SHE-BEAR LINGERIE

Agency: TBWA Hunt Lascaris, Johannesburg.

I really like this ad. It’s provocative, fresh and very current. Graphically it looks great as well, with three Muslim women fully covered in black carrying white bags of erotic lingerie.

Maybe its underlying message is: She-Bear lingerie liberates you.

I find it interesting that the ad comes from Johannesburg where maybe the culture is less ‘politically correct’ than in the UK. I wonder how effective it would be, as an ad, if it were to be used here.

MARTINI

(Shaking this ad makes the Martini logo visible.)
Agency: McCann Erickson, Geneva

This is one of the cleverest print ads I’ve seen. The optical illusion allows the viewer to physically interact with the static printed ad.

By involving the viewer in this way they are more likely to remember the advertised brand and show it to others, purely because it is so clever.

CAREER BUILDER AMBIENT

Agency: The Martin Agency, Richmond, VA

A very clever use of space: cheap and highly effective. Through using this space they are specifically targeting people in office blocks (their target market).

This advert could easily catch the viewer’s attention, as no other adverts are fully visible from this viewpoint. Also, the unusual use of space adds to the impact of the joke.

The success of this ad makes me think about other places, which could provide new advertising opportunities. When I do think about it, the potential of ambient media is limitless and I think it’s just a matter of time before the advertising industry starts feeling confident enough to use it more often and exploit that fact.

CHUNGKING MANSIONS

“There is probably no other place in the world like Chungking Mansions, the budget accommodation ghetto of Hong Kong. This huge ramshackle high-rise dump is almost a city in itself.
You may be put off by the undercurrent of sleaze and peculiar odours- a potent mix of cooking fat, incense and shit- but don’t seek sanctuary in the lifts; they’re like steel coffins on cables.
Adding to the excitement are the midnight raids by Hong Kong’s boys in blue. For the most part the police are looking for illegal immigrants: have your passport ready.”

Source: Lonely Planet; Hong Kong & Macau

After reading this description of where I was going to be staying alone, on the plane flying over to Hong Kong, I was expecting the worst. However, when I arrived there, I was relieved to find that although it was crazy, it wasn’t quite the hell on earth that my guidebook had described.

Although it was late, inside the building was a hive of activity. There were market stalls, restaurants, hairdressers, tailors and lots of loitering touts and street workers. The place had a strangely appealing dangerous energy about it and although I was very wary of it, I was definitely excited to be there.