Adverts that use surrealist techniques

published: Feb 8, 2010   Updated: Aug 10 2011
References: model-max and viacomit.net

An example of a surrealist technique used in advert that i found particularly interesting was the Spring and Summer 2010 fashion collection created by Marithe and Francois Girbaud, the title of the campaign is "This is a Crazy World". The print ads feature models upside down seemingly in a frozen state, the background setting is visually incredible and this bold statement of suspension keep your eye keenly on the clothes. The duo are known for creating adverts that challenge the public, the visuals are both surreal and questioning to the viewer as they question the reality they are staring into. The creative genius behind the campaign is creative director Pascal Gregoire, with the impressive photography by Steve Hiett. The ad included art direction and copywriting from Pierre Dupaqueir and Clement Durou. I feel this is one of the most challenging and interesting advert i have ever come across, i feel the cool surealist effect is a refreshing way to advertise clothing and think it works really well with the competing imagery to stand out. The brand itself develops a reputable personality and attracts unique audiences not only interested in the clothes but in the art work this campaign includes, as i would consider these adverts somewhat works of art. 

 

Art and Copy - Doug Pray (2009)

My response to the Art and Copy video was that i particularly like the quote used to describe is by the Hollywood reporter, "like a good ad, Art and Copy bounds along and never bores". I love the meaning of this quote and find it inspiring to create fresh ideas that keep the industry interesting. I also enjoyed how Prey compared creatives to what cavemen used to do, he told how they used to paint images on the wall reflecting stories of important events in their lives. This was a form of advertising as they used storytelling to communicate their lives for people and engage a response, its this original media that has lasted and allowed us of the future to understand how their way of life was back then. 


I think the videos overall message of the video allows you to understand that all creatives and very different yet much alike. By giving a detailed analysis of the history of advertising you learn about what it takes to create a campaign from the people who create the ideas to the people who create and the people who put them up. The idea of "communication" being the most important factor i believe is true, you want to connect with your audience so your ad need to be relatable to them to engage some sort of emotional response, an example when you are poorly when your young  and your mum feeds you soup, when you see a soup advert and a mum is giving it to a child, you  would connect this with your childhood giving the audience a warm familiar feeling which will entice them into buying that product. It is also important as a campaign requires a lot of people from different departments to make a campaign a success, therefore you must communicate with all these people to stay in control and guarantee that the campaign is developing like how you as a creative envisioned. 

Chosen brand Advert Analysis

My brand is Pot Noodle,  an advert in particular that shows how 'meaning is created' is the  mining advert created with the end line "Fuel of Britain'. This reason this advert is so successful is because the product itself is manufactured in Wales where mining was a common site in the past.  The advert revolves around a group of minors, digging for Pot Noodle underground, they sing a welsh song with the words pot noodle often being repeated in a high pitched tone. The work seems tough and resembles the conditions of a real miners life. The meaning of the advert was to demonstrate where the product was originally manufactured in the welsh landscape. It is a clever advert that uses an interesting method to demonstrate the origin of its product.  It is justified from the history of the welsh landscapes. The end-line "fuel of Britain" gives meaning to the product as mining usually lead to oil which is what runs cars and electricity, so by twisting this mining tradition onto pot noodle, people automatically link the idea of mining with the idea of fuel, so therefore gives meaning to the product and its end line. 

Context of Practise Brand

ABSOLUT VODKA

The brand i have chosen for my Context of Practise brief is ABSOLUT VODKA. I have chosen this because i find the brand interesting and quite urban which is a style i particularly like. I also watched a couple of videos made on the brands website and find their latest experiment of making every single bottle of vodka unique quite inspiring and different. It gives a sense of individuality to the bottle and therefore some personalisation and loyalty to the customer. It is these qualities i particular like as it gives the brand a purpose and morals. It is also the UK's number one premium vodka and has collaborated with artists such as Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst which gives the brand a stylist fashionable vibe which also appeals to me. Also another reason in me liking this brand is as i am a student i feel i amongst the target audience of the brand as i often drink ABSOLUT on a night out so there is a further connection there between me and the brand. 

Jelly Belly

When researching my product further i stumbled across the latest alcohol advertising restriction guidelines and found that there was too many restrictions, that i would of wanted to explore. By choosing this brand i realise now it would be allot harder than first anticipated so i am now changing my chosen brand to 'Jelly Belly'. 'Jelly Belly' was first established in 1976, its is a solid sweet that uses a unique recipe of only using 'really real' flavours, it was developed for a 'sophisticated palate' which focusses on creating an intensely juicy experience. The product takes up to 21 days to create and is eye catching and appealing due to the bright and dynamic selection o colours the jelly beans come in. There are 90 authentic flavours which use natural ingredients and fruit juices such as chocolate and coconut, when possible purees is also another ingredient used for the creation of the bean. the target to 'create an almost infinite number of taste experiences'. 

The latest Advertising campaign for the brand is currently introducing a opportunity for people to create their own jelly bean flavour, this is a fun exiting opportunity and creates a sense of brand loyalty to its customers, as the company is reaching out and establishing what their target audience wants. The brand end line for the company is 'The Original Gourmet Jelly Bean', this can be found at the bottom of the page on all the pages on the official Jelly Belly website. I find this end line suggests a quality to the product as it uses the word 'Gourmet', it also has a slightly competitive attitude that suggests hierarchy so by using the word 'Original' it promotes the brand as slightly elitist. I also like the vintage feel of the logo, i get this from the old fashioned typography which is classed as 'post modernist' and was popular font in the 70's for advertisements. This style also gives a sense of loyalty to the product itself as they show they are proud of their roots by using the font form the 70's but evolving in brand and product. I also like the shape of using a jelly bean, the colours are of a rich quality which emphasises my point of 'elitist'.  

Rene Margritte

Rene Margritte Seminar

In a seminar with my tutor Janine we reflected on the artist Rene Margritte and his response an influence to the period of time he grew up in. Ive chosen to create a short blog on my notes that i took during the seminar to use as a refletive piece in the future. Margritte was born in 1898 and died in 1967, he worked as a Belgian surrealist artist, where his humorous and thought provoking images became internationally well known, largely due to their surrealism . The time when Margritte was at his most influential was when the world was in a ordered, controlled and industrialised place, modernism can also be linked to this time period. It was these qualities that made Margritte's work seem so inspired as he challenged observers preconceived rationalities with reality. Margritte did this by using a touch of psychology and creative techniques, he would also use linguistics allot in his artwork but with a twist so they would became questioning to a viewer. One quote i found particularly fascinating  was "Margritte's practise has become part of a common visual consciousness, resonating beyond art and advertising"", this intrigued me as when we delved deeper into what Margritte did this summary of his practise is true in many ways as people have become very questioning of themselves and of the society they live in. The topical reasons as to why us creative advertisers look into Artists such as Margritte and also Freud is because they took societies that were obsessed with rationality and explored irrational methods which confused and encouraged people to start to question. It is these same methods that us advertisers require to become inspired to create dynamic and interesting adverts that audiences feel connected and inspired by much like Rene Margritte.

Myths In Advertising

Myths in Advertising

 

The first advert I am looking at is the “Red Bull gives you wings” campaign. This is probably one of the most famous adverts produced that uses mythology in the campaign. The advert and tagline has become an international success, showing in countries like New Zealand and America. Redbull has become the worlds most popular energy drink selling 4.6billion cans in 2011, this could be considered due to the global success of the “gives you wings” campaign, which was released in 2010 and continues to air and develop. The adverts have developed from beginning as hand drawn sketches that were simple and portrayed simple and humorous stories. They now use real people and effects. Personally I rather the simpler, earlier advert designs as the sketches and style could be easily recognised as being ‘Redbull’.

 Another brand influenced by mythology is the company Nike, they actually got their name from the Greek goddess ‘Nike’ whose title was the ‘Greek Goddess Of Victory’.  I feel this is a clever strategy as it links to the brand, as the idea of victory is often associated with playing a game that results in a winner. The brand Nike is a multinational corporation that designs, develops and markets the selling of footwear, clothing and equipment, it is used by most high profile athletes and recently was the chosen brand for the Olympics. This is a further link to the brand name as the Olympics were first founded in Greece, which the name is founded from. 

Aston Martin Challenge

Aston Martin Campaign

In our two hour session we were each given a handout and split into groups of 4-5 people. The handout consisted of information explaining the introduction of Aston Martins into Mumbai, India. Our task was to read the article and find key facts that could be used to come up with a new end line and advert for the new campaign. The article explains that super-cars are becoming the much sought after accessory for "India's flashy mew rich", Mumbai is considered a playground for all successful people wanting "to announce they've arrived", therefore there is "as yet no brand loyalty".

The challenges faced when  trying to advertise to the Mumbai market is that "the roads are atrocious", thus "super cars end up clocking very little millage" another issue is the competition with other "hallowed brands such as Bugatti and Lamborghini". However Aston Martin is confident of their brand with a guaranteed 30 sold and demand "for at least 20 more". Our first plan of action was to fully understand our target market so we decided to enquire Aston Martin's website to find out their core values, we found the words Heritage, Craftsmanship, Beauty, Soul and Power were emphasised when describing the brand.

From these words we began mixing words to come up with options for the end line some examples being…

• Power and Control over your soul
• Because luxury Matters
• Martin …. Aston Martin  ( we were influenced by James Bond famous line as Aston Martin were used in the latest film, the article also mentions Bond throughout so this seems to appeal to the Mumbai market)
• Always have an escape plan (a quote from the article inspired by Bond)
• Crafted for Speed
• Status isn't cheap
• Status doesn't come at a small price
• Luxury Guaranteed 
• Awaken
• Take control
• Worth the wait

Out of all the examples we brainstormed we particularly liked "Worth the Wait" we felt that it was really appropriate to the Mumbai audience and was layered with alternate meanings. The first "Worth the Wait" literally meaning worth the wait as the cars are yet to be dispatched and can only be pre-ordered, so when buyers eventually get their Aston it will have been "Worth the Wait". Another meaning is taking the negative point of the Mumbai traffic and spinning it on its head, as a fact pointed out in the article that most drivers "head for the expressway outside the city to get a fraction of the thrill" the phrase "Worth the Wait" describes the experience of the city's gridlocked traffic to only escape the city to really experience the power of the Aston Martin. The final meaning focusses more on gaining brand loyalty as by customers committing to buying the Aston Martin's now they are then forced to wait for the car, the end line "Worth the Wait" is targeted to them in an argument that they will be satisfied they have waited and that patience of waiting is supporting the brand loyally.

Now we had a strong end line the next task was to come up with an advert idea, as the target audience is so evidently male dominated we decided to focus the advert around a successful male character. Our idea…

It begins with the sun setting, a man sat in an Aston Martin windows up, the only sound being the air conditioning and a quiet ongoing music, he's wearing an expensive suit and dark tinted sunglasses. The setting in the hot bustling busy streets of mumbai where the traffics at a standstill. He then leaves the city speeding fast towards the mountains where he continues to climb until he reaches the peak. He then exits the car and takes off his sunglasses just in time to see the sun set and the line reads "Aston Martin, Worth the Wait". 

We feel this advert is appropriate and targeted perfectly for the target audience it also plays on the idea of "Worth the Wait" as he is waiting and enthused to see the sun set which he manages to see as it only happens once a day so is worth the wait. Overall I feel our idea and concept is really strong and appropriate for the brand, we thoroughly researched and understood their core principles and target audience and feel that both the end line and the advert represent Aston Martin perfectly.