Bic prank rant

Apparently Bic pens sell everywhere like hotcakes- except for Germany. So Bic hired the much hyped and super creative agency Jung von Matt to change that fact.

Here is what they did: In a series of so called virals they ask so called celebrities to sign a so called autograph for them. But the stars actually sign things like a marriage agreement with a stranger, a job application as a store detective or a press release that they'll dedicate themselves to Austrian folklore. According to the videos this proves: "With Bic you'll sign everything".



In my view this just proves that no one is impeccable - celebrities are not and great ad agencies aren't, either:

First, don't preemptively call your videos "viral". Online plus video does not automatically equal viral. The very thing about virals is that they evolve because users like what they see. You can't decree virals. If your most watched video has 8.000 views, I would hesitate to call the whole series viral. Especially after you have advertised it on a popular student website.

Second, if you want to improve sales in a country via online tools, at least do your homework and provide a homepage for that country.

Third, the videos could have been really funny if they would have showed the reaction of the stars after they signed the fake autograph. The funniest part about a prank is usually when the victim realizes they just got punked. Without that, all we get to see is a gleeful presenter with a blurry sheet of paper. Unless the stars watch the video they'll never realize that they did something special with a special pen.

And fourth, the message - Bic is such a great pen that you'll want to use it at any price - does not work that way, either. The stars don't know what they sign, they don't care. They don't sign the fake stuff because of the great pen, but because somebody makes them believe it is a boring autograph just like the hundred other ones they sign every day. With Bic you don't think about what you write?

The core idea is still great, however. With or without celebrities: Show Steve Jobs as he signs a receipt for a PC. Show a punk signing a contract for a Wall Street Journal subscription. Show a Democrat signing an "I <3 Bush" flyer. You get the idea... (PS: Yes, Jung von Matt if you get the idea as well: I would be available for a job as a creative consultant with your agency. I would even sign the contract with a BIC pen).

What do you think about the Bic prank?

Slim Fast Drink

No guessing today. Just one of those surprising, yet oddly familiar ideas that leave me undecided between "Damn, that's cool!" and "Damn, why did I not think of that one?!" Or is it just my love of yummy water in clever bottles?



"Drink yourself slim with Bad Liebenzeller mineral water"

Apparently the media budget of Bad Liebenzeller mineral water was rather tight, so why not use what is already and inevitably around the water when you buy it. I am sure this idea will have a positive and very literal word-of-mouth effect for them.

The clever message in a bottle has been released by German creative agency Grabbarz & Partner (if you are into slightly trashy, geeky, witty webstuff - and as a yaybia reader I am sure you are - make sure to only check their website if you don't have anything important to do in the next couple of minutes. Or hours, for that matter).

Money with surplus value

What financial crisis?
If money is the problem, let money be the solution:


Persil is a detergent.
Hornbach is a home improvement store.
The copy says: You can beautify everything.

Wow, wouldn't this be the perfect ad space?
Guaranteed relevancy paired with automatic circulation.

Twelve students of the Merz Akademie in Stuttgart and their teacher, Thomas Winkler, suggest that the German Federal Reserve should offer parts of the euro bills for advertising. They calculate that the government could earn as much as 700 billion euro within two years. To reach that sum with the circulating twelve million bills, the price for one ad would have to be 1.20 Euro for one month.

For now, the bills with their clever headlines, generated a whole lot of media buzz for the advertising students and their artist/teacher.

However, the idea is not entirely new: During another Great Depression in the late 1920s a lot of German communities printed their own money, because inflation was so rapid that the government couldn't print bills fast enough. Some of them printed ads on their bills to co-finance the paper they were printed on.

Think twice

Click on this ad. Twice!

There is more here. And here. And on every other Jung von Matt ad on adsoftheworld.com

Thoughts?

A great way to promote a great agencies? A clever way to stick out in all-ad-environment and make your target audience smile? A good way to attract creatives to one of the most-creative German agencies? Smart media use combined with a witty idea?

Or a great way to offend your potential employees cause you imply cheating when they might just search for inspiration? An embarassing, in-your-face self-adulation to an audience who either already knows how great of an agency you are or who doesn't care? A way to turn admiration into rejection?

Or is it a great idea, but simply placed on the wrong (i.e. boring, not-worth-to-copy-at-all) ads?

The ultimate connection

Genius, surprising, simple media placement at airports for the rental car company Sixt. In recent years, one of the best German agencies, Jung von Matt, has driven Sixt's rise from a small local competitor to the leading rental company. And yet, they still manage to surprise me and everybody else. See for yourself and be amazed:

Old music with fresh ears

The latest trend here is a very old one: Classical music

Paul Potts' opera song "Nessun Dorma" was downloaded in record numbers and his album was an absolute chart breaker. Celebrated techno DJs recompose orchestra pieces and mix them with electronic beats. Young Berlin hipsters flock to the coolest clubs in the city to listen to live performances of Händel and Haydn.

The question is: Is this just another see-and-be-seen fad that will soon be replaced by something new? Or will those events create curiosity and a desire for more among classical newbies? And will the existing opera houses, orchestras and smaller venues be smart enough (and willing) to open up to those not-yet-experts.

The Berlin State Opera set a good example with their recent "Staatsoper for everybody" event. To start off the fall season, they installed giant video screens and a stage on the central square in front of the prestigious opera house and star conductor Daniel Bahrenboim and his ensemble performed two shows for free. The open-air opera and concert were a huge success - in fact, the traffic on the neighboring boulevard had to be blocked because 45.000 people came to listen.

Live music is great because you can see and hear and then really appreciate the artists’ passion and skills. It's those wow-this-is-awesome-I-wish-I-could-do-that-moments that make the difference between i-pod and stage. And this is exactly why I think this Cello Challenge website for the Berlin Philharmonic is a hit, too. It's like guitar hero with a bow.

In a playful, yet addictive way it illustrates the fascination of classical music (and interactive). It shows me that I can be there when this guy produces tunes with his bow and strings that I can’t even master with a simple mouse. So, it would be very kind of you if you could participate in the raffle at the end of your personal cello show and then send your free tickets to me, please.

Real (Estate) Creativity

In a city like Berlin, it is not easy to attract tourists, families and young hipsters at the same time. In particular if you are a home improvement store. So Kudos to Hornbach, a chain for building materials and tools, for being the current talk of the town. Hornbach sponsored the “Haus der Vorstellungen” in the center of the city. Haus means house (see how easy German is) and Vorstellungen translates to imagination, as well as introduction, presentation and performance (okay, okay I take that back).

Before the old house at Torstrasse 166 is gonna be remodeled soon, it is used as a temporary public gallery and experimental space for a number of different artists: In a completely dark apartment visitors can listen to the “sound of the city”. Another one is filled with huge, white balloons and next to that architects rebuilt a stereotypical GDR condo from the 1970s. In an otherwise empty apartment an artist preserved the olfactory history of the rooms (I did not go into the bathroom in that one). One store is covered in maps and post-its and on another one a creepy video installation shows two little girls playing at a graveyard. On the top floor all bathtubs are covered in fur, a giant disco ball hangs from the ceiling and on the weekends one of the top clubs organized free parties there.



It’s all pretty cool. And the coolest thing is that the house is a real forum for creativity and not a Hornbach showroom. I only spotted a small logo on the free magazine and micosite, a mission statement at the entrance and Hornbach’s slogan “There is always something you can do” on the front wall. Hornbach convinced me that they are willing to think outside the box. They are there for you to provide you with the means to realize your ideas - no matter how crazy they might be.

Obit for a summer spot

This commercial made me cry every time I saw it. With this tear-jerking spot the Deutsche Telekom, Germany's biggest telecommunications corporation, introduced its new company-wide line "Experience what connects (us)". The copy translates: "Life presents us with extraordinary moments. How wonderful that we can share them with others."

I loved the original Paul Potts video. I forwarded it to many of my friends and watched it all over again and again myself. Perhaps I even cried once or twice. And then came the Telekom and ruined it all forever. I just don't see the "connection."

Maybe it’s because all summer long the really long spot bombarded me during every commercial break on every channel, before every movie I watched in theaters and even online (oh yes, singing banner ads). Your very own special moment – 20 times a day. That heavy rotation could have killed it even if I would have loved it in the beginning.

Maybe it’s because I didn’t like the timing. Paul Potts’ “Britain’s Got Talent” performance was back in June 2007 and his video became a youtube hit shortly afterwards. Somebody at Telekom should have listened to Nessun dorma (Italian for “None shall sleep”) much sooner. Besides, the spot always felt more like Christmas to me - too much opera and emotions for hot summer days.

Maybe it’s because the Telekom tried too hard to create a “real” Lady-Di(e) moment - everybody in Germany remembers what they did when they heard that Princess Diana was killed in a car accident. Many also remember what they felt when they first saw Paul Potts on “Germany’s Got Talent”. Oh no, wait… So, I wonder are all those people in the spot British? It’s kinda like if AT&T would air a Superbowl spot with Herbert Grönemeyer. See!

So us Germans either knew Paul from youtube - but then the whole clip with background story, uncut aria and real tears was much more moving then the commercial. Or we have not heard about that chubby, Welsh guy before...but without the Cinderella story, there is not much of a story. Thankfully, the Telekom presented us with a number of deeply-stirred people so even the dumbest Kraut must have realized that it’s time to be moved. You know, we are an uncaring people, so you better not trust us when it comes to feelings and all that crap.

But probably I don't like the spot because sweet emotions and the Telekom don’t fit. They supply wires and contracts, not content and contacts. The former state-owned company is notorious for its bad customer service and high prices, and recently it had to face a number of serious scandals. Hence their effort to improve their image. The question is: Would I like the commercial if it was for a likeable brand? Or are real-life wonder and authentic magic simply too big to be pocketed by any brand?

Undoubtedly the spot worked great. For Paul Potts at least - his album became an instant top hit in Germany. And the highjacked viral spot became a viral itself. For days, the blogosphere talked about nothing else –with mixed results. Even I love one thing about the spot: The fact that a crappy telecommunications company tries to improve its image with a guy who obviously was NOT very happy selling mobile phones!

Land of ideas

Yaybies and Gentlemen, I am back. Not for real unfortunately, but with a vengeance.

For various reasons, mostly this and that, I have been silent for quite a while. Sadly, I can't sit and scrabble and sip with you on a regular basis anymore. And I can't realize the national ad trends and analyze the local ad scene with you, either. Thankfully, yaybia helps me not to lose my connection to all of that. On the other hand, I felt that I lost my privilege to contribute to it.

But today is Reunification Day, my friends! I take Germany's national holiday as a reason to not just read but write again. In honor of my country's age of consent (18 years ago, two officially became one again), I figured it would be time to return to that country as well. Not only physically but mentally, too. Every decent blog should have its own foreign correspondent, right? Expect the best and and the worst, the funniest and the weirdest, the outdoorsiest and onlinest. And the smoothest English natürlich. I will try to present you the most interesting ideas, campaigns and brands from my top-brand state.

According to the recently published Nation Brands Index by GfK Roper Custom Research and Simon Anholt, Germany is a top notch brand among its fellow countries. What an impressive comeback! I take that as a commitment and incentive at the same time. Welcome to Germany, the "Land of Ideas" and serious, beautiful and smart girls in advertising.