Early Coca Cola vs. Recent Coca Cola

Circa 1890s "Drink Coca Cola 5 cents" 

This ad features a famous actress from the era named Hilda Clark.

 This ad fascinates me because it is so hard to believe that this is the same Coke being advertised as today. It is also interesting to look at how Coca Cola was using celebrity endorsers even in the 1890s! Aside from the Joe Green ad, Coke does not seem to use very many celebrities in their current advertising, that is really more of a Pepsi thing.

1938 "Thirst Asks Nothing More" D'Arcy Agency

1955 "There's Nothing Like a Coca Cola" McCann Erickson, New York

This commercial is so funny. I cannot believe how long it is for one, and also advertising back then was so plain and simple. The spokesman here talks to the audience as if they are truly stupid. 

1959 "Be Really Refreshed" McCann Erickson, New York

1975 "Look for the Real Things" McCann Erickson, New York

This ad is one of my favorites! Its all about being united, feeling happy and loving others--just like the Coke ads today, you feel happy after seeing how happy these people from this commercial are while drinking Coke. 

1982 "Coke Is It!" McCann Erickson New York

1993 "Always Coca-Cola" Creative Artists Agency

I love the "Always" campaign, once again, more ads that make you feel happy from Coke. 

2007 "Video Game" W + K Portland

Old De Beers vs. New De Beers

OLD

1993, J. Walter Thomspon

1999 "Diamond Solitaire" J. Walter Thompson Company

I just love both of these ads. They are so classic and say just enough, without saying too much. The silhouette is something that many ad's have tried to copy-- I think the black and white definitely adds to the romance of them as well. The ad is trying to say that diamonds are classic, they will never go out of style. The B & W is also classic and helps to connect the meaning of "A Diamond is Forever". 

NEW

2001 "Theatre" J. Walter Thompson

 

2001 "Tree" J. Walter Thomson
 

These more recent TV spots are far different from the first 2 old ones. They tell romantic stories, yes, however, I just don't like them as much as the classic ads. Where the stories are very sweet, they are almost too much. They are almost too corny for me to watch, and I am not anti-romance, I love a good romantic comedy. 

"Eve" 2005, Les Ouvriers du Paradis United, Paris
This print ad was one of a series of many. It is so different from the other De Beers ads that we see, especially the print ads which are mostly black and white. It was done by Les Ourvriers du Paradis, which is an ad agency out of Paris. I like how the work is different from the ads done by JWT, however, this ad definitely looks more like your typical jewelry ad or the typical jeweler's ad. I think this might be one of those cases where you shouldn't fix what isn't broken. Nonetheless, the ads of this campaign are pretty, just not classics. 

Super Bowl Ads

My Faves:

Bud Light "Meeting", DDB Chicago

I liked this commercial. It may not have been the most creative but it made me laugh a lot more than the some of the other ones. It was not the typical beer commercial macho man humor either, which is one of the things I really liked about it. DDB Chicago had some really funny ads this year, especially the Conan one with the Euro music, and with exception to the Bud Light Lime "sphere of summer" which just didn't have much business being a Superbowl ad. I am also not a huge fan of the Clydesdale commercials for Budweiser, but maybe some people are since they have been airing them for so long.

Cars.com "David Abernathy", DDB Chicago

This was a very interesting approach for cars.com. I didn't feel like they were trying to sell you something, just tell you a story. The selling part is subtle, which I like because it ties into their slogan so nicely " confidence comes standard".

Bud Light "Conan O'Brien" DDB, Chicago



I personally love Conan O'Brien so I think that this ad is hilarious. Again, DDB did a good job this superbowl!

The best overall ad in my opinion was the "Hang in there Jack" ad. I just think it was an ingenious campaign, that is still going on. It is like a soap opera and the amount of free advertising they are receiving is huge! I love the concept.

Can't Believe These Aired During the Superbowl:

Cash4Gold.com Agency: Euro RSCG Edge

Is this ad for serious? I seriously cannot figure out if they were purposely trying to make this commercial so terrible just so people would remember it. Maybe, because this ad was on lists for being most-memorable. http://adage.com/article?article_id=134300... Even though this ad may have been memorable I don't think it is worth the embarrassment.

Castrol "Grease Monkeys", Ogilvy and Mather New York-
I thought that this ad was almost trying to emulate a beer commercial. Obviously, it is not trying to appeal to 20 year old college females, however, I do not think it is trying to repulse them either. I feel bad for whoever had to be apart of the production of this ad.


GoDaddy.com "Baseball", In-house

Apparently, GoDaddy was dropped as a client from their old agency in Madison, WI. It is not hard to imagine after seeing these tasteless, humorless, ads that they created on their own. Not only are the offensive, they are just downright stupid.

Advertising as Art

#1 Honda Accord "Cog", Wieden & Kennedy, London

Besides from the obvious awesomeness of the way that this machine works, I believe that the ad itself is an example of advertising as art for a variety of reasons. For one, the machine flows beautifully, the viewer feels as if they are gliding right along with each part of the "cog". Each sound the "cog" projects is just as audibly appealing as the process is visually intriguing--you just want to keep watching in awe. Secondly, this ad is an example of the art of communication. As popular as this ad is, as many people and not just the ones studying advertising have seen it, it was never released through traditional media outlets. It is the product of viral advertising, nonetheless, it is extremely effective in my opinion.

#2 Coca Cola "Happiness Factory" Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam
This commercial is just so well-done. It engages you as a viewer and is just so thoughtfully creative. It reminds of what a little kid would imagine going on inside of a vending machine. It is wistful and leaves you feeling happy because of the paranormal universe that Coke has created.

#3 Amnesty International "Ink" TBWA/Paris
The message and execution of this ad are beautiful. Not only is it deep, it is moving. I think that TBWA does a great job dealing with the serious, and possibly uncomfortable topic of human rights. This ad, however, it the opposite of "hard to watch advertising".

#4 Adidas "The Impossible Huddle" TBWA/Germany

 

If this is not art I do not know what is. This piece of non-traditional advertising, done by TBWA/Germany was put inside of a train station just before UEFA Euro 2008 (equivalent to the Olympics of soccer). It is 56 ft tall and each figure is supposed to be a famous soccer player! It is called "Impossible Huddle" because each of the players are all-stars and are all from different countries. I think that this is one of the coolest piece of non-traditional advertising I have ever seen! TBWA/Germany also did another piece for Adidas called "The impossible Goalkeeper" which is also pretty incredible.