PRIVATE VIEW: David Alberts, executive creative director at Mojo Partners, Sydney

<p>When asked to review this series of ads from around the world, my </p><p>private view was that this was a good excuse. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>A good excuse to remind people that I'm still alive and happy living in </p><p>a small island south of Asia. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The Vodaphone ad is a very good excuse to find a reason to use some </p><p>pretty cool animation technique that saves the commercial from being at </p><p>best, a slice of life generic spot. The background provided with the ad </p><p>mentions that the agency has since lost the account. Wonder why? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>If you stare at the Sci-Fi Channel idents long enough you will enter a </p><p>time zone that will take you to a place where people understand things </p><p>we don't. A bloody good excuse for meaningless crap. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>MTV Hits. No excuses here. Just good. In a world where MTV has become an </p><p>execution genre of idea-free commercials, it's good to see an MTV promo </p><p>with a really involving idea. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The voiceover to the VW Microbus infomercial starts by saying, "it </p><p>started with an idea" and then makes no excuses for forgetting about the </p><p>idea and showing us two minutes of fantastic looking combi shots. The </p><p>new combi which is a cross between a bakelite toaster and an Apple </p><p>Macintosh looks fantastic. I may not buy the commercial but I'd love to </p><p>buy the vehicle. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Maybe that's the idea. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>An idea, such as the one for Pizza Hut, that is so true to a product </p><p>promise that I feel as sick at the end of the ad as I know I am going to </p><p>feel at the end of the pizza. The beautifully seamless twisting camera </p><p>work leaves my stomach turning way before I see the horrific twisting </p><p>dipping excuse for a pizza. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And finally, the Cadillac television commercial is just a very good </p><p>excuse for doing a car chase. It's not going to do anything for Cadillac </p><p>because it doesn't differentiate itself from other car chase TVCs. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>After going through this exercise I realised that as we enter another </p><p>slowdown or even a recession, there is an even greater need for creative </p><p>thinking and ideas and that we really have no excuse for some of the </p><p>meaningless executional indulgences that boom times bring. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>VODAFONE </p><p>Project: Night out </p><p>Client: Vodafone </p><p>Brief: Vodafone is for everyone </p><p>Agency: BMP DDB </p><p>Copywriter: Amber Casey </p><p>Art director: Dan Hubert </p><p>Production house: Studio AKA </p><p>SCI-FI CHANNEL </p><p>Project: Idents </p><p>Client: Sci-Fi Channel </p><p>Brief: Build the channel's brand image and positioning </p><p>Production company: Tsunami Films </p><p>Creative director: Tor McLaren (Sci-Fi Channel) </p><p>Art director: Don Cameron </p><p>MTV </p><p>Project: Eggcentric </p><p>Client: MTV Hits </p><p>Brief: To announce the launch of the MTV Hits Channel </p><p>Agency: Malcolm Moore Deakin Blazye </p><p>Creative directors: Guy Moore, Tony Malcolm </p><p>Copywriter: Gary Ruby </p><p>Art director: Nick Williamson </p><p>Production house: Gorgeous Enterprises </p><p>VOLKSWAGEN </p><p>Project: Microbus </p><p>Client: VW </p><p>Brief: To highlight the strengths of the VW brand </p><p>Agency: Arnold Worldwide </p><p>Creative directors: Ron Lawner, Tim Brunelle, Chris Bradley </p><p>Copywriter: Tim Brunelle </p><p>Art director: Chris Bradley </p><p>Production house: GAP Films </p><p>PIZZA HUT </p><p>Project: Twist apartment </p><p>Client: Pizza Hut </p><p>Brief: Launch of pizza with a twist-off, dippable crust </p><p>Agency: Abbott Mead Vickers, BBDO </p><p>Creative director: Peter Souter </p><p>Copywriter: Ben Kay </p><p>Art director: Cameron Blackley </p><p>Production house: The Pink Film Company </p><p>CADILLAC </p><p>Project: The Chase </p><p>Client: Cadillac Escalade </p><p>Brief: The launch of Cadillac's first 4X4 model </p><p>Agency: Radius Leo Burnett </p><p>Creative director: Marc Chalhoub </p><p>Copywriter: Nadim Dimashkieh </p><p>Art director: Toufic Bayhum </p><p>Production house: VIP Film Dubai </p><p><BR><BR> </p>