Commentary

Baby Stolen From Mom In Ad Prank

What could the agency world possibly do to top its latest fad, prankvertising? ExFEARiential advertising, of course. Check out this latest bit of whit (http://youtu.be/4sxAOkAguqc) from john st. which takes prankvertising to new heights. All to tout the agency's new "unescapable" positioning. I guarantee you will laugh. And maybe cry: They actually steal (momentarily) one mom’s baby in a park. Bless their creative little hearts, which I would want to cut out of their bodies if they pulled that prank on me.

Not every agency can line the wall of their lobby with Cannes Lions, Pencils, Clios and other heavy metal objects representing creative success. Of course, that doesn't make an agency un-creative. It simply means the necessary confluence of events never presented themselves. But what's an agency without a boatload of awards to do when, it seems, so many other agencies out there have their walls lined? Well, if you're Canadian agency Rethink, you hop right on that latest trend and you create your own statues of success. The agency printed over 800 Lions, Pencils and other awards not so much because they needed them to line their walls, rather to incorporate into a humorous spoof video for a local award show while, at the same time, slamming the obsession agencies have with the latest and greatest trend du jour. They even invented an award: the Publicis-Omnicon Agency of the Year Award.

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So what's the first thing that pops into your mind when an ad agency named Whyness Worldwide pitches you and then asks for the business? I don't know about you but I'd ask, "Why?" This, when you think about it, is exactly the response any agency would like to hear because it gives them a chance to prattle on for yet another hour on why they are so awesome and why you should hire them. So while naming your agency Whyness Worldwide might, at first, sound quite stupid, it's actually quite brilliant. Besides, we already have a Ridiculously Named Agency of the Day…The & Partnership. (Click link in the following item).

If we didn't read this headline correctly we'd think we were reading something about getting horny for Hepburn. What headline are we talking about? A recent headline from the London Evening Standard which read, "Hornby and Halpern Team Up For An Agency With Everything."

Whoa there Sparky, who are you calling ignorant? Writing in Advertising Age, Al Ries unleashes a torrent of whoop-ass on Chevrolet and every other brand that thinks agencies should keep their fingers out of the positioning pie. He argues that despite the ongoing upheaval in the ad agency world, agencies are here to stay. Why? Because they are ignorant. Say what? Yes, ignorant but ignorant in the most positive sense because ignorance allows for objectivity, the very thing an agency brings to the table and a brand can't because they are too close to their brand to possess any form of usable objectivity. And that's what results in brands forcing silly platitudes on agencies which result in stupid taglines like, "Chevy Runs Deep."

Oh and what has big data really given the ad agency world? The fact that advertising professionals drink nine times as much bourbon as the average person and watch 1.7 times more porn than the average person.

 

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