Creativity Bites Back!

The Smart Way to Travel

2013-03-17T11:54:00.001-04:00

Cute campaign for the "smart way to travel". Three short stories; the product -disclosed in the last one-, surprised me. I am not sure it is actually true when it comes to humans but the idea is good, was very well produced and reinforces the slogan. Here another short on the same line: Nicely done by Duval Guillaume Brussels for the De Lijn brand; animation by Creative Conspiracy

Tell me what you are buying...

2013-01-01T15:36:00.001-05:00

...and I will help you with cooking ideas! This is a great idea from Hellmann's Brazil (Ogilvy). The brand teamed up with supermarket chain St Marche to install special software in 100 of its cash registers. The software recognizes when consumers are buying Hellmann's and also clocks any other item they are buying to came up with recipes that combined several of those ingredients, printing them

Romney, Ryan, Russia, France and a very expensive ride

2012-09-12T01:07:00.000-04:00

As someone that worked in advertising for almost 15 years, I am picky like hell when it comes to logos. Not picky as clients normally are ("can you make the logo bigger?") but picky in the sense that I want a logo to be simple and yet I want it to be original and I want it to "tell a story" if that's possible. Since this election started there was something that was bothering the hell out of

Strike Against Censorship

2012-01-18T00:35:00.001-05:00

For any Hispanic like me it is difficult to take seriously a law called "SOPA" (in Spanish means "Soup") but truth be told, I take it seriously. So, I may have not updated my blog in almost a year but I am joining the strike. Learn more about the strike at: http://sopastrike.com/strike/ And inform yourself about SOPA, here: http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa

For Father's Day, the Best Tribute

2011-06-18T11:21:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I received an unexpected email from the director of the unforgettable "Stop Sign" that I posted before, telling me that he has a different video to share with everyone. It is really something different, totally different and awesome. He wrote because he wanted to share "this really special music video project/experiment I directed and literally just finished last night (...) The video's

The Best Beer Ad (for beer drinkers)

2011-05-10T22:48:00.002-04:00

This ad shows how to give a good use to their ad.Simple great idea.

Blog Action Day: Global Warming

2009-10-15T00:00:00.001-04:00

Today is BAD. Not a bad day but Blog Action Day and the topic for this year is global warming.As always I will "talk" about it with an ad, this time one from Brazil. It is a more or less recent campaign (aired in January this year) that uses a very simple analogy to help us perceive what some others are feeling already, thanks to global warming.The agency behind the commercial is Ponto de Criação

Universal Health Care for Dummies

2009-09-16T21:18:00.008-04:00

Those that know me, know perfectly well where I stand in this so call "debate" on universal healthcare. Even if you don't know me personally but you read my blog, you probably know where I stand, but so far, I kept my mouth shut (or better said my fingers quiet) and didn't talk about the issue in my blog for two main reasons:a) I didn't see real debate happening, what the media was showing as "

A Campaign With an Edge

2009-09-13T19:31:00.005-04:00

From Singapur (Singapore), probably the most clever campaign I have ever seen for a product like Play Doh. And the cutest one, in a "Tim Burton" sort of way.These ads talk to parents directly, reminding them -at the same time- about the thousand of possible things you can make with the product but, even more important, it also reminds them about how safe it is to play with it.According to my

On Parents and Education

2009-09-07T23:54:00.008-04:00

I can't help but laugh at the "controversy" about the President giving a speech to students about the importance of education on their first day at school. Parents that are complaining about "indoctrination" clearly have no idea what that words means (no surprise there).You can read Obama's speech here, there is nothing in there that even gets near to political propaganda.I guess that those

Pepsi Adopts a New (& Old) Name

2009-09-02T20:39:00.003-04:00

This campaign for Pepsi Argentina, makes the most of something that -normally- brands hate: having their name mispronounced. Making a long story short, since I was a kid Pepsi was a name that some people just couldn't get it right, and Pepsi was for them "Pecsi" or "Pesi".In this new campaign, Pepsi cleverly adopts this other name and even praises those that say Pecsi. The ads are all very short

I'm Back!!

2009-09-02T02:07:00.005-04:00

Well, at least one of my computers is back! Yeap, my two computers decided to die almost at the same time and I was left with my small old laptop, that may be great to travel but it is NOT what you want to blog and be a social twitter. But finally, thanks to my beloved and skillful other half, one of my computers played the rol of Lazarus and came back to life. This does not mean that I will post

Any Similarity With Real Events...

2009-08-18T00:53:00.008-04:00

Sometimes an ad gets extra attention not for its creativity but for the events surrounding its production. This case though, is receiving some press for what happened after it was aired.As you can see by yourself, this commercial for the UK's Department of Health is not really creative. Yeah, it has a somewhat 'clever' use of words but it is kind of obvious, and for my taste a little too

The Hottest Sunglasses on Earth (and the Designer Behind Them)

2009-08-03T20:54:00.023-04:00

For some people sunglasses are just a fashion accessory. An important one, because it is "in your face" -literally-, but still, just one accessory more in the list.For some other people, like me, sunglasses are a need: I am slightly photo phobic and I live in sunny South Florida, capisce?For that sole reason, I have probably around 20 pairs of sunglasses. I need to have always at least one in

The Moon Landing: A Friendly Reminder

2009-07-20T23:32:00.002-04:00

The day the man arrived to the moon is a very special day in my native country, Argentina: ror us, it is Friend's Day.An Argentine teacher, musician, and dentist, Enrique Febbraro, lobbied to turn the anniversary of the first moon landing into an international day of friendship. He argued that on this particular day, the whole world had been friends of the three astronauts. From my point of view

Intel & Cisco, Branding the Invisible

2009-07-13T07:18:00.000-04:00

Not so long ago (well, maybe 30 or 40 years) we already have a differentiation between products and services and when it came to advertising the difference was -basically-, that you could "touch" the former but you could just "experience" the latter. Coca-Cola, Toyota or Tupperware were clearly products, that you could touch, feel, taste. Thirty years ago, services were things like American

This Dog is Not Dead (Yet)

2009-07-06T00:45:00.007-04:00

At least here in the US, the "news" are still babbling about Michael Jackson's death. Not that is not a small tragedy, considering he was relatively young with 3 kids and with a possible big comeback in the very near future, but sometimes it seems like that is the only thing they can talk about. Anyway. June has been kind of a tragic month when it comes to public figures, specially for someone

The French Transformer Mac

2009-06-24T23:32:00.007-04:00

This is not a commercial for Mac even when it could be one, specially considering the fact that Mac has always positioned itself as a "younger" brand compared to PCs. Nevertheless if you understand French (no need to, to enjoy the clip) you will notice that this is not about computer brands but something made to promote the online services of the French postal service (like the french USPS). Kind

On Father's Day - A Personal Note

2009-06-21T11:36:00.014-04:00

Those that really know me, know that I can talk, and talk, and then talk some more when it comes to my father. We always have a close relationship and in more than one way, he made me who I am (responsibility and guilt shared with my mom, of course).And who am I? Well... I have a -more or less- "normal life" but I finally made peace with the fact than I am "an unusual" person. Unusual is the best

A Book That Goes Beyond Its Pages

2009-06-15T22:45:00.003-04:00

Last week I started a new job and it has been, so far, an exhausting experience, with his pros and cons (more on that later). The very interesting part though, is that on my very first day there was a little celebration at the company because one of the guys that works for the firm just published a novel. During the toast, the author, J.C. Hutchins, explained why his novel wasn't a typical one.

It's Friday, Consider Body Painting!

2009-06-05T14:16:00.001-04:00

Yeah, well, I know, body painting is not for everyone..., but it is in fact a form of art that can be used also in advertising. As a sample, check this TV commercial for New Zealand Airlines. At first glance this ad may not look so atypical, until you pay attention to the men and women "in uniform"... yeap, it is body paint. Some may think that going almost nude is a bold move but -let's face it

Lost in Translation - Japanese, Real Japanese

2009-05-27T05:30:00.000-04:00

I am not sure if there is the same expression in English (I guess so) but in Spanish when something is very confusing or difficult to understand we say "It's like Japanese to me".A friend of mine just sent me this picture that she took near a temple in Japan:Now, this English translation really looks like Japanese to me!"...see the thing with the chief does not have after finishing drink"? uh?If

You Think Your Job Is a Nightmare?

2009-05-21T19:39:00.004-04:00

I worked for a job board in the US for almost 5 years. Before that, I worked for almost two years as a consultant for another job board in Latin America. So I have seen my share of ads for job boards, almost from everywhere in the world. This one, however, is by far the best one I have ever seen. It doesn't surprise me that it comes from Brazil. Creative and related to the product, it surely

Visible Tweets, the Slow Motion Movie

2009-05-19T00:48:00.008-04:00

Yesterday I came across "Visible Tweets" and I fell in love instantly. Apparently it was conceived as "a Twitter visualiser for rock concerts" but it is in fact a great way also to display those short messages on big screens anywhere.If you are looking for a quick answer this is not for you, but if you actually enjoy the idea of seeing "tweets" like some kind of slow motion movie you have to try

Obama, The Food Critic

2009-05-14T02:06:00.015-04:00

Lately a lot has been said about Obama and his relationship with food. Some right wing commentators -that apparently feel it's their duty to criticize everything that the guy does or says- have been bashing the President for ordering his burger with Dijon mustard instead of ketchup: "What kind of man orders a cheeseburger without ketchup but Dijon mustard?" (sic, Laura Ingraham, and she was not