European rant #2

Lately, this new spot for McDonalds France is getting quite a few youtube hits and favourable reviews over at Good and PSFK. Pink News, a gay online news service, says the ad "has had a mixed reception from online viewers", however.

Well, my reaction is rather mixed as well. How does McDonalds "take a public stand for tolerance" in that spot? Not even the dad takes a private stand for tolerance here. In fact, not even the boy himself. He hangs up the phone on his boyfriend as his dad arrives with the food. He is secretely gay.

Did I miss the part where McDonald's great burgers make him come out of the closet? McDonalds want to tell me they "even" serve homosexuals, as long as they are not openly gay? McDonalds wants to emphasize that they will not ask for my sexual orientation when I order a Royal with cheese? Can somebody please explain that ad to me?

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?

My pleasure

Congrats to Libby (and Alicia) for guessing the right answer: Last week's Guess what was an ad for Otrivin, a decongestant: The pleasure of breathing.



This week's situation seems to be less pleasurable. What do you think is beeing delivered by the robot? What could be its black box?

Guess what is back on stage

Ladies and Gentlemen, after a err...short spring break, we'll present to you today, the solution to our last Guess What puzzle and a new brainteaser from the wonderful European advertising scene.

Act 1:
Ze French want your organs. The good hearts of prematurely deceased homophobic racists can save lots of lifes.



Act 2:
The Belgians also want your organs. They just tell you differently.



Act 3:
Your turn. The quizmaster wants your opinion. What product or service is inside the black box?

Quest for ads continues

Last week's moving mystery was a spot for Belgium Natural Gas by TBWA Brussels and Lovo Film. The thermostat switches on in the morning and voila, the whole house is covered in symbolic warm wool. Simple, straight-forward idea vs. complicated and elaborate execution. The whole thing was shot backwards and required "a month of preparation, 4 days and night shoot, with a professional crew of over 40 men, shot live and in stopmotion with 4 different cameras." Watch the Making of the commerical here.

This week we return to a print ad, which is, well, rather not so warm. Who can guess what this friendly fellow's gut feeling is all about?

Moving mystery

I am sorry to report to you, my dear loyal guessers, that unfortunately nobody was able to solve the Guess What Easter edition.

Umm... okay, okay, I plead guilty. It was an auto ad again. Far out for anybody except maybe engineers, race car drivers and experimental biologists. This time the ad was for BMW with the subline "This is why we don't have front wheel drives".



There you go! Now you finally know: BMW doesn't construct front wheel drives cause nature doesn't, either. Only Photoshop does. The print series also features a deformed horse and an immobile frog, but unfortunately no kangaroo or T-Rex. Well, at least you got to see a cute, handicapped bunny.

For this week's Guess What, I thought we'd try something new. No car ad and not even a print ad. Instead, I cut off the last five seconds of a very beautiful, artistic spot from Great Britain. New medium, same question: What does it advertise?

Yaybia Easter egg

This week's ad quiz was my personal favourite so far. I don't like the original ad at all, but I love all of your creative and entertaining answers. Fortunately nobody guessed the right source. All your suggestions were far better than the far-fetched original.



Uhm... yes that's right it's a car ad. Get it? Me neither.

Here is the explanation from a Volkswagen fan's website: Apparently the Touareg, one of their SUVs, has a very special engine. It is a 5-litre, 10-cylinder "Turbocharged Direct Injection" diesel engine, a V10 TDI. And this engine runs exceptionally stable and vibration-free. In fact, your trip in the Touareg will be so smooth, your spoon will literally stand still in your cup of coffee.

Quiet a stretch if you ask me. Then again, I am not the target group. I don't usually take china cups on my off-road trips.

Onward we go with the special Easter edition of yaybia's weekly mystery. Who will be able to guess what that Easter bunny is trying to market to you?

Here we guess again

Props to Libby - "German Tide - everything else is shit" - ,

Jeanine - "New: German Tide toilet paper - now you no longer have to use your T-shirts if you want to pamper your backside" -,

and Moritz - "If the ENT doctor couldn't help with that really bad smell every time you lift the lid of your laundry basket it's time to consult another specialist: Go and see your oculist before you can't see your bathroom anymore" -

for making me laugh with their creative ideas for last week's edition of Guess What.

The right answer, however, was again Alicia's and Jeanine's. The original subline is: Alcohol -damages more than you think. I know there are some experts on that subject among us, so what do you think of that ad? And by experts I mean, of course, those ladies that have worked on an anti binge drinking campaign with last year's NSAC team.

That one time when I drank just a bit too much, I remember that a cup of coffee helped against the hang-over. And now, after this truly elegant transition, here is the next picture puzzle for you:

Yaybies, get hold of your guessing skills again

Physician: Your findings are back. I am afraid, I don't have good news for you today.
Patient: Oh ok, what's the diagnosis?
Physician: I am sorry. You have cancer and Alzheimer's.
Patient: Well, at least it's not cancer. *

In France, one million people can't get hold of their memories:





Last week's ad is for the Association France Alzheimer. J9 is back and with a vengeance: Congratulations for guessing the right answer right away!

And here is this week's challenge. It should have a familiar ring at least for some of yaybia's guessers. Have fun and good luck!



* I know that both cancer and Alzheimer's disease are very serious and the cause of dire distress for the patients and their families. When I worked on a dementia project for the biggest part of last year, I have learned that humour can be one way to deal with it. Not the only one of course, but one that apparently works for quite a few of the victims. I hope I have not offended anyone for whom it might not work. End of proactive excuse.

Cool city

Thanks to Alicia for sharing this image video about yaybia's great home town of Minneapolis.



Lovely. Now I am homesick (not that I am not homesick the rest of the time, this just didn't help).

They just forgot to mention that those "climate-controlled" skywalks are not only there to shield all the dynamic business people from the burning sun. Now, if you want to attract visitors and investors it's probably NOT a good idea to hush up the very fact that everybody associates with your city in the first place. Winter? Non of our business! Let the Florida people deal with that while we ride our bikes in our evergreen city. Yeah, sure very convincing...

C'mon you urban marketing folks, who do you want to fool? Be proud, but also be self-depreciating and funny and above all, be real.

Minneapolis is in fact a great place. But at times it is also a cold place. Everybody knows that anyways, so just tell potential visitors that they can still do all the exciting stuff they can do in every major city plus all that extra cool stuff they can only ever experience in an extra cool city. That certain chiliness is the very thing that makes Minneapolis and its inhabitants special. And I know from experience how very special they are! Anyone can act cool in a sunny place, but it takes a lot to be hot when your city is cold half of the year.

Also, they forgot to mention yaybia in their video about all things great from Minneapolis. Somebody should definetely shoot a realness remake to set the record straight.

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).

Keep guessing

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another round of Guess what!

So far, Mrs. Houselog is the the front-runner in our picture puzzle game. Boys club is not quite right yet, but again she came closest: "Let's turn this dilapidated building into something useful" would be a perfect copy for last week's ad.

However, the real tagline roughly translates to "You can visualize it, therefore you can build it." The ad was part of a 2008 campaign for the home improvement store Hornbach. Here are some more images from the same campaign.





Heimat/Berlin, Hornbach's agency, has been knocking out Hornbach campaigns four times a year, one more surprising and insane then the other. And that is not counting fairly widely discussed virals or the innovative "Haus der Vorstellungen", where artists and clubbers temporarily transformed a whole house into a walk-in showroom and dance-in party location. Honouring their craziness, creativity and courage, Hornbach has been voted ADC client of the year and Heimat won virtually every industry award. Most of them several times, in fact.

And apparently the marketing works as well: Hornbach has been opening new stores all over Europe for the past few years and steadily increased its sales volume in spite of the economic downturn. And Heimat is not longer the young and small agency they were when they took over Hornbach in 2002, either.

So, thumbs up (and believe me, I am all thumbs) for Hornbach and Heimat. They confirm their own tagline: There is always something you can do.

After so much Germanness, here is an ad from France for this week's quiz.



The race is on! Will someone be able to catch up with Alica this week?

Second guess

Thanks for guessing, everyone! It was fun reading your comments.

I love your condom and viagra ideas, but unfortunately the ad promotes quite the opposite.
Alicia came closest with her remark about the dish pointing up to the sky.

Last week's Guess what! solution is:

[insert drum roll here]

Bible TV.

And here is the second edition. Have fun!

Guess what!

Well, hello again yaybia! It's been a while, I know. Trust me when I say that I have always been faithful to you, it's just that the whole long-distance thing kinda got me. It's so hard to know whether something that is relevant and exciting in my time zone is new and interesting on your side of the pond, as well.

But now it is time to get out of the bitter barn and stop complaining about not knowing what you guys over there might want to know. The flipside is: I know ads you don't know. Not yet, anyways.

To join the yaybia revival I am introducing a new category: Guess the ad!

The rules are simple. I'll post an European ad minus the copy, you use the comment section to guess the product or service that is being advertised. Next week, you'll get the solution and a new picture. The one who guessed it right will be awarded a poster-size reprint of the ad. Please arrange to collect it in Berlin within thirty days of the date of your win.

Here we go, #1:

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?

Skip it

If you are having a tough week (cause you hurt your knee real bad, for example) this precious piece is just perfect for you. It's like zen: It will help you to channel your pent-up aggression and focus it on Mr. Keen. At the same time it will make you laugh.



I am not assuming Mr. Keen is condescending enough to read this, but in case he does (solely for research of course): Yes, I am writing that I consider your tirade unconsidered and embarassing. Nobody forces you or anybody else to do anything online. There is a lot of nonsense or things you would probably consider nonsense and even more sex on the internet. But it's out there in the real world, too. I know that this might be a shock for you, but some people actually like that kind of stuff. The internet doesn't create itself, it just reflects. And as you probably know from your own experience, there are a lot of offline-idiots.

Who do you suggest should control (i.e. censor) the web and tell users what they should know and like? Journalists? Government? Corporations? You? I highly doubt that facebook and co killed your always neutral, up-to-date, high-quality neighborhood newspaper. Maybe you wanna live in North Korea: Free from the Internet. Free from that annyoing idea of democracy, where everybody gets to participate in the way they please. And free from free market, where services and products that people actually use and like are the most successful.

Mr. Keen, if you are reading this, please don't be offended and send the forces of moral hell or legal prosecution my way. You know better, you are better, for I am just a dumb, unconsidered blogger. I don't even understand what I am writing here and neither do the readers of this blog (except you, Mr. Know-it-all, of course). Now, if I would say those sentences out loud on the radio it would be a completely different thing. But even in that case, I would advise you to make no attempts to morally convert or legally accuse me. I live outside your lawyers' and your moral's jurisdiction.

Out of this world campaign

"Today, we are all Americans" - this September-10-2001-sentence is once again true on this November-04-2008. The American election has been the number one news topic for quite a while, real and fake experts constantly present their views and there are public and private debates all over the place. You probably know what I mean. It's your country, after all.

The election hype is quite unbelievable - and we can't even VOTE! Well, actually we can vote. Just not in this election. We have this fancy democracy thing going on over here, too. Every once in a while there are European elections, for example. Only problem is nobody cares about them. The turnout has been steadily declining and is especially low in the new EU member states.

In an attempt to change that in the next election in June 2009 some geniuses in Brussels Germany came up with a mind-blowing idea. The European Union aimes for nothing less than the stars: A ballot box will be send into outer space to make voters interested in the process and create election excitement from Britain to the Balkans. In May, a Belgium astronaut is set to take the thing on his trip to the ISS. The box will show us Europeans that we can vote everywhere (no, still not in the US today). I supposse the Eurocrats learned from our American friends that every vote can count. Long lines in front of extrateresstial polling places have long been a major problem and many potential voters were err... alienated by that.

It's all part of a 33 Million dollar PR campaign to enhance the European Union's image amongst its citizens. Cause, you know, it's doing all sorts of tangible, effective and generally great stuff with our tax Euros. Next June, we will all be Europeans. Even those Martians out there.

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.