PRIVATE VIEW: Gary Tranter, head of creative at Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong

At first glance, my job was simple. Brands like Playstation,

Budweiser, Heineken and Durex have always produced such great

advertising and this would simply be a matter of watching the ads,

scribbling down, "great work, love it" and then off to lunch. But this

wasn't the case. Now I find myself in the uncomfortable position of

loving the brands, being loyal to these brands, loving the past work and

sadly not being too impressed with this lot.

Being a huge fan of previous Playstation work, I found the Wolfman ad

disappointing. It's hard to view it without comparing it to previous

brilliant work. It falls short in delivering the double life idea

powerfully and seems to ignore the Playstation tribe that previous ads

made me feel like a proud member of. I get the sense it's aimed at a

younger target market as my son rather enjoyed it (he's five), and he's

a brand loyalist. Unfortunately for me, however, it's not that funny,

and unlike other Playstation ads, the story is predictable.

The Budweiser, Mr Foot-long-ten-inch-wiener ad, was also disappointing,

and again, probably in light of the ads this brand has produced over the

years. The spot is entertaining enough, with some funny moments and is a

faithfully-produced send-up. But it just seems to be trying a little too

hard to point out it's a piss-take and therefore becomes very

obvious.

The Durex 100 million reasons spot had hold of me from the minute it

began. I love the idea of a hundred million sperms walking around with

you like a loaded gun waiting to fire at any opportunity. This is a

genuinely interesting spot that one enjoys watching. What is depicted is

a refreshing change from other reasons given by other condom makers and

is based on a funny, relevant insight. Unfortunately the punch line is

watered down by showing the giant condom at the end. A shot the ad

simply doesn't need.

The Red ad certainly got my attention but left me once again

disappointed.

While clearly not being in the target market, I am, nevertheless

suspicious of a big, mainstream brand trying so desperately hard to

appear cool.

I am presuming this ad is for a service paid for by Nokia as their

phones are featured (albeit getting smashed up). I'm actually confused

as to why the phones need to be smashed up at all, as the purpose of

having a pre-paid phone service is to give the youth market an

alternative to expensive price plans. If they can afford to smash up

their phones they probably don't need this service. By the end of this

spot one feels that while the idea of young people having a voice is not

necessarily bad, it may be better if they had something to say.

The Heineken, 'blackmailing your viewers into buying your product' idea

is a nice one and seems to be in the spirit of the brand. The blackmail

part is suitably annoying, so the message is appreciated. I assume

there's a break where other ads run in between before you see the

pay-off, giving people a chance to drop everything and dash out to buy a

pint or two.

The little treat is a nice touch. I like the lions. I like how they

quietly ascend behind the singers, licking their lips. The ending is

unconvincing; the screams and the cut back to the piano player do not

look real. I think the average Heineken drinker would have appreciated

some reality here.

Fortunately the ESPN SportsCentre ads are consistently great to

watch.

They give you a laugh while delivering a very clear message about the

brand. This one puts a smile on your face from the opening line, 'Like a

lot of organisations, ESPN was having trouble with their carpet ...',

which grows through the little touches like the bumble bee nodding in

agreement when 'grass stain' advice is given. The production is

excellent, I hope there are many more to come.

PLAYSTATION

Project: Wolfman

Client: Sony Playstation

Brief: Reinforce PlayStation's core brand value

Agency: TBWA/ London

Creative director: Trevor Beattie

Production house: Passion Pictures

BUDWEISER

Project: Mr Foot-Long-Hot-Dog-Inventor

Client: Budweiser

Brief: Underline Budweiser's strength in the marketplace

Agency: DDB Chicago

Creative directors: John Immesoete, Mark Gross

Copywriter: Bill Cimino

Art director: Bill Cimino

Production house: Propaganda Films

DUREX

Project: Square

Client: Durex

Brief: Promote the concept of safe sex to 16 to 24-year olds

Agency: McCann Erickson, UK

Creative director: Dave George

Copywriter: David Price

Art director: Neil Lancaster

Production house: Spectre

RED

Project: Express Yourself

Client: Islandssimi

Brief: Build brand awareness of Icelandic telecom company Islandssimi

Agency: DBT Adhouse, Iceland

Creative director: Thorhallur Arnorsson

Copywriter: Thorhallur Arnorsson

Art director: Thorhallur Arnorsson

Production house: Saga Film Productions

HEINEKEN

Project: Treat

Client: Heineken

Brief: Continue building on the brand's core values

Agency: Lowe Lintas & Partners, UK

Creative director: Charles Inge

Copywriter: Tony Barry

Art director: Damon Collins

Production house: Gorgeous Enterprises

BRAND

Project: Turf

Client: ESPN

Brief: Underline ESPN's leading position in sports broadcasting

Agency: Wieden & Kennedy NY

Creative directors: Ty Montague, Amy Nicholson

Copywriter: Jeff Bitsack

Art director: Ted Royer

Production house: Hungry Man