Posts tagged social media

Sometimes, an advertising campaign comes along that is so clever and so well executed, that I just can’t get it out of my head. Who am I kidding, “sometimes” – this happens like, every week… ’tis my cross to bear for being an Ad blog junkie, I suppose.

Anyhoo, one of my favourite brands (in terms of creative marketing, that is – I’m not a huge fan of their overpriced Guido threads), has gone and done WOWED me again with a campaign so smart, it’s downright stupid.

Greatest line = “It’s not smart to take risks – it’s stupid. Stupid knows there are worse things than failure. like not even trying.” Big ups for the typographic love!

Reviews in the Ad world have been mixed, but in this blogging-university-student-nobody’s opinion, Diesel’s silly celebration of stupidity is simply superb! (#alliterationaddictsanonymous)

The Italian clothing company has been known to push the envelope in the past. Anybody remember their fabulously controversial 2007 ‘Global Warming Ready‘ campaign?

Some are calling the ‘Stupid’ campaign controversial as well, but I don’t see how it could be by any stretch. It’s a little hypersexual maybe, but you’d think that people would be used to soft core smut in the fashion world by now. I love the concept, the design, and the brilllllliant execution of this entire campaign. It’s cute and quirky; absent of those notorious ‘bored supermodel pouting about how much it sucks to get paid thousands of dollars to fly around the world and stand around getting your photo taken in gorgeous clothing’ shots. The ads are still rife with Brazillian-bombshell types, of course – they just happen to be having fun in these photos, instead of nonchalantly glancing around like “is it time for a cocaine coffee break yet”?

Kudos to Anomoly UK for a solid job well done. Regardez… mon favorites:

Check out all of the print ads @ YVY – it’s worth the 4 minutes of your time, trust.

I think that I’m drawn towards these ads because they sort of speak to this prevailing ideology that seems to surround the creative industry as a whole. I read a great little editorial in my campus newspaper the other day that laid out the problem pretty well – this line, in particular, inspired me to let out a “HOLLAH!” mid work-out that made the kid on the treadmill beside me look over like “um, wtf Blondie?” ->

It’s part of a sad trend in the design world where creative work is seen as both easy and worthless.”

HOLLAH 2.0!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked to “whip together a simple website” for a friend or to “write up a quick article” for an employer in a matter of hours. It seems as if people outside the creative industries view the work we do as fluffity fun. And it IS fun, sure – I can guarantee that every creative director, copy writer, graphic artist, photographer and editor had a blast creating that Diesel campaign.

I can also guarantee that they worked many a 16-hour day, lost sleep over the pressure of seemingly impossible deadlines and client expectations, and surrendered thousands of great ideas to the cutting room floor. It’s no easier a task to kill your babies than it is to conceive them, believe me.

The world that I’ve been pouring myself into over the past year since I started J-School seems to really hold fast to that “smart is right, stupid is wrong” notion that Diesel not-so-discreetly pokes fun at.

I’ve learned that there’s room for creativity in the news industry – as long as it’s tightly contained within a specific set of boundaries laid out by the higher-ups (many of whom just happen to be UBER SMART close minded dinosaurs that have steered the industry towards financial ruin um… gentlemen.

This is not what I expected when I decided to pursue a masters degree in journalism, but I’m nonetheless glad that I did come to J-School and wouldn’t change that decision for the world. The skills I’m taking away from this program are invaluable, and maybe I did need to smarten up my stupidity just a touch – but I’ll never let them beat it out of me completely.

If ‘stupid’ means getting a B on an assignment because I happen to throw an offbeat (but delightfully poignant) limerick into the middle of a feature story that doesn’t follow CP Guidelines, so be it.

My stupid ideas have taken me a lot further this year than I ever thought was possible.

I’m not a robot (yet) and I don’t think that journalists should be. I may never work for The Globe and Mail, but gaaaahdangit, I’m going to have FUN wherever I am and I’m going to make the media, my way.

Maybe I’ll end up at an advertising agency or doing public relations or blogging for an iconic music television station (fingers crossed!) – with any luck, I’ll be hosting my own daily siamese-cat-themed talk show on the WB next year (Tyra’s slot is up for grabs, righ’?) – but I could just as well end up in a newsroom upon graduation, working under a director who GETS IT and creating content that makes people take notice – because you can’t deliver a message unless you grab the audience’s attention first.

As “stupid” as creative work may seem to those in other fields, and as “stupid” as a lot of my ideas may seem to those in my current field (okay, I admit that my story pitch about chasing hookers in East London with a microphone was a little bit on the stupid side), I’d rather do something stupid than something safe.

My name is Lauren O’Neil, and I’m proud to be 100% stark raving stupid – because smart may have the brains…

Nizzzzle, OUT!
<3

(via brandflakesforbreakfast)