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/