In today’s society where we’re used to ranting about the inane details of our lives and coddling ourselves with the illusion that people care, this ad fits right in! Who could resist the empty canvas that is a digital arm cast? Now, some might say this could have easily been done with a completely white screen as well. However I disagree. The broken arm is a powerful image. It draws people in. Also the small space inspires brevity, and many of us love putting just a few well-chosen words into the air. This seem to be an ad targeted toward the tumlr crowd. Nice job, art marketing.

Classic. Clean. Powerful. This Ad has it all, and honestly I’m not sure when it was released. But the best part is that it doesn’t even matter. This advertisement is just as powerful as the day it was released (if by chance it was yesterday, this sentence falls sort of flat). Michael Jordan is such a powerful brand on his own, even to this day, that  products will continue to sell just from a simple ‘slap and stick’ of his face onto them. That’s an extraordinary sort of advertising guarantee. Who else can say this? McDonalds? Apple? Even those gargantuan companies need to stay fresh to keep ahead of the game. But Michael Jordan? He lives on forever, unchanged.

As a young adult male, I look at this and think ‘Awesome, Awesome, AWESOME!’. How’s that for secondary market research? It mixes some inane thing young guys like to do (fold our shirt over our heads) with the passionate desire to be as badass as possible in the context of sports fandom. Really, what says zealous game fervor better than wearing the excited face of your favorite athlete? This is one of a few innovative clothing items on my blog, and it’s certainly one of the best. Right up there with napkin ties. The only question is, how mad will non-customers be after over-use of these products? It might lead to a whole different side of passion.

This is so creepy, but I bet children would be captivated/love this outdoor advertisement. Well, honestly, I think adults would be pretty captivated as well. Who wouldn’t be a little unnerved being peer at by an overly large cardboard child? However, the mixture of the advertisement and the walking tunnel beneath is totally cool. It blends the unconventionality of the message with the type of innovation so commonly witnessed in the toy industry. If you’re not up to date with the times, the world of chidren’s playtoys is probably not for you. And yes, this is my inner child speaking.

Okay, this one I did look up. It’s a 1966 ad featuring Woody Allen. And no, I didn’t need to look up the last bit. Fun fact, Woody has just began to get famous when this Ad came out. He directed his first major movie in 1965 and his first major play this same year. I’m sure featuring him was a way to keep the Smirnoff brand fresh and up-to-date. Also, their association of Smirnoff as the official party drink of someone as…well connected as Mr. Allen would lead many consumers to purchase it just for the brand image it gave them. Smirnoff is the drink for Yuppies, before Yuppies were even a thing.

I will admit it: This is completely a pleasure ad critique. I was one of those children who created worlds from blades of grass and cracks in the wall, so this theme of creating something out of nothing greatly appeals to me. Plus we’re all well aware that small children’s toys take on a much larger scope (and importance) to the children themselves. Therefore this pictures sends two messages. Firstly, you don’t need to buy your children giant toys, just Mattel. Second, children put a lot more into these toys than we do, therefore they’ll be more grateful to you for the purchase than you might expect them to be. 1) You save money. 2) You’re also a hero. Win, win….win.

This ad (again, clever, insightful research on my part…I googled it) is from 1963 and was featured primarily in print. Perhaps this tactic helped to make the volkswagon station wagon such an iconic image. Perhaps it was already that way. Regardless, the two iconic images of sailboat and VW blend together in an amazing aesthetic manner. So the image catches your eye, and the implications of having being able to fit a sailboat in your vehicle makes your mind start ticking, ticking, until finally you just can’t handle it anymore. You jump on the bandwagon, literally.

P.S. I can read, just barely, that the VW Station Wagon can carry a piano, with player. How cool is that!?! It really could be a bandwagon.  

I really do love creative billboard marketing. However, my only qualms is that I never get to see anything this cool on any medium besides the internet. Why can’t any of these come to a location near me? Anyway, this image is not only eye-catching but it reinforces the selling points of the product as well. Hubba Bubba is so long lasting that wraps around billboards multiple times. Yeah, cool, great. What I really like about this ad is that it has a second, subtle undertone. Its overall image (of the luscious gum and bright container) makes viewers actually crave the product. My mouth is legitimately watering.

This is sort of hard to see, so I’ll explain it. There was an event in Stockholm where people were trying to find a ‘digital mini’. If they got within 50 meters of this ‘Mini’ then their Iphone would allow them to ‘store it’ on their phone. They would then have to get far enough away from everyone else that no one would be able to steal it. The person with the mini in their phone at the end won a new Mini Countryman. Overall event marketing seems ingenious and this addition of current technology is also well played. Sales apparently went up 108% as well. Not bad!

This too required a bit of research on my part. At first, I thought this was some type of gimmick to get patrons into the zoo. Sort of like Coke and Six Flags. Buy Instant Noodles? See a monkey! However, it’s all about the environmental impact of palm oil, and how it leads to the deforestation of rainforests habitats. Home to cute animals, such as the (sorry, not monkey) orangutan. That really puts a sinister spin on the cost of these items and brings the issue home. You could be feeding your fat side at the cost of this chimp’s (probably another incorrect term) life. I like the mix of the bright colors and nature death guilt.