International Advert Critiques

By Chelsie Johnson

Summer 2014

University of North Texas at

Regent’s University in London

AD 1 – COSÌ FAN TUTTE

Client: English National Opera

Product: Così Fan Tutte Theater Production

Source: London Tube Station Wall

Medium: Poster

Agency: Sam Hadley

Strategy: Display dramatic emotional Image to entice interest.

Target Market: Women who are middle and upper classes and also enjoy the theater scene.

Although I personally have no knowledge of the theater scene in London this image does good to grab my attention

with its heavily stylized and dramatic image.

The emotion of this image is conveyed well through the emotion of both women who show intense faces staring off in

the distance. By not looking directly towards the viewer the women create even more suspense. The dark background

and contrasting bright colors of red and yellow also add to this feeling of suspense and drama.

This theatrical poster is a good example of emotional appeal by the techniques of color, facial expression, and facial

direction. The reviews only reinforce the viewer's initial intrigue into the image of the show.

AD 2 – CYBERDOG MANNEQUINS

Client: Cyberdog

Product: Clothes and Accessories

Source: Store Location in Stables Market

Medium: In-House Produced Mannequins

Agency: Sam Hadley

Strategy: Representation of rave style through specialized mannequins.

Target Market: Both men and women who are in the middle class and in the party rave scene. Also those who have

been in this scene and might have kids.

This store location has three levels which all have completely unique mannequins. These mannequins all represent the

raver style through various successful techniques.

The use of a shiny metal finish represents well the techno feel of the music and the style of a typical raver. The eye

visors on two of these mannequins are also common within the raver scene. The ear covers are common as well, and

they’re presented in varying styles that might be seen within this type of clothing.

The child’s mannequin also does well in presenting the style of the raver while still remaining appropriate with longer

sleeves and pants.

These mannequins exude the style of a raver very successfully.

Bottom Copy:

Our staff are here to advise you in a polite and helpful way. Abusing or swearing at them is offensive,

unacceptable, and TFL will prosecute offenders. So consider the consequences.

Text added due to glare and small lettering.

AD 3 – DON’T MAKE MY MUM CRY

Client: Transport for London

Product: Tube Service

Source: London Tube Station Wall

Medium: Poster

Agency: M&C SAATCHI

Strategy: Emotional appeal by presenting child’s view.

Target Market: The target is particularly parents with kids. Although the message is pertinent to a broad range of

tube riders of all genders, ages, and incomes.

This ad caught my eye because I thought that the message was particularly powerful. Presenting a child’s view of his or

her mother’s tears shows how yelling at someone working in the tube might affect them. The idea behind the ad is to

place you in the perspective of the child who loves his or her mother. The simplicity of the message also adds to the

impact because it presents a clear message: you could make my mother cry.

This is a softer approach of presenting this message then if you were to only print the copy at the bottom. Although

more blunt this other copy is also necessary to bring home that there are real consequences for verbal abuse.

The simple emotional appeal of this ad allows it to successfully communicate its message.

AD 4 – PARISWORLDWIDE

Client: Paris Airport Authority

Product: Airline Service

Source: Paris World Wide Magazine

Medium: Magazine Cover

Agency: Relaxnews

Strategy: This ad is capitalizing on the euphoria that many might feel after a trip to Paris by presenting the

viewer with a fantasized image of the city to encourage further travel.

Target Market: This ad targets both sexes who are upper middle class and upper class who could afford more

travel. The ad also targets multiple cultures with the use of four languages.

This ad grabbed my attention in the airport with its highly fantasied view of someone playing tennis. The dreamlike view

of the women jumping so high is supposed to play off the good feelings many have as they are leaving Paris.

The ad is effective in grabbing your attention, but by itself the sports theme might not effectively promote more visits to

Paris. However the cover successfully invites the viewer to go through the magazine, and this total package of

communication could convince the viewer to visit the city again.

The fantasized image does well to invite the reader into the magazine.

AD 5 – BADOIT SCAFFOLDING COVER

Client: Badoit

Product: Mineral Water

Source: Streets of Paris

Medium: Billboard Scaffolding Cover

Agency: BETC Paris

Strategy: Give a sense of excitement and joy with the opening of a bottle of mineral water that is naturally

carbonated.

Target Market: Both sexes who are upper middle and upper classes and drink mineral water.

First off this ad is particularly clever because when most scaffolding covers are plain this one presents a gigantic ad that takes

advantage of the space. It also provides a background that mirrors the building under the scaffolding which adds to the effect.

The use of the medium is especially clever as there are few if any large billboards in Paris, and this ad is presented in a clear view

next to the river in a busy area.

Beyond the media placement strategy the ad itself is successful with presenting the mineral water in a classy way with a classy

lady that communicates well that the water is carbonated. The dressed up women and the glass tower suggest a higher income

target.

The visual strategies work but are typical representations. The only thing is you have to know what the product is in order to

understand it’s not a form of wine. It is a French made product and so this wouldn’t communicate well to other cultures.

This ad is great example of how a media placement strategy can make an ad with usual visual techniques very successful with

good placement and innovative media. It’s also a fascinating example how some local ads don’t translate to other cultures.

AD 6 – STRANGE WALKING FISH

Client: Festival De l’ Oh! Product: Festival Promotions and Services

Source: Paris Metro

Medium: Poster

Agency: Anatome

Strategy: Entice viewers to go to an artistic festival by the water by showing an artistic representation of a

fish who is visitor in the festival.

Target Market: A younger audience who lives in France made up of both sexes age 18-44 and is interested in art.

From a foreign perspective this ad makes little sense. “Why are there walking fish?”, is what I thought to myself. This is

an example of when visuals don’t always communicate the message and you must know the language.

The walking fish is supposed to represent visitors who visit an art festival by the water. It is an interesting idea but still

doesn’t seem like a strong creative execution, even after understanding the context. Perhaps it is my foreign culture

that prevents me from properly perceiving the design.

The ad also seems really busy with far too many logos and even multiple websites. This and the strange graphic seem to

make the ad fail to me. However this might only be my perception as an American and not as a French person.

This ad is another example of a local product, or service in this case, not being able to be perceived correctly by another

culture.

AD 7 – EMOTIONAL TRASH

Client: Gatwick Airport

Product: Trash Services

Source: Gatwick Terminal 5

Medium: Gorilla Display

Agency: Unknown

Strategy: Encourage recycling by giving the trash cans a personality.

Target Market: Young kids 4-10 and parents with kids in all genders and income brackets.

These trash cans are perfect for communicating to kids that throwing away trash is negative and that recycling is

positive. They were located right next to a play fort in terminal 5 of the airport. The cartoon like faces also invite

children to throw away trash and not leave it on the ground. The trash cans could also be seen as an educational tool

that could help teach children the difference between what is trash and what is recyclable.

The use of trash cans with faces could also be used with adults as well. The faces give the cans an emotional personality

that adults could respond to as well.

These trash cans or “bins” as they call them in the UK are a great form of promotion for recycling. The emotional appeal

of the faces is good at encouraging recycling. I hope to see examples of this kind of clever recycling promotion in the

states.

AD 8 – KFC PHONE BOOTH

Client: KFC

Product: Food Services

Source: Marylebone Road

Medium: Phone Booth Poster

Agency: BBH

Strategy: Remind those who are walking around they could eat at the close by KFC.

Target Market: All ages, all sexes, and mainly those in the lower or middle class.

There are some who succeed and there are some who fail. This KFC phone booth ad failed.

Phone booths are some of the smelliest and dirtiest places in London. I don’t understand why you would want to

associate your brand that sells food with something so foul. Especially when the brand has a record of sanitary issues.

Not only is the idea bad but the location is bad too. Although there is a nearby KFC this booth is hard to notice because

it is partially covered up by a tree. This poor choice of location really made this ad unsuccessful.

Overall this ad does not succeed. There is no point in reminding people of your logo if you’re going to associate it with

filth. No all ads succeed, this is one of them.

AD 9 – OXO TURNED ART

Client: Oxo Tower Wharf

Product: Multiple Venues with a Variety of Services and Products

Source: Tate Modern

Medium: Print

Agency: Paul Catherall

Strategy: Simplify the Oxo Tower Wharf and turn it into art

Target Market: Middle and uppers classes of both sexes and all ages who like art.

This print done by Paul Catherall is a good example of when advertising can be interrupted as art. The Oxo building is an

affluent building in the center of London that houses a multitude of buildings from hair shops to art galleries to fine

restaurants.

Although the Oxo building no longer represents one brand the building itself represents a venue popular in London.

Because this building has taken on a persona of its own the representation of this building in an art museum furthers its

identity of a classy area to visit.

Even though this print was not commissioned by the Oxo Tower Wharf the simple symbol of it in an art gallery gives it

ever more creditability. As an unintentional piece of advertising this piece is successful.

AD 10 – FOOTBALL LOBSTER

Client: Sports Lobster

Product: Sports Social Media Services

Source: London Tube

Medium: Tube Car Panel

Agency: Media Agency Group

Strategy: Demonstrate the sports social group with the bandwagon effect of multiple sports celebrities.

Target Market: Younger men 18-44 of any class who enjoy sports.

This ad is pretty straight forward once you get past what lobster means in the UK. Lobster means a good person for a

relationship here in the UK, and so the copy of “Football is our lobster” means football is your companion.

Once you get past this the ad is just like any other social media sports ad. A bunch of sports athletes means a bunch of

sports connections. A plain blue background, a racially diverse set of men, and a link along with other common ways to

download it and you’re all set. The ad conveys its message in a simple and straightforward manner.

The thing that made the ad stand out to me as a American was the lingo that wasn’t instantly recognizable. After you

get beyond this cultural difference the ad is relatively normal with its copy and images.

AD 11 – BROCCOLI STACHE

Client: Wok to Walk

Product: Food Services

Source: Inside Wok to Walk Store Netherlands

Medium: Billboard

Agency: Almog Dvir

Strategy: Overdramatize the effect of broccoli through a funny visual.

Target Market: Men ages 16-25 with a lower or middle class income.

This ad is a great example of simple humor used well. Even though this ad was in the Netherlands it made sense not

only to the people there but also to the Americans visiting there.

The visual in the ad comically shows that if you eat Wok to Walk with broccoli you will become healthy and grow up

because you can eat it. The broccoli becoming a beard with the tag line “Green up!” accurately shows a healthy broccoli

eating man. The beard is just perfect showing a funny representation of health and bravery to eat something you

wouldn’t as a child.

The representation of broccoli becoming part of you as a beard is what make this ad funny and successful. The themes

are common too and this funny ad would be able to be used in many other countries.

AD 12 – PATHÉ NETHERLANDS THEATER

Client: Pathé Theaters

Product: Movies

Source: Pathé Theater

Medium: Video, link here: http://vimeo.com/64222229

Agency: 77agency

Strategy: Represent array of services and products via demonstration.

Target Market: All genders and ages who are middle and upper class.

What’s interesting to me as an American about this ad is that even when the ad is in Dutch I can still understand the

premise and message it’s trying to communicate.

The idea of this ad is that you can not only watch movies with Pathé in the theater but also at home on multiple devices.

It communicates this message clearly by demonstrating the range of devices with a happy tune in the background. It

also attempts to further the ads message by encouraging viewers to tweet, “ik wil thuis film kijken #pathethuis”, which

roughly means, I want to watch movies at home #pathehome.

This ad shows that if an idea is excuted simply with mostly universal ad techniques it can communicate to multiple

cultures. I’m sure Pathé is able to run this ad in other theaters in differnt countries succesfully.

AD 13 – THE THÉÂTRE!

Client: Paris Theaters

Product: Theater Productions

Source: Paris Metro

Medium: Cross-Track Billboard

Agency: Unknown, Multiple Agencies

Strategy: Showcase multiple theaters to capture the attention of anyone interested in theater productions.

Target Market: All genders and ages who are middle and upper class.

This bulletin board of sorts is a clever way to combat the common instances of people ignoring common theater

posters. The combined space also allows for reduced costs of advertising.

This ad is effective in that it gives a platform for all productions to advertise on as there is no unified area where all Paris

theaters are. By creating the platform it also gives locals a resource to see all of what is available while using the metro.

The negative of the platform is that although some of the posters look good themselves the platform looks rather bad. It

looks dirty, half put together with red tape, and very poorly styled with a white background.

This ad space is effective in providing a platform and reduced costs to different theaters ad, but it fails to do so in a

attractive manner.

AD 14 – BLENDING CULTURES

Client: HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation)

Product: Banking Services

Source: Airport Boarding Tunnel

Medium: Poster

Agency: Grey

Strategy: Visually demonstrate the linking of trade by merging culturally identifying monuments.

Target Market: This is a visually striking ad, and it was positioned in multiple forms repeatedly as the only ad in the

boarding tunnel. It was also the sole featured ad in all four boarding tunnels that I have viewed

recently.

This is a visually striking ad, and it was positioned in multiple forms repeatedly as the only ad in the boarding tunnel. It

was also the sole featured ad in all four boarding tunnels that I have viewed recently.

This ad is effective not only because of this repetition, but also because the moments are combined in a way that clearly

represents unity. To reinforce this obvious visual the copy also clearly states the cause of this union with the words

“new trade routes will reshape the world economy.”

This ads use of repetition, clear visuals, and reinforcing copy makes it a successful ad not only for the client HSBC but

also the recently hired Grey agency.

AD 15 – ALIEN UNDERPANTS

Client: Leicester Square Theater

Product: Aliens Love Underpants Production

Source: London Tube

Medium: Poster

Agency: Ben Cort

Strategy: Utilize the already recognizable book cover to capitalize on existing recognition.

Target Market: Young kids 2-7 and parents with kids in all genders and income brackets.

The visual that is used on the poster is the same image that is used for the cover of the book. At first I thought this was a

lazy missed opportunity but then I realized that this fits the target audience. Children who read this very basic book

range from ages 2 to 7, and they are far more likely to recognize the book cover instead of the title. That’s why it make

sense to use the cover as the poster.

Beyond the same back image this poster does have some clever copy for the adults who might be accompanying the

child. “Landing for seven weeks only the summer” is cute and fitting copy to announce playing dates.

With the combination of a recognizable image and fitting added copy this ad can successfully garner the attention of

both the child and the adult.

AD 16 – OLD BRITS FASHION

Client: Vogue

Product: Magazine Services

Source: Kensington Palace

Medium: Magazine Sept. 1972

Agency: David Bailey

Strategy: Entice further reading with a glamorous model and also with the promise of affordable clothing.

Target Market: Women who are in the upper and middle classes.

This old Vogue cover illustrates how the formula for a successful cover for a beauty magazine has stayed relatively the

same. The cover still continues to promise savings and fashion advice. The model for the cover is still a close up glamour

shot of someone who is usually a white women, although occasionally ethnicities do get featured today. The title of

Vogue is still big compared the model. The formula for a good cover of Vogue is similar today.

There are however a few design changes that have come with time changing technology and culture. Colors are usually

brighter today. Covers typically have 3, 4, or more subtitles that can have multiple colors of copy due to decreased

attention spans. This short attention span is also the reason subtitles have grown more sensationalistic.

So this old Vogue cover from 1972 shows that people still react to the same kinds of triggers, like beauty shots and

savings, but those triggers now just include modern changes to technology and culture.

←The advertisement

AD 17 – ROTATING LUXURY

Client: McLaren

Product: Cars

Source: McLaren Store

Medium: In-Store Display

Agency: In-House Promotion

Strategy: Show the luxury and beauty of a McLaren with a spinning display.

Target Market: Both genders who are 45+ and in the upper class..

This display is of a rotating platform that can give a passer by a full 360 degree few of the luxury car. The picture is a bit

difficult to see so I included a second picture so the car could be seen more visible.

This display is an interesting example of how to entice higher end customers to come into a dealership. The dealership is

located completely inside and so the typical car display couldn’t have been used.

This display not only bypasses that problem but ramps up the idea of a car display itself. The slow turning table behind a

glossy window just exudes luxury with the clean lines and simple colors.

In an area with many business men and women this kind of dramatic luxury display might just catch their limited

attention. The display is also flanked with other models from McLaren giving it a real sense of luxury. This display is

successful because it mirrors the luxury of the car, and also supports the initial car with other models lined around it.

AD 18 – TESCO’S DECLINE

Client: Tesco

Product: General Supermarket Products

Source: Street Wall

Medium: Poster

Agency: Kinetic

Strategy: Show a refreshing change through the symbol of a refreshing fruit.

Target Market: A general audience made up of those 16+, all genders, and those in the lower and middle classes.

With Tesco’s current market struggle the brand has decided to move there 10 million pound outdoor account to Kinetic

this last year. This ad seems to say that change wasn’t the most rewarding.

This ad uses copy to indicate that the store has undergone fresh changes. It then tries to represent these refreshing

changes with a seemingly refreshing kiwi. This is a charming idea to use one of their produce items to represent a fresh

change, but the metaphor just doesn’t resonate with the consumer. The idea of, here’s a kiwi we’re refreshed, doesn’t

seem to hold credence. There is no real information to indicate a change. Perhaps an ad that mentioned what has

changed it would be more effective.

This ad doesn’t work well because it gives no solid examples of the change. Metaphors are nice, but only when they

really hold a meaning.

←Bottom copy: Absolutely no way. Alan is

just showing off. However, should you wish

to find a hotel in the part of the US where

Apache still roam, trivago scans over

700,000 hotels from more than 150 booking

websites to find you your ideal hotel room

at the best price.

Bottom copy → : Margaret needn’t have a

herbal tea and a lie down. Alan is making

things up. Trivago means nothing in Sami

nor any other Nordic language. However, if

you want to find the ideal hotel room for

your stay, trivago searches over 150 booking

websites to find you one that you’ll love.

AD 19 – MISTRANSLATION CAMPAIGN

Client: Trivago

Product: Travel Services

Source: London Tube

Medium: Tube Car Panel

Agency: MNC

Strategy: Grab attention by jokingly saying Trivago means something in another language, and then offer

services in general or specifically in those areas with the language.

Target Market: Both genders of a younger age 18-44 who are lower and middle classes.

This ad campaign tries to capture your attention by initially pretending to have its name have a meaning of hotel finder

in another language. This claim is quickly refuted in the bottom copy which is then followed up with a offer of search

services for hotels.

This contradictory copy is supposed to be funny, but it only mildly hits that goal in my opinion. Yes the message is clear

but some might be offended by the joke about a language. The language could be relevant to them. Others however

might find the ad to be quite funny. The bottom copy is also quite small so some might only read the dialog boxes and

not receive the full message.

This ad is effective for some and not for others. To those with a lax sense of humor who are patient enough to read all

the copy the ad might work, but to those who are impatient and lack a relaxed sense of humor the ad might not work at

all.

AD 20 – GOOD PUNS ARE POSSIBLE

Client: Vita Coco

Product: Coconut Water

Source: York Road

Medium: Street Billboard

Agency: Thinkhouse

Strategy: Create a funny pun related to product to capture viewers’ attention.

Target Market: All ages and genders who are lower and middle class.

This ad is quite clever in its use of puns and has become an early class favorite.

The copy, “Grab nature by the coconuts”, is similar to the original saying of grab life by the balls. The original phrase

means to take control of your life. The copy used in the ad mirrors this idea of control, relates it to the product, and

even manages to make the phrase more appropriate while still being edgy. It is clever enough to stick with you, and it is

this that makes the ad particularly effective. The play on words is also still slightly controversial enough to garner

attention.

This ad is a great example of how you can make a play on words work. Because the ad does this use of puns well,

remains relevant, touts the line of being appropriate, and is designed well it is an especially good ad.