By Stuart Smith on December 1, 2012
I’m deeply indebted to the international Epica creative advertising awards – on which I served as a juror – for giving me nightmares. Every year, the awards betray certain cultural themes – performing dogs, hyper-animated babies, whatever – that have successfully invaded the collective unconscious of the creative community. This year, alas, it is Zombie [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Creative, News | Tagged epica awards, heart and stroke foundation of canada, norway, shaun of the dead, video game, xxl, zombies, zombiu
By Stephen Foster on November 30, 2012
*The Leveson Inquiry into UK media ethics (or the lack of them) duly reported and proposed a very sensible system of, essentially, self regulation for the UK’s rumbustious national press, with a legal framework preventing the bastards from just ignoring the rules and doing what they always have done. All perfectly sensible – so off [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Creative, Media, News, Politics | Tagged Andy Coulson, cannes, David Cameroon, draftfcb, finland, leveson inquiry, mondelez, norway, oreo, Rebekah Brooks, rolling stones, vikings, wieden+kennedy
By Stephen Foster on November 30, 2012
Aris Theophilakis, creative director of Futatsu Industries in Oslo (they sound a pretty cosmopolitan lot over there) has sent me this rather wonderful film for OBOS, Norway’s biggest building society. OBOS majors on building and selling affordable homes (we could do with one of those in the UK) and chose to make its case by [...]
Posted in News | Tagged affordable housing, Aris Theophilakis, building society, futatsu industries, italian men, mammones, norway, obos
By Angie Dean on November 29, 2012
Talking of Scandinavia (which we were, Norway anyway) ambitious network M&C Saatchi Worldwide is opening an office in Sweden, its 27th around the world. The new agency will be headed by CEO Bjarte Eide (far right) with co-creative directors Martin Cedergen and Patrick Dry and strategy boss Klara Eide (boss Moray MacLennan is in the [...]
Posted in Agencies, Creative, Finance, News | Tagged Bjarte Eide, m&c saatchi worldwide, Moray MacLennan, norway, scandinavia, stockholm, sweden
By Stephen Foster on November 29, 2012
This Norwegian ad from XXL sports gear has been pulled from prime-time TV because it’s too scary. Actually the zombies are quite scary, not to mention the big fat bloke with the fishing rod. It’s a bit like Shaun of the Dead meets Gladiator. My friend George Parker thinks this is a wimpy decision but [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Creative, News | Tagged ad ban, norway, sports gear, xxl tv ad, zombies
By Staff on February 9, 2011
We’ve complained here before about the miserabilist tone of much charity advertising. There’s, like, nothing positive in them or even, dare one say it, fun. Many readers think we’re mad of course (probably rightly). This is more like it, from Norway for a charity for the blind. We also accept that these creative treatments don’t [...]
Posted in Clients, Creative | Tagged charity ads, charity for the blind ad, miserable, norway
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