After the euphoria of getting into the advertising world has faded, there is a common realisation and statement from us in the creative department when we look at clever ads on cable television or in foreign magazines – “That would never fly in Trinidad.” This is so as local clients either don’t get it or think that what we have created is too sophisticated for the public. To be fair, I must admit that I don’t think that we would have come up with some of the clever stuff too. This being said, below are ten works in print that I thought were pretty good and would, in my opinion, have never been made in T&T.
GOOGLE: Battleship
This from Grey, Istanbul, Turkey, the copy reads “Did you mean? Battleship” as it would appear when doing a Google search. This is followed by, “We know what you’re searching for, even when you don’t.” If Google were a local client, I may have heard, “Showing war is negative. Do something else.”
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PILOT : Light Hightlighter
From Grey Barcelona, Spain, the most important point, Achilles’ heel, is easily identified among the clutter. When last did we see a local press ad with primarilly typography? It would never leave the agency.
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MAKATI CITY FIRE STATION
From DDB DM9JaymeSyfu, Manila, Philippines, a single match stick with engraving of houses running along the length of it. The copy reads, “A spark is all it takes.” This creative is so obvious that I might not have thought of it.
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STAEDTLER
From Bates, India, the man on the moon with copy, “History is written by those who never stop.” Local clients believe that showing sci-fi stuff is too sophisticated for our “local” public.
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NATURASI ORGANIC SHOPS: YELLOW
Ogilvy in Rome, Italy, promotes the NaturaSi organic and biodynamic products with the catch phrase, “Not eating them is a sin.” Something like this would cause an avalanche of complaints from the public saying that it is an evil ad and that the snake is overpowering the hand, among hundreds of other analogies that would easily belong to the Book of Revelations.
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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Power Signature
The EJE DDB agency in Puerto Rico presented this wonderful piece against violence against women. It is so simple yet powerful. Who would have thought of a petition with creative flair? Not me.
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STOP DRINKING ASSOCIATION: Alcohol can end your Party
Soul Fast Advertising, Uruguay hits the nail on the head with this one. This ad could have been done in Trinidad & Tobago, with a brave enough client.
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MATSUDA OIL PAINTS: The Power to Dry Quickly
ADK in Tokyo, Japan gives us Matsuda Oil Paints with the copy, “The power to dry quickly.” Amphbian becoming fosselised immediately out of the water. Get the picture? The local client. “The product shot is too small. Make that image bigger and the frog smaller.” Ends up with a total inverse of the original ad.
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PINK RIBBON: Survived
Grey, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, don’t hold their punches with this one. This ad in T&T? Remeber when the African dance troupe bared their breasts at Piaco Airport. What a shameful display of ignorance on the part of our authorities.
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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Bars
Leo Burnett in Warsaw, Poland gives us this with the copy, “Looking through the bar hurts.” I can hear the local client saying, “This would hurt people’s eyes and make them uncomfortable. Do something else.” Duh!
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To see these and more, go to http://www.ibelieveinadv.com/
