marshall's. I for one love Marshall's, and have found great pieces for fractions of the price. I think this campaign demonstrates how such good pieces get into stores for such a good price, I also always wondered this. By demonstrating these situations, I believe Marshall's delivers a more clear message on how their business works. I love the "faux pas" because the lady mis-orders her blouse order by tenfold, which results in Marshall's buying the tops (probably at cost). I like how it is obviously set in Paris, the fashion capital of the world, and I also like how there is a balance of neutral background and bright color clothing items, which helps to move your eye flow nicely. Really, the blouse model and the buyer are the only ones who really wear bright clothing, which also helps to keep the story focused between them. The voiceover kind of sounds like the lady who narrates Desperate Housewives, which was interesting to me and grabbed my attention more. There is also some comical elements with the lady's broken French skills - for example, how she says she likes the "bathtub" instead of dress and of course her numerical confusion. All in all, I think this is a great campaign that is clear, to the point, and delivers the message.

TBWA/Chiat Day Los Angeles: Visa "Go"

I love this TBWA/Chiat Day ad. It has a very outgoing tone and encourages people to do what they want, or "go" where they haven't gone before. This embodies what a credit/debit card company should represent. It is also easier to "go" anywhere when you have the means or ability. I really admired how people, objects, smoke, sand, water, etc., are all used to spell "go". I also really liked the voice of the man who did the voice over. I feel that choosing a foreign accent (british or australian?) helps to make the commercial more exciting. I believe that I always listen a little bit more or am more curious when someone's voice is different than what you're used to hearing everyday. This commercial gives me the urge to travel and immerse myself in all parts of the world, and I feel this is exactly the message that TBWA/Chiat Day wanted to deliver for VISA.

3 Best/3 Worst Superbowl Commercials

The 3 Best Superbowl Ads I thought were:

1) Little Boy Dorito Ad - Consumers (?)

This was my favorite ad for this year's superbowl. It wasn't the most creative; however, it was created with tasteful humor in a really cute way. The little boy not only stands up for his "mama", but also for his Doritos, which further exemplifies the importance of his tasty snack. One part I liked about this ad was the exaggerated facial expressions of the courter and the little son. These faces made the commercial more funny. I loved the part when the man turns around to look at the mom's butt and the little boy looks at him with a squinted brow and drops his xbox controller. I think what also made the commercial so funny was that, unexpectedly, the little boy slaps the man across the face when he reaches for the Doritos.

2) Google Paris - In-house

I really liked this ad for Google because it was very unique and unlike anything throughout the Super Bowl. What I liked so much about this ad was that as the viewer, you get to see in to the mind of this person and what they're doing. A story is told from these google searches, and you almost get too see exactly who this person is and what they are like. You know they are searching to study abroad, then they go to Paris and google all of these encounters, and even find love & marriage. I think was is most interesting about this commercial is that Google for millions of people could tell a storyline about their life, if you think about it like that. I myself Google EVERYTHING - and if someone could see all those searches, I think it would tell about my life. I really like that Google demonstrated this in their commercial. What I got out of this commercial is that your life is an ongoing storyline, and you can help create it with technologies like Google.

Coke Sleepwalker - Wieden + Kennedy

W+K never fails to have creative Coke advertisements. I liked this one because it looked very real and vivid, not like it was fake. This obviously displays their skilled creative team. I also admired the cool color scheme that captured the essence of sleepwalk. It was very whimsical, almost like a dream. The music added to this dream-like nature, as well. I thought it was comical how the sleepwalker waves at a lion, walks through a herd of elephants, balances along a canyon, and opens a fridge with a snake - all to get to a coke. I know he was asleep, but I feel like this is a metaphor that some people go to extremes to have the deliciousness of Coca-cola. The metaphor is that Coke is worth walking on water, climbing mountains, and going to great lengths to attain.

The 3 Worst Superbowl ads I thought were:

1) Godaddy.com - In-house

I disliked this ad very much because a) it doesn't make sense and b) I really despise when ads try to have a tacky sex appeal. I hate how the girl says "I'll show you enhanced" and tries to rip off her clothes. I honestly don't even understand how that is allowed to be aired on TV in front of children.

2) Dockers Ad - Draft FCB

I know this ad was supposed to be funny - but I thought it was just stupid and the message did not deliver well for me. I know it is hard to advertise pants and points of difference, but I feel like DraftFCB could have been more innovative with this brand.

3) Emerald Nuts & Pop Secret - Goodby Silverstein

This ad was by far the weirdest, I thought. I don't find human women impersonating dolphins/Flipper to be very entertaining. This ad made me feel very annoyed. This commercial screamed bathroom / food break for me when I was at my Super Bowl Party. It just did not make any sense whatsoever.

DDB San Francisco Clorox Mermaid Commercial

This Clorox commercial is so beautifully done and a work of art. It captures the essence of imagination and curiosity perfectly. The way the little girl moves through the water is featured beautifully. I really like how the color scale in the commercial are cool colors because it demonstrates the nature of the underwater world and cleanliness. The bathroom they are in also has waves as the wallpaper tile, which creates great repetition of the theme. I think it is also clever to have the music speed up once she finds the bottle she is looking for and is rising to the top, it really builds up the anticipation of the action. Before this, the music is going slowly as she is looking around, so it really creates a nice climax of the scene. Once she rises to the top, she still sees her fins from her perspective, but they are not shown when her mom sees her from her perspective. This further exemplifies the notion of imagination. I think this is a great commercial because it combines imagination with real life - a bathroom is an iconic playground for children to create their own storyline, but at the same time you want it to be the cleaniest and germ free for this to happen.

Energy BBDO (Chicago) Life Savers' Muffin Top Commercial

I consider this commercial to be a great one because it is done tastefully and literally made me laugh out loud. I think a commercial is well done when it provokes you to laugh. It is so funny the way the man goes "Hmmmmmm muffin top - I believe a muffin top is..." because he is trying to act quickly to save his girlfriend from having a total meltdown. He says, ... "it means you're the best" and then she goes, "wow, even my supervisor called me that". After this, the funniest part is when he goes: "hey, lay off my girl!". It's hilarious because he is making her feel like she is the best, when really her coworkers were calling her fat all day. The lifesaver halo that pops up has a double meaning. It reiterates that lifesavers are sweet and also: "it's good to be sweet", or good to be a sweet person.

Goodby, Silverstein & Partners HP Picture Book Commercial

I love this commercial because of the vibe it creates. The song playing is "picture book" by The Kinks. The way the frames capture the motion of the people repetitively is also intriguing. I especially liked the man in his office playing with the frames and hanging them around his neck. I think that clip captures what someone would do if they had the HP Picture book because it allows you to be the inventor and create your pictures fast and easily. I also admire the flow of the scene changing with the music and how the scene changes are based on when someone puts a new picture up to the screen. The atmosphere this commercial creates is great because taking pictures is something for fun to build memories and this is what this commercial is doing,

180LA/Amsterdam Sony Make Believe

I absolutely love this commercial that 180LA/ 180 Amsterdam did for Sony. Jessica Sanders tells her story of how she pursued her dream to be a documentary filmmaker, just like her Oscar-winning parents. This ad really stood out for me because there was no speaking, only text and music. Jessica's story is illustrated in her apartment and the text is on a video she pops in her tv, the tv itself, her scrapbooks, fridge, and even spelled out on a sandwich she made. This advertisement definitely captured my attention. The music made me look at the screen because it was captivating and upbeat, which made me suspect something exciting was about to happen. I felt as if I was more likely to watch the whole thing because it was text, as opposed to when people are talking in a commercial one sometimes zones them out. However, with this commercial, I hung on waiting for more words to appear from all types of interesting places. This story has a great message: "believe anything you can imagine, you can make real", and I loved it because although the message is a little cliche, it is a real story presented in an extremely unique way.