Advertising - Social Issues - Think Of Both Sides

Red Pepper of Russia created the campaign below, Think Of Both Sides. 

When trying to get people to reduce their speed and concentrate, the best advertisements connect on an emotional level. When driving often the journey can get boring and lots of different things can distract you. I personally have my music too loud - and it isn't until a near accident then I turn it down. Red Pepper tries to show in this ad that even little distractions build up and you aren't really concentrating. This lack of concentration can put not only your life, but other people's lives at risk too. 



My favourite aspect of this advertisement would be the distorted child's face. The 'hybrid' face emphasises the point that it could easily be your child - but either way it's still a child's life at risk, due to your lack of concentration. 

Information found via;

http://www.boredpanda.com/powerful-social-advertisements/

Art - Christopher Wool

'Sell the house. Sell the car. Sell the kids. Find someone else. Forget it. I'm never coming back. Forget it.' - taken from Captain Colby's final letter to his wife in the film Apocalypse Now. 



The image is meant to be bleak and very straight to the point about moving on and not relying on the personal affects to make you happy. It also states the point that the past is the past, and you can't change it and moving on is the much healthier thing to do. I really like this piece due to the complexity of the piece. You have to struggle to read the message which is similar to the actual motion of moving on - which can at times be hard in itself. Struggling to read the message meas you have to look at the piece longer, and therefore take longer to think about the message. This is a reflection opportunity for the audience - to reflect on the context and the personal afflictions. The hard typography also highlights this point, it is hard and unforgiving. Often moving on with be a permanent change, so the dark thick paint reflects this. This piece can relate each individual viewer on a personal message which makes it such an interesting and complex piece.

Infomation found via;

The Art Book - Phaidon, 1994

Art - Chuck Close

Self Portraits - or these days, Selfies, can be an art form. It may take hours to select the best profile picture to put on Facebook for other people to 'like' - but Chuck Close looked like he just rolled out of best in his 1967 image Big Self Portrait. 



I see this image as being extremely brave - allowing everyone to judge your appearance and calling it art. Even if you were to judge him, the camera angle is low so he appears to be looking down on the audience. You can't judge him, because he is already judging you. His lazy eyes make the audience feel that he may be looking down on you, but you haven't meant anything to him. There is no relationship between the audience and himself, but you feel that he has all the power. And as the artist he does, he controls what we see and how we are meant to react to his art. Although the message is unclear at first, because it just simply looking like Close has taken a tester image and hasn't quite been ready for it - I believe he is trying to get the message across that you can't judge without being judged yourself. 

Art - Constatin Brancusi

The Kiss. This has got to be my favourite sculpture and easily the cutest too. In 1907 Constatin Brancusi created The Kiss, which showed two hugging and kissing. 



I love the fact that the two lovers are created from the same stone block - they are no longer two separate entities, but one individual. The outstretched arms highlights their longing for each other and a vital need for the other. Without too much detail Brancusi has captured the human need for another person to complete oneself. One point to add is that genitalia has been covered up - perhaps for dignity - but it could be related to same sex couples. By removing the genitalia and having very similar facial features, you can't depict what gender each body is. Therefore, it could signify all love - Brancusi could be implying all love is equal - no matter the situation. This would be a very dangerous issue for him to express especially as same sex couple weren't accepted at the time - and still struggle to be fully accepted by society now. Following this idea of equality, the statues are mirror images of each other - which could be another clue as the the underlying message of the piece. Personally I love this piece because it is such a warm emotion, that is carved into cold hard stone so it can be preserved forever. 

Art - Giacomo Balla

Perhaps one of my favourite artists of all time is Giacomo Balla. his fluid movement of brush strokes makes his work abstract, yet realistic at the same time. You can clearly understand the message within each piece, but the images are often so busy, you eyes are left to dart around the piece, giving the illusion of movement. One piece that exaggerates this technique is Flight Of The Swallows.



Flight Of The Swallows is an image of the swallows that used to swirl and dive around outside Balla's window. The formation of one swallow following the other image, gives the idea that it is in fact one bird and his position has moved - much like a fast action camera, and the images have been collated. Balla has captured the iconic shape of the swallows without having to dilute the power of the image with too much detail. The strong bold swift brush movements highlight the movement of the birds and what the artist was seeing outside his window. The only aspect about this image which I dislike, is the white waves across the centre of the image. I feel that the white takes away from the swallows themselves and breaks up the image too much. However I can see that the waves only extenuate the movement further and also lighten up the image - as too much heavy black blocks would create a dark image. 

Art - Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon's Study after Velazques's Portrait of Pope Innocent X, is a haunting, yet beautiful image.



The streaky image looks like it might have come from a dark place. Portraits of Popes are mean to pieces of fine art, depicting the subject in the best possible light. Bacon on the other hand exposes this pope as a dark fiend. Although the image is depicting Pope Innocent X, the dark screaming face suggests otherwise. The lack of clarity in the image also tells a story about how much you really know someone from just an image. Images and paintings especially can be altered to the artists desire - so the subject may be far more attractive or visually appealing than in real life. I believe Francis Bacon is trying to get this point across with his piece - even the pope, the head of the Catholic Church, isn't all that he seems - he may also be hiding a dark side. I really like the strong fast lines in the images, which contrast the original images careful attention to detail. Bacon has really just taken every element of a professional portrait and changed it to create this new, and at the time, racy and dangerous imagery. 

Art - Alexander Archipenko

Next up, Alexander Archipenko, the abstract sculpture artist and his piece Walking.



I don't see the image, but apparently this sculpture is a woman walking - however I see no resemblance to a woman walking at all. I personally saw jigsaw puzzle pieces in the bronze model. If in fact it was a woman, I would expect to see more curves rather than straight lines and sharp edges, which I associate more with male features. However I do see the strong link to cubism in the piece. Much like the work of Picasso and Braque, the piece has weird and wonderful shapes to express the idea of a woman walking. The green surface of the model appears to give the piece a softer feel, thus making it more feminine. I really like the piece because of the angles used - although I could never see the intended vision - I love walking around the piece and seeing the many different point of view. 

Art - Karel Appel

One of my favourite hobbies that many people are unaware of it my love for art. I enjoy going round to different art galleries and looking at the different pieces and also discovering new and different artists and looking into their work. When I went to The British Museum, I went around the different exhibits and found a range of great artists and have explored their portfolios. The next section of blog post will be all about the artists I have discovered or re-discovered and how their art is interpreted by myself. 

First up is Karel Appel and his piece Phantom with Mask.

I found this piece to be very dark. At first the picture looking like a face screaming, but upon further reflection I found that the image appeared to be more shouting - less scary, more fearful. The abstract image is quite odd when you first look at it, as the black eyes are almost staring right at you - however the position of the arms up and around the mouth, looks like they are trying to project their voice. The image in my eyes is a cry for help, despite the dark colours which have negative connotations. One aspect of the image which is very obvious is the child-like structure of the image. The facial structure of the painting, looks as if a child may have drawn in - which with the previous analysis makes me believe that Karel Appel has tried to capture the cry of a child through abstract art. Often children struggle to be heard and this is exactly the idea I get from this piece. 

Advertising - ASDA And Kim Kardashian

I love a good spoof - the scary movie franchise is one of my favorites -  but Asda have created what I could easily consider the world's best spoof. Take a look;

The popular image that was meant to break the internet, has now been ripped by hundreds of people all over the world. Now, Asda have also tried to have a go. Kim Kardashian may have been trying to break the internet, but Asda's slogan is 'Don't break the budget'. This comical take on a 'piece of fashion/art' is printed on the free in store leaflet. Unlike the typical Asda leaflet, which shows a nice meal to entice people in, this piece may actually put consumers off from picking up the free booklet. I say this only because from a glance, it looks like the original, which is $10. Some people may not want to pick it up, as they aren't prepared to pay that sort of money for a magazine anyways - so they may subconsciously ignore it. 

Either way, this is a great way to show that Asda is on trend and up to date.  

Information found via;

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2839066/Supermarket-chain-Asda-spoof-Kim-Kardashian-s-infamous-Paper-magazine-cover-promote-10-bubbly.html

Advertising - Iceland's New Exotic Meat Feast

Whilst watching I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, Iceland adverts kept coming up - to be expected considering they sponsor the show. However, other than just their normal bargain frozen snacks, they were advertising the new 'Exotic Meat Feast' - but the advert was rather ambiguous, so I had to do some investigating into the new product.

Finally, the day has come. I and many other viewers can now join in the I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here experience, with real Australian meat. Iceland is selling each box, which contains 2 crocodile burgers, 2 ostrich burgers, 2 ostrich fillets and 2 kangeroo burgers, for £10 a packet.

Unlike myself, not everyone is happy with the decision of produce and sell these quite interesting treats, PETA are in uproar. Although PETA has a major cult following and thousands of people protest each ear for the protection of animals - the general public don't seemed too bothered about the new Iceland product. A recent survey on The Mirrors' website showed that 59% of people would happily try the new meat. So much for save the animals?!

In my personal opinion Iceland have done nothing wrong, consumers want products like this, and love the idea of being involved with the show, I'm A Celebrity, so its only Iceland's way of giving more choice to consumers. At the end of the day, it's consumers choice whether they want to buy the product or not, and if it doesn't sell well it will be pulled from the shelves anyway.
Information found via;

http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/buying-and-supplying/iceland-rolls-out-10-pack-of-crocodile-kangaroo-and-ostrich-meat/373398.article

http://groceries.iceland.co.uk/iceland-im-a-celebrity-exotic-meat-feast-910g/p/57834

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/iceland-cashes-im-celebrity-bushtucker-4587755

Advertising - Taxi And Bus Wraps

When wondering around London, I was subject to many different modes of public transport with advertisements plastered all over them. I'm fully aware that the revenue from advertisement can help reduce the cost of travel and therefore reduce the ticket prices - but I wanted to know just how effective it really is. Do consumers really notice all the different advertisements whilst travelling to and from work, or do they become so immune to them the advertisements themselves just blend in like and normal vehicle.

One website, taxiadvertising.com claims that one branded taxi can be seen 1,400,000 times a week. It says that branded taxi advertising is a great way of reaching an urban audience of millions. I can agree to some degree with this statement. It can be seen by a lot of people and from many different areas, as the taxi itself journeys around to and from different locations. However I don't agree that it can reach millions of potential target audiences, as I believe that many people are too consumed to pay attention to the advertisement itself - much like in television advertising. Television advertising has the potential to reach thousands of people who watch the television, but now many viewers either pre-record the shows and skip the adverts or use advertising time to go perform other tasks, like making a cup of tea, going to the toilet. We are now so immune to advertising, and can ignore everything we want to, I highly doubt 4 seconds as a taxi speeds past you is enough time to take enough information away from the advert as possible. 

Information found via;

http://www.londontaxiadvertising.com/news/tunnocks-mouth-watering-taxi-advertising-campaign/2090/

http://taxiadvertising.com/why-taxis/

Culture - Stoke-On-Trent - A Long Time Coming

It's no big secret that I really don't like the area of Stoke-On-Trent. I find it dirty, repulsive and extremely dull and lacking all aspects of culture. But I was recently asked by a friend of mine to post on nice thing about Stoke on my blog. So I've been searching and searching - and I think I may have finally found a little bit of Stoke-On-Trent that I'm in love it. It's been a long time coming, but I've finally found a little bit of home. 

Hanley park has around 900,000 visitors each year and is open 24 hours a day to the public. I went there this Saturday, after a trip into Hanley town, and I loved it. I didn't realise that it has so many facilities to offer to the local community as well as being a place of such beauty. I sat for an hour enjoying the pond and watching the wildlife. It was a nice change from the nature reserve near my accommodation where the only wildlife you are likely to see it rats and school children who are skiving school. 

Perhaps the most romantic thing about the park is the feature of artist, Emily Campbell's work 'Love Ties' - which although may appear to be a little cheesy, does help the atmosphere of the park. At various points around the park is this text sculpture which gives the audience something to consider when walking around Hanley Park.

As well as being a little patch of greenery amongst a dull and exhausting Stoke-On-Trent, Hanley Park also acts as a focal point for the community to get together. I found that there are many events going on throughout the year at Hanley park - all aimed at either improving the park or the communication of the people who live near the park. This sense of security and community makes me feel more at ease, because often at times walking in between campuses, the area can feel very threatening and quite dangerous. 

So if you're ever bored of grey Stoke buildings, or fancy some fresh air not filled with carcinogens from exhaust fumes, try Hanley Park. 

Information found via;

http://www.stoke.gov.uk/ccm/content/leisure-and-culture/parks-and-open-spaces/other-parks-folder/hanley-park.en

http://www.stoke.gov.uk/ccm/content/xml-feeds/events/events---search-results.en?bbp.s=1&form.events---search-results=visited&bbp.i=d0.1

Visual Language - The British Museum

On our trip to London we had to meet at the British Museum to collect our brief. Fortunately, I turned up a little early so got to explore the museum beforehand. 

I love looking at art, and especially contemporary art. Exhibiting at the museum during my visit was an exhibition about witches and witchcraft. These images dated back from the Renaissance to the end of the 19th century. I found the dark twisted illusions that artists produced back then to tell a shocking story about how uneducated people were back then about certain issues we can comprehend today. It is also apparent how differing our views on religion are - nowadays religion is so varied and very relaxed, whereas back then religion was taken very seriously. This look into the contrast on modern day life versus previous years is reflected through the rest of the museum, in the different exhibits also.

The British Museum also has a large courtyard, called the Great Court. The Great Court was designed by Fosters and Partners, and uses natural light and white walls to create a large setting for the information centre of the museum, as well as a café and a few shops. This was easily my favourite area within the museum and clearly very popular with many other visitors, as it was clearly the busiest area. The Great Court also acts as the central hub for the museum connecting the different exhibition rooms together and also connecting to the main entrance and the rear entrance. This makes a clean and simplistic way of connecting all the differing events, and gives a clear and professional appearance to the museum. 

However, this clear appearance of the museum disappears shortly with a mix match of logo images and contradicting text fonts. More businesses keep a consistent brand image, to make themselves more coherent - the same sort of practice would be expected of a museum. However, The British Museum aren't really sticking to this general rule of thumb. On their website they have a more distinct and although some may call it 'boring' I personally feel a more appropriate logo, considering the nature of the business. 

Despite the more professional text being used on the website, within the museum and on their bags given to the public, a more rounded softer text is used. I believe that the second text font looks very similar to the one used by The National History Museum of South Kensington, and this may be on purpose to link the two museums together.

Considering the nature of the business, being a place of education and knowledge, I would have expected to have seen a more coherent and professional brand image and visual language.

Information found via;

http://mdem.org.uk/british-museum-2014-knowledge-exchange-programme/#.VGjVqPmsXuI

http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/the_museums_story/architecture/great_court.aspx

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/degree-courses/8580585/Architecture-degree-course-guide.html

http://www.britishmuseum.org/

http://www.siftdigital.co.uk/work

Culture - London - Forrest Gump

I can never really pick out a favourite movie of all time, however, I did recently watch the phenomenal Forrest Gump, and fell in love instantly. Although, I believed it to be just a story. Until I was wondering around London with my little brother, and I can across Bubba Gumps restaurant and gift shop. If you haven't seen the movie, it will mean nothing to you, but if you have, they have a restaurant inspired by the movie. I love the idea of creating more merchandise to further involve an audience in a movie - but I've never seen a restaurant before. 

Perhaps the cutest thing about the whole concept is that you can buy memorabilia in the gift shop located next to the store. I got to sit on a copy of the bench. And although I know it is all fake, and just another way to get money out of me, I really did enjoy the experience. I didn't even buy anything, but the staff were so welcoming and pleasant. I know that next time I travel to London, without a doubt I'm taking a trip there.  

Information found via;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubba_Gump_Shrimp_Company

Culture - London - Piccadilly Circus

Easily my favourite place in London is Piccadilly Circus. The atmosphere is electric. The pure rush of being surrounded by that many people, lights and energy is just unreal to me. Even in the late evening, Piccadilly Circus is full of people enjoying the sights of London. Piccadilly Circus has become an icon of London and has even been compared to Times Square, New York - just on a much smaller scale. 



Obviously from an Advertising and Brand Management student's point of view, the huge electronic billboards are of great fascination to me. A number of brand have used the billboard system at Piccadilly Circus over the years including - LG, Samsung, McDonalds, Guiness, Coca Cola, Canon, Panasonic, TDK and Sanyo. Only in the past few years have the amount of billboards been decreasing as rent and utility bills increase. It may seem like an expensive way to advertise, considering the alternative and more effective options - such as social media. However, having an advertisement at the iconic Piccadilly Circus billboards will be seen my hundreds of tourists each day, who sometimes only venture to Piccadilly Circus to see the billboard itself. 



Information found via;

http://www.jmfprint.co.uk/?attachment_id=458

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piccadilly_Circus#Location_and_sights

Service Review - Burger King Taking The Piss

Nowadays, businesses are asking customers constantly what they thought about the service provided. Some offer rewards like vouchers or free gifts in order to receive customer feedback. Feedback allows the business to deal with issues in-house and with minimal drama. Well, what happens when feedback goes unnoticed - I write a blog about it. 

Tender subject here, but when you need to go, you need to go. I had just been in a quiet little café in Leicester Square - without toilets - and just had an extra large hot chocolate, and naturally needed to go. I walked out of the café and into the nearest fast food restaurant I saw, as generally their toilets are quite clean. Sadly, I was mistaken. By all means apart from the odd bit of graffiti and toilet paper on the floor, it was clean. But there was no toilet seat - in any of the two available stalls - the other three were out of order. It's rather unhygienic sitting on a toilet with no seat, so I spoke to the toilet attendant. The response I got was ' they been nicked init '. They been nicked init - it was like she was speaking a foreign language, certainly not English. Personally I thought it was disgusting that Burger King had not done anything about the issue - and in quite some time too - the attendant also said they had been in that state all week. One the Burger King's biggest and busiest restaurants, and they treat customer complaints like they are nothing. If the branch knew for a week that the toilets were in that state and let them be used, it doesn't bare to think about what other corners they are cutting in customer care. What a piss take - utter poo - okay no more toilet puns here. Either way, this disgruntled customers won't be using Burger King any more.

Culture - London - Boris Bikes

London is one of the busiest cities in the world.  Heathrow has 191,200 passengers through each day. The London Underground saw 1,107 million passengers in 2012. With this many commuters and tourists, traffic can be horrendous. To reduce traffic within central London, there has been a congestion charge zone implemented. If you travel within that zone between 7:00 - 18:00 Monday - Friday you will receive a £11.50 daily charge. This acts as a deterrent for too much traffic within central London, as many people would rather use the cheaper option, public transport, than spend that much money on being able to drive around central London. 

Below is a map of the area of the congestion charge zone;

In 2010, Boris Johnson introduced a new way of transport for the people of London - The Boris Bikes, or the official name, Barclays Cycle Hire. This innovative way to travel around London not only promotes good health, but reduces the environmental damage central London produces. The bikes can be picked up and dropped off at a number of location around London, making the scheme more of a convenience for the public. 



If I could ride a bike, I'd be really interested in this - a way to see London, without being cramped on the London Underground, and stuck with the thousands of other tourists.

Information found via;

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/congestion-charge/congestion-charge-zone

http://www.heathrowairport.com/about-us/company-news-and-information/company-information/facts-and-figures

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/london/9789966/London-Underground-150-fascinating-Tube-facts.html

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/jul/30/map-london-cycle-hire-locations-spreadsheet

Culture - The Babadook - Movie Review

I've been trying to drag someone along to see this movie for a while, and the lucky person was my brother. Mention to my little brother, whose just turned 17 - Happy Birthday Steven!

The Babadook is an Australian film about a single mum who has a 'difficult' child. She normally reads to him before bed to help him sleep - he struggles to sleep because he believes in monsters. One day he chooses a book from the shelf called Mister Babadook - neither mother or son had seen the book before. Never the less, they read on and soon discover it's a dark book. Sam, the young boy, doesn't deal with it well and it turns out they have released the Babadook.

SPOILER ALERT!

Firstly I want to say, Noah Wiseman, the son, is creepy as hell - but a fantastic actor. He had a seizure, was attacked by his on-screen mother and his dead dog - and it was all believable. I believed all the emotions he was portraying and believed he was in real danger, which only brought me further into the story. His incredible acting skills surprised me - considering I had heard he was only 7 years old during production. Although his creepy screaming and whining made me want to jump into the screen and tell his character, Sam, to grow up.

Next on my list of critiques - the dog. In every movie the dog dies. Marley And Me, I Am Legend, now this. Stop killing the movie dogs. It's heart breaking, I cry every time. I'm not too fussed if anyone dies, but not the dogs. I can't deal with any more dead dogs.

And lastly, the ending. Movie endings make or break the movie. And still even after reading forum after forum, I have no clue as to the meaning of this ending. Like I said in an earlier post, I'm not a parent, so I can't really relate - but if a dark creature had tried killing my child and me, I doubt I'd keep it. Let alone feed it with worms from the garden. Or get anywhere near it to comfort it. Worst of all, the rather 'trippy' ending was never explained. My brother believes that it was more of a set-up for a sequel - I personally don't see how that will work. So after a really good movie, I'm now in limbo. Either way despite the shocking ending, The Babadook is well worth a watch.  

Service Review - McDonald's Standing Restaurant

Whilst collecting market research for my up coming London project, I found myself feeling rather peckish. As a student, I'm always packing - McDonald's vouchers that is. So I rushed off to the nearest golden arches - which happened to be on Oxford Street. Compared to other McDonalds' I've been in, Oxford Street's seems very fast paced. Upon arrival you are instantly seen by one employee with an Ipad offering a fast track service. Personally, I thought this was pure genius - there is nothing worse than waiting in a queue for food because a customer in front is still choosing. Anyway I can get food quicker is a good thing. Also from McDonalds prospective this is good too, considering the substantial footfall on Oxford Street. However the great ideas stopped straight after my food arrived. Bare in mind Oxford Street is mostly high street shops and departments stores - so the McDonalds' main clientèle are likely to have many shopping bags and may want to sit and eat their. So they install these round bench tops, which have room for barely two meals and no chairs or stalls. So no where to sit - unless you want to tackle two flights of stairs. These table tops are also so close together, you're practically leaning in your meal. I can see McDonalds is trying to make use of the limited space, but the whole set up is cramped and cluttered. 

My lovely model, Amber, trying to eat her meal, whilst standing at one of McDonalds' eating stations;

 

Culture - London - Tourists Everywhere

In my last post, I mentioned how different Cornwall and London are in their pace. However they do have one big theme in common - both locations receive a lot of revenue from the presence of tourists. In fact, London saw revenue of £3.372 billion in Summer 2013 from tourists. In Cornwall, tourists generally come for the historical sites of the beaches and moorland, which is all free to visit. But in London a lot of the tourist places to visit are paid for. However, London also has a lot more history and a greater diversity of activities to do, therefore attracting a large target audience.

Tourists enjoying a photo opportunity at Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station;

One thing that I found attracted a lot of tourists in London was the tour buses. Due to the size of London, and everything so compact, transportation tours can also be viable. Most hotels advertise these tours to their guests. It's an easy way for tourists to see the important bits of London, whilst also being able to sit and relax. Tour buses are also the easiest way to find out a lot of information about London at once. As well a general tours around London - there are specialist tours, such as royalist tours, and Jack the Ripper tours. 

Whenever I go somewhere new that I find interesting I try to collect something to remind me of my time there. Souvenirs are always wanted by tourists, and often tourists don't mind paying a little extra than normal because it may be for a gift. On nearly every street there is a vender - pictured below - selling all sorts of gifts that tourists may be interested to buy.

Information found via;

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/its-official-london-is-the-most-popular-destination-for-tourists-in-the-world-9063988.html

Culture - London - The Non-Stop City

 This week I was in London for a few days whilst working with my university. Whilst it's a nice change to Stoke-On-Trent, I'm not a fan of the noise pollution. In fact lying in bed one night, I realised London never seems to sleep - and the noise of the city keeps everyone up. When going for a late night stroll down a busy street I saw over seven restaurants and food outlets that stay open until 3am. And if eating food until 3am makes you feel tired in the morning, there are plenty of coffee shops around too. This constant demand for fast food and caffeine to go highlights the pace of London and what consumers of London need. This is a vast contrasts to what consumers need in my home town where there is only one shop. 

Below is a picture I took whilst in my favourite area of London, Piccadilly Circus - I may hate the noise of London, but here the hustle and bustle seems comforting, plus the vibrant colours and images give the whole area a nice glow.

Advertising - Tesco's Cock Up

I have always found from personal experience, that unless you are truly fluent in another language - don't attempt to read, write, speak it. Tesco it seems, should have taken this advice. Again, I was scrolling through Facebook, and I found a news article about Tesco giving away free erections. Yes, free erections. 

Tesco had opened a new store in Wales, which has a cash point outside. Like all Tesco cash points, cash withdrawals are free. Now knowing that the Welsh language is still widely used in parts of Wales, Tesco wanted to translate 'free cash withdrawals' into Welsh. However their translation was wrong, and the sign above the cash point read 'free erections' in Welsh. Although customers did have a good laugh at the expense of Tesco, the scenario could have been a lot worse for Tesco's PR team. When trying to provide great customer service, a lot of research is needed to see what the customers want and/or need. And never use Google translate - rooky mistake.



Information found via; 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/29799542

Advertising - Social Issues - Tailgating

Amélie Company of the United States have produced a very innovative 3D billboard ad to remind drivers about the dangers of tailgating, especially behind lorries who have limited rear vision. 

In the 3D billboard, the image is of a car following a lorry, but clearly the car has gotten too close to the lorry in front and has smacked into the back of it. Amélie Company have distorted the flat image and it's canvas in order for the image to become a 3D crash. This leap to a 3D piece makes the image appear more realistic, and also makes the issue more prominent to road users passing it.



The colours used in the image can also describe the story more, but colour association. Red generally signifies a dangerous colour, which could signify that by driving dangerously you are at serious risk of having an accident. Contrasting the violent red, is a deep calming blue colour. The colour blue often means calm and peaceful, which doesn't seem like the characteristics related to a dangerous driver, but more a slow and steady one. 

The most important issues to deal with when reaching this sort of target audience is understanding that they don't have long to get the message, perhaps a few seconds each day on their way to work. Amélie Company have tried to keep the message as concise as possible. Bold and big letters informing passers by that 'TAILGATING ISN'T WORTH IT' whilst also users a strong image to further enhance the message. Also often the audience may not have time to find the words on the billboard to be able to read them - however a large 3D image can have them thinking about the issue a lot longer, and perhaps even convince them to drive a little safer.

Information found via;

http://www.boredpanda.com/powerful-social-advertisements/

http://advertising.about.com/od/advertisingglossaryb/a/The-Six-Basic-Rules-Of-Billboard-Advertising.htm

Advertising - Social Issues - You're Not A Sketch

When I'm trawling through Instagram, I often see drawings similar to the one below:


At first I saw them as fashion sketches meant to extenuate the design of the dress and help show the way an item may flow in real life, making the image more realistic and less 3D. But when I saw Revolution Brazil's advertisement campaign, which included sketches like these, I started to think deeper into what the images may connote for other people. 

In a survey commissioned by REAL magazine, 97% of women are unhappy with their body, with a further 73% thinking about their size and/or shape at least once every day. That is a of unhappy women. But I can personally see why. In all the gossip magazines available on new stands, weight it a big issue - whether it is if a celebrity has recently put on weight or if they have managed to loss weight. Weight and body image is a newsworthy topic apparently. Many magazines mock celebrities that have put on some weight, which unless all their readers are size zero, may offend some people, and cause them to feel bad about themselves. Due to the heavily distorted image that women should look like the image above, it's no wonder that approximately 269 thousand woman are clinically diagnosed as having an eating disorder. 

Revolution Brazil have created an ad to show women that being a 'pretty' as a woman in a sketch may not be all that it's cracked up to be. 



When seeing this image for the first time I physically felt sick. Although the simple background is meant to draw you into the central images, all I wanted to do was to stare into the abyss. It was painful for me to look at the model, but that was the reaction Revolution wanted. Without even seeing the painful sore joints, the sunken facial expression should be enough to show ladies everywhere that size doesn't always make you happy - even if you are thin.

I found that this advertisement evoked some personal emotion with me, having suffered with body issues myself. As much as the ad does convey the informative message as intended - I really do wish Revolution had gone further into the issue. I would have developed the campaign further and explored a positive message for the audience, this could increase the self esteem of the audience whilst also getting the original message across. 

Information found via;

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-146021/Most-women-unhappy-bodies.html

http://www.anorexiabulimiacare.org.uk/information-and-statistics-media

http://www.boredpanda.com/powerful-social-advertisements/

Advertising - Social Issues - Sexual Predators Can Hide In Your Child's Smartphone

The aim of this ad was to make parents think more about who their children may be interacting with. there have been numerous cases in the news recently of paedophiles being caught in the act of grooming youngsters online. School educate children on such things like grooming and what is and isn't appropriate. But parents also have to be aware of the problem. With new technology, which is connecting more and more people together, 
 children are more accessible than ever to sexual predators.



Parents may believe their child is simply texting or 'facebook'ing, so they need a shocking wake up call to an issue that effects hundreds of vulnerable children each day. The extremely uncomfortable image of a child being touched is enough of a shock factor. The position of the hand shows dominance and control. The sexual predator in this case has all the control, without going noticed. The fact that the hand is barely seen reflects the issue that this sort of behaviour can be easily hidden so parents and carers need to be vigilant. 

Producing an advert like this could be seen as a little ooutrageous Although the audience is meant to feel uncomfortable when they see the image - when I has shown the image to a friend of mine they called it perverted. Although they understood the message and the reasoning behind the image, he believed that some sexual predators that this advertisement is trying to warn about, may in fact enjoy the image. I can see his point of view, as it does look like a child in the picture - I don't know many adults who own baby pink jeans - but I highly doubt a model child was used in the image. 

Whether you consider the image to be too risky or not it definitely sends a message out. I may not be a parent myself, but the emotions evoked by this advert have really made me think about the lack of control over social networking and connectivity parents today have.

Information found via; 

 http://www.boredpanda.com/powerful-social-advertisements/

Culture - Annabelle - Movie Review

So finally, after weeks of begging I got to go see the new horror movie, Annabelle. May I just add, I have been actually planned to see this on two other occasions - one ended with myself passed out on my bed due to exhaustion and the other ended in a trip to A&E. So eventually after all the waiting, I got into see the movie, popcorn and drink in hand. And, I wasted two hours of my life.

Much like every other horror movie out there, all the best bits were in the trailer. Apart from a few extra jumpy moments, there wasn't anything special. I didn't stay up all night worrying about a possessed doll, I wasn't constantly question every little sound in the house, nor was I even remotely concerned. This really disappointed me, because unlike all other movies, I expect horrors to give me some sort of irrational fear to take home with - even if it lasts just one night. With Annabelle I already knew what was happening, I could tell by the music, the silence, the camera angles. 

The worst and most lingering one was perhaps when the camera zooms in on Annabelle and slowly, we expect he to move, make some creepy gesture, but the screen just jumps to black - End of movie. It's disappointing, and it doesn't make me as a viewer believe that one the story is real or that in fact it could happen to me. The whole reason horror movies are so scary is because they can somehow resonate with the audience, making them believe this could really happen to them. 

But perhaps it wasn't all Annabelle's fault. I am an avid horror movie watcher - I know the tricks. I personally feel that we are again becoming too open to the ideas in horror movies. There was once a time when The Shining and The Fly were the most scariest films around, and now they can be easily played off as background music. We aren't being shocked at all, nothing is scary enough. On the other hand, movie producers have to consider the fact that if they push the limits it may be going too far. Myself personally, I hate watching Quentin Tarantino movies, simply for the fact he adds far too much gore and blood than needed for a shock factor. 

Art - Uninspiring Statues

I've been in Stoke-On-Trent for a little over eight weeks now. It's quite an adjustment, and I'm not much of  a fan, to say the least. But how can I be really.. Grey, grey and dull brown aren't exactly awe-inspiring colours. And the 'art' around here isn't helping either.

Everytime I go to work I pass a statue of a man with his arms stretched out. Underneath reads 'A MAN CAN'T FLY'. You can see by the strain in his face, that he's really trying to reach his goal; but can't - INSPIRING! I'm not sure if the artist Ondre Nowakowski intended for his work to have such a dark and gloomy message, but from the number 3 bus it doesn't look good. It perhaps doesn't help matters that this negative message is situated right next to a sixth form college and a university. 

I can't slate an artist though without properly looking through their portfolio, and surprisingly Ondre has some lovely pieces that truly show talent, and don't emphasise negativity. A lot of his work revolves around the concept of playing with the lighting and becoming part of the community also, but providing a seat as well as art. I only wish Stoke-On-Trent had commissioned him to do something more dramatic, more vibrant and not grey and brown to blend in with the rest of the area.

Information found via; 

http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Stoke-1989-work-Man-t-Fly-statue-completed/story-12483536-detail/story.html

http://www.nowakowski.co.uk/PUBLIC_ART_WEB_SITE/PUBLIC_ART.html

Advertising - Social Issues - Bangalore Traffic Police

Bangalore Traffic Police's advertisement campaign, Don't Talk While Driving was created by Mudra Group. The campaign was created to raise awareness about the dangers of talking whilst driving, and making people think twice about ringing someone when they know they should be driving. The campaign says the responsibility lies with both people involved in the conversation.

The advertisement is centralised around this idea of danger and death - but has to be in such a dramatic hard hitting way for people to react. The dull, bland tones in the background only highlight the deep red tones of the blood. Even the blood splatter itself is dramatic, hitting the people in the face, just the impact you would get in a car crash - an instant impact. This dramatic statement with the blood hitting the victims in the face would make the audience feel guilty and perhaps more conscience whether they should really try contacting someone whilst they are driving. 

I really like how the blurred background in both images also enhances the point that an accident can happen so quickly and you can't react to it. It really just extenuates the the fact that you really need to concentrate whilst driving, because it isn't just your life that is at risk. Personally I believe we should have more campaigns like this in the UK, because as much as I think I'm a safe driver and believe I never get distracted by my phone - I have. Even if it goes off because someone has text me, I generally look over at it, even a split second could mean the difference between an accident or not.  

Information found via;

http://www.boredpanda.com/powerful-social-advertisements/

Advertising - Social Issues - Liking Isn't Helping

When scrolling through Facebook recently I saw that a friend of mine had shared a link to 'the 40 most powerful social advertisement'. I looked through all of them and I found that they were all really thought provoking - but I wanted to show off my top ten on here. So here's a good one to start of with - Liking Isn't Helping.

Liking Isn't Helping was a campaign created by Publicis, Singapore. The campaign is meant raise awareness for volunteering, and shows that the only way you can truly help is by getting involved with a project rather than 'liking' it on sites like Facebook. 

The use of children making audiences pay more attention as children are more vulnerable and generally need more help that adults. The campaign is also more likely to get attention from using children in their ads, as they are more captivating. The audience will see a child in distress and believe that they can't help themselves, whereas an adult has a little more control over the situation. 

The gruesome imagery is captivates the audience, as it is shocking. If this advertisement was shared on Facebook or Instagram it could be easily missed if the picture had a positive message attached to it. But because the image connotes death and pain it suddenly becomes more interesting, because people want to know what's happening around the world. The black and white effect on the image can also make it stand out from the colourful bright backgrounds and other images on social networking sites. However, I believe Publicis most likely used this colour scheme to show the lifelessness of 'liking' content like this. The message behind the monochrome colour choice suggests that 'liking' the page is almost as bad as ignoring the problem. 

Another concept of this advertisement that really stood out for me was the thumbs ups around the image. If each person only puts up one thumbs up, then that's 9 people stood around that child. That's 9 people who have really done nothing. This aspect made me feel more emotion towards the child, as he isn't being helped, despite having all this attention. On the other hand, the thumbs up are drawing the audience into the central image - which mirrors the effect of social networking, when you like something, your friends can also see that you've liked it. 

I do really love this campaign as I believe it highlights a common problem that we are facing at the moment - de-sensitisation of human race. We are more concerned about new Iphones and the latest celebrity news, but we can easily block out images we aren't interested in, or that may make us feel emotions that aren't particularly pleasant. 

Information found via;

http://www.boredpanda.com/powerful-social-advertisements/

Culture - Annabelle

I am a huge fan of horror movies. I will cry, I will not sleep for the next week, and I may pee a little. But I love watching them. The next one for me to tackle is Annabelle - apparently it is the prequel to the ever popular The Conjuring. A possessed doll, a freaky child and lots of jumpy moments - what more could you ask for?

When looking at the trailer, I didn't notice anything that other horror movies haven't already tried. I must admit it is a hard genre to present in a trailer advertisement. A lot of people may not find selected parts scary enough - however you can't give away too much or else people will be disappointed they went and may warn others of the movie. Even if there was a way of highlighting the good parts without spoiling it, consumers will still complain that it's too scary to be shown on television.

One thing that I noticed when doing some more research on Annabelle the movie, is that it is based on a true story of a doll named Ann. But because the Raggedy Ann doll - seen below - is a child's toy that looks 'so' scary, they had to change the dolls appearance to get more of a reaction with the audience. If the fact that this was a true story been made more prominent in the advertising I believe a lot more people would be interested in the film itself.

 

 

Tomorrow I will be venturing off to the local Odeon and watching the movie myself. I do enjoy watching horror movies, I just hope they haven't shown the best parts within the trailer already. 

 

Visual Language - National Football Museum

Recently I visited the city of Manchester. I'd never been to Manchester but found the trip to be very insightful. Manchester city centre is vibrant and colourful - considering it was an old industrial city. The dark stones of the buildings are either covered in some rather flashy brand or tasteful graffiti work. Perhaps my favourite piece of visual language Manchester has to offer is the typography of the National Football Museum.

Football is a huge part of Manchester itself - both teams, Manchester United and Manchester City being in the Premier League. So the National Football Museum have opted to mirror these large brands - by including large bold text throughout their range. On the building itself is large multi-coloured text with inspired words that relate to the building and it's contents. The multi-coloured approach is nice and I can see that the designer clearly wanted the text to 'pop' out from the glass windows. However it has had the opposite effect, because when you are stood outside the building reading the words, a few of them are unreadable due to the colours used. On the other hand, the simple concept behind the typography gives the building an even more sophisticated look and feel.

The thick bold lines of the text is continued throughout the museum itself and also on their website. This consistency makes the museum look professional and also more visually appealing - which in turn could attract more guests to the museum. As the museum is free to enter, more guests may not affect their profit/loss - however it does have an effect on the surroundings businesses. The footfall brought in from the National Football Museum could help many of the surrounding business on that street and also around Manchester city centre. This support for the businesses around the museum has worked in their favour also, as many businesses are giving sponsorship to the museum in support of their Hall of Fame event.  This shows the effect the National Football Museum has had on local people and how much they appreciate it. It also shows the real community spirit that Manchester city centre has.

 

Information found via;

 

https://bdaily.co.uk/business-in-sport/07-10-2014/companies-display-team-spirit-to-support-national-football-museums-key-event/