A great little ad for a hospitality jobs site called caterer.com. It features a very young Gordon Ramsay telling his mum where to get off. And quite right too.
Part 2, where he gives a restaurant manager a piece of his mind, can be found here.
Thursday, 28 August 2008
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
Stars What Sell. #10: Mr James Brown.
Trading on the old Blues myth of doing a deal with the devil at the Crossroads, the Godfather of Soul attempts to re-negotiate his contract. Which is, of course, exactly what you'd expect to happen in a BMW commercial.
This slick, brash and noisy production makes good use of its stars: Gary Oldman is superb as the devil, Clive Owen is unflappably cool as Mr Brown's driver, the silly Marilyn Manson pulls off a neat comic turn and James Brown is, quite simply, James Brown.
The best thing about the film is that it's basically a loving homage to a genuine cultural giant. It's quite poignant in places, with Brown himself acknowledging the downside of growing old. Overall though, it's just great seeing him enjoy himself.
The only sour note is that, when all's said and done, it's a commercial for a car. And if anyone should have been beyond hawking his talents in ads, it should have been the great James Brown.
Oh, and it's directed by Tony Scott.
This slick, brash and noisy production makes good use of its stars: Gary Oldman is superb as the devil, Clive Owen is unflappably cool as Mr Brown's driver, the silly Marilyn Manson pulls off a neat comic turn and James Brown is, quite simply, James Brown.
The best thing about the film is that it's basically a loving homage to a genuine cultural giant. It's quite poignant in places, with Brown himself acknowledging the downside of growing old. Overall though, it's just great seeing him enjoy himself.
The only sour note is that, when all's said and done, it's a commercial for a car. And if anyone should have been beyond hawking his talents in ads, it should have been the great James Brown.
Oh, and it's directed by Tony Scott.
Wednesday, 20 August 2008
Stars What Sell. #9: The Star Wars Robots
R2D2 gets caught puffing behind the spacestation version of the bike sheds. And CP30 doesn't like it one bit.
Remember kids: Most robots don't smoke.
Remember kids: Most robots don't smoke.
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Frame By Frame By Frame: RAC Insurance
A beautiful piece of work for RAC by The Brand Agency in Australia. There's no 3D magic or post-production trickery - it's all good old-fashioned stop-frame animation (albeit done with the very latest gear). We could argue whether it actually does much of a job of selling RAC's insurance, but it certainly grabs attention and stands up to repeated viewings. Which is more than you can say for most insurance ads - or any ads, come to that.
The high quality version (recommended) can be viewed by clicking here: Motionographer.
The lower quality version can be seen here:
The high quality version (recommended) can be viewed by clicking here: Motionographer.
The lower quality version can be seen here:
Friday, 15 August 2008
Dave Trott: "Uncreatives"
Thought-provoking stuff from Dave Trott who reminds us what creativity is - and what it isn't:
I see lots of people calling themselves creative, yet all they ever do is headlines and pictures.
(And maybe occasionally choose a director and go on a shoot.)
I think they’ve confused what creativity is.
Edward de Bono said, “Lots of people call themselves creative who are actually merely stylists.”
For me creativity isn’t what you do.
It’s a quality in whatever you do.
A really dull, predictable painting isn’t creative just because it’s a painting.
Whereas Muhammad Ali was creative, even though he’s a boxer.
Napoleon was creative.
So was Rommel.
Murdoch is creative.
So is Branson.
Steve Jobs.
Walt Disney.
In their own fields they are/were as creative as Picasso, Bob Dylan or Orson Welles.
Yet all our so-called creatives do is argue about ATL or digital.
Creativity is wherever you find it.
Look at George Lois.
He did a lot of ads.
Some good, some bad.
He also designed restaurants.
He designed packaging.
He designed magazine covers.
He did logos.
He did album covers.
He did anything and everything he could get his hands on.
Some good, some bad.
But the sheer tsunami of creativity he was involved in meant that even if you thought 50% of it was crap, the remaining 50% was still ten times as much great work as the entire output of anyone else.
The dictionary defines creativity as, “Bringing into existence something which did not previously exist.”
It doesn’t define it as, “Sitting in your office waiting for the perfect brief to land on your desk.”
If you’re not creating something, you’re not creative.
It’s no more complicated than that.
If nothing is happening, make something happen.
Maybe it’s not ads.
It doesn’t matter what it is, just make something happen.
The clock is ticking.
And that’s your life going by.
I see lots of people calling themselves creative, yet all they ever do is headlines and pictures.
(And maybe occasionally choose a director and go on a shoot.)
I think they’ve confused what creativity is.
Edward de Bono said, “Lots of people call themselves creative who are actually merely stylists.”
For me creativity isn’t what you do.
It’s a quality in whatever you do.
A really dull, predictable painting isn’t creative just because it’s a painting.
Whereas Muhammad Ali was creative, even though he’s a boxer.
Napoleon was creative.
So was Rommel.
Murdoch is creative.
So is Branson.
Steve Jobs.
Walt Disney.
In their own fields they are/were as creative as Picasso, Bob Dylan or Orson Welles.
Yet all our so-called creatives do is argue about ATL or digital.
Creativity is wherever you find it.
Look at George Lois.
He did a lot of ads.
Some good, some bad.
He also designed restaurants.
He designed packaging.
He designed magazine covers.
He did logos.
He did album covers.
He did anything and everything he could get his hands on.
Some good, some bad.
But the sheer tsunami of creativity he was involved in meant that even if you thought 50% of it was crap, the remaining 50% was still ten times as much great work as the entire output of anyone else.
The dictionary defines creativity as, “Bringing into existence something which did not previously exist.”
It doesn’t define it as, “Sitting in your office waiting for the perfect brief to land on your desk.”
If you’re not creating something, you’re not creative.
It’s no more complicated than that.
If nothing is happening, make something happen.
Maybe it’s not ads.
It doesn’t matter what it is, just make something happen.
The clock is ticking.
And that’s your life going by.
Sunday, 3 August 2008
Stars What Sell. #8: Eric Sykes
If you're going to use a celebrity in an ad it makes sense to use one who has a distinct, and likeable, personality. As Creda did here with Eric Sykes in the early 80s. The ad itself is serviceable enough but it really wins through as a result of Sykes' gentle, and very funny, mugging. Which could be just another way of saying that he's got a great face (and what comedians call genuine "funny bones").
It helps, of course, that he's also one of the few (relatively) modern comedians who understands the art of silent comedy.
It helps, of course, that he's also one of the few (relatively) modern comedians who understands the art of silent comedy.
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