ANNA CARPEN
Executive creative director, 18 Feet & Rising
The FIAT ad stuck in my head not because of the cute baby, but the evil stork. Storks are known for compassion and kindness, yet we see it commit a dastardly act. The stork can’t just STEAL the baby and give it to the people across the road. That’s not how storks work. What about the original couple who have been patiently waiting for their bundle of joy? The mean stork just hands it over to Linda and Brian across the road after spotting their new Fiat! A Bentley, I could understand. But a Fiat? On the plus side, the stork’s antics are nicely animated. They Long to be Close to You is a safe choice of song that we’ve all heard a million times. Besides, when birds do suddenly appear near your car, they proceed to use the windshield as a canvas for a
Jackson Pollock painting.
VOLKSWAGEN shows how to do a great car ad. Entertaining. Insightful. And focusing in on a key product point.
VAUXHALL . As advertising practitioners, we are supposed to have our fingers on the pulse of the nation. Culture vultures. We know what’s happening before it’s even trending. Before it’s a meme. Before Trump’s tiny fingers have had a chance to tweet about it. So last year, when a story appeared in the
Daily Mail about Pyjama Mum, she was bound to resurface. I just didn’t see it happening in the form of a Vauxhall car ad.
The thing that doesn’t match up here is that original Pyjama Mum didn’t bust out her finest silk two-piece from Marks & Spencer. No, she was dressed in some old creased pyjamas with Uggs and a parka. The opening shot of the Vauxhall ad shows us a Pyjama Mum with a fresh face of make-up. Eyebrows perfectly preened. Contouring and highlights make her look ready for a dinner date. If you have time to do your face before the school run, you absolutely have time to change out of your nightwear. Although the ad is trying to be humorous, the real story behind Pyjama Mum isn’t funny, it’s familiar. Especially to households across the UK. Pyjama Mum lives in Darlington – a town with 2.7% employment rate. When you’re juggling kids and keeping your job, it might be a case of an emergency school run in pyjamas. I’m not sure the majority of Pyjama Mums would buy into the “isn’t life brilliant” brand positioning right now.
We should be more in tune with people at home. It’s not just about what’s funny on Facebook. I admire the comedy ambition here but do we really need any more parody, epic, over-the-top voiceover ads? We sure don’t need a voicover to patronisingly speak the words: “Keep rocking those pyjamas, mommas.”
Some powerful truths unearthed in this campaign for PRIDE IN LONDON. The idea of apologies is better than the execution, which feels familiar.
HIVE. This. Ad. Is. BORING. Please, please, no more ads about moments and enjoying moments and living in the moment and hashtagging moments. Besides, shouldn’t it be the baby picking up the phone and turning the lights off? Kids these days are pretty much born with the ability to use an iphone, right?