PRIVATE VIEW: Mike Cozens, executive creative director of Red-Bates

Having witnessed the Great Cannes Scam Scandal, followed by the 4A's 'Gwei' debacle, I've seen just how easy it is to upset the local ad industry. All I can say is thank God most of the selection of work in this issue of media is from outside Asia. I can safely walk the streets of Causeway Bay without fear of threat or reprisal, despite my barbed comments. The first commercial is from France. As far as the Brits and the French are concerned, the English Channel could never be wide enough. Merde! It's a Volkswagen ad. Nobody has ever written a bad Volkswagen ad. Not even a Frenchman. Double merde! It's actually pretty good. Barman slides a glass of milk (can't show beer in France) along a bar top. Glass takes detour around a bowl of peanuts. Cut to man pouring tea. He sneezes and waves teapot around, but the tea still finds its way into the teacups. Finally cut to another man washing his hands. Soap slips from his grasp, but finds its way back into the soap dish. End title: "Always being in control of your journey", which probably made more sense in French. Meanwhile in Australia, spare a thought for the unlucky British Lions rugby team who narrowly lost the recent test series, thanks to some diabolical refereeing decisions. They may have a reasonable rugby and cricket team down under, but creative teams? Babe's might fly. Everyone knows they spend all day in the pub drinking Fosters and Jacob's Creek while whinging about us Poms. Take the Virgin Mobile phone ads. They're saying all the right things about not getting ripped off by the big boys. But the 'spoof' ad executions are too much like the real thing. Where was the creative team when it was being shot? As fate would have it, my pick of the week is from the UK, for The Economist, written and directed by Tom Carty, who also wrote Volvo "Twister" and Guinness "Surfer". Bastard. It tells the true story of how Nelson Mandela and fellow inmates were able to keep in touch with what was going on in the outside world during their imprisonment in South Africa. Outside news was forbidden. They did, however, manage to convince the authorities that The Economist was "just a magazine to do with economics". When the authorities eventually found out what was happening, the magazine was banned. As with the rest of The Economist campaign, the story is intelligently told, well written and beautifully directed. Bastard. Still in Europe, an ad from Germany. Now, they may produce halfway decent racing drivers and tennis players, but television commercials? Nein chance. This one for Condomshop.org doesn't disappoint. An animated penguin stands on an iceberg with three young penguins. She kicks one off and it's eaten by a large fish. Super. "73 per cent of parents are stressed". Condomshop.org. It's scheisse, as they say in Germany. Finally, two ads from Asia. Why this fixation with lifestyle in this part of the world? If people in real life pranced around with inane grins while worshipping a can of drink, mobile phone or shampoo, they would probably be certified insane. Offender number one is from Thailand for Heineken. It's that old cliche about two guys in a bar spotting two girls who they think are trying to attract their attention. Surprise, surprise, the girls are actually trying to attract the attention of the barman to order a couple of Heinekens. All this to the sound of the 60s,Green Onions by Booker T and the MG's. Not exactly cutting edge, is it? The Pocari Sweat sports drink is at least lifestyle with a twist. A tennis match but played underwater. I couldn't quite see the relevance of it, but at least it looked interesting. I'll give the endline, "Sweat, part of you", the benefit of the doubt. It probably sounds better in Japanese. 1. VOLKSWAGEN</Paragraph> <Paragraph formatting="linear">Project: Mint Tea, Soap Client: VW France Brief: Highlight the manoeuvrability of a Volkswagen Agency: DDB Paris Creative director: Sylvain Guillomard Copy writer: Olivier Apeis Art director: Hugues Pinguet Production Company: Why Us? 2. VIRGIN MOBILE Project: Demolition Client: Virgin Mobile Brief: Promote Virgin's latest mobile phone offer Agency: Host, Australia Art director: The Glue Society Creative directors: Gary Freedman, Jonathan Kneebone Production Company: @radical.media 3. THE ECONOMIST Project: Freedom of knowledge Client: Demonstrate to potential readers why they need to read The Economist regularly Agency: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO Copy writer: Tom Carty Art director: Tom Carty Production Company: Gorgeous Enterprises 4. CONDOMSHOP.ORG Project: Penguins Client: Raise awareness for Condomshop.org Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Frankfurt Creative directors: Stephan Vogel, Thomas Hofbeck Art directors: Joerg Schrod, Jens Frank Production Company: La Fourmi 5. HEINEKEN Project: Pub Client: Heineken Asia Pacific Brewery Brief: Increase the desirability of Heineken among the 20 to 34 age group Agency: Leo Burnett Bangkok Creative directors: Keeratie Chaimoungkalo Art director: Chanyutt Boonyagate Production Company: The Film Factory 6. POCARI Project: Tennis Client: Pocari Sweat Brief: Reinforce the message that the best drink after physical exercise is Pocari Sweat Agency: Asatsu-DK Creative director: Shin-Ichiro Nakaso Production Company: Level 7 Productions These commercials are taken from Campaign Screen, the video magazine featuring the top television ads airing worldwide. For subscription or advertising enquiries, please contact Roz Parr in the United Kingdom on 44 20 8267-4659 or email her at roz.parr@haynet.com. To submit work to Campaign Screen, email screen@haynet.com for details.

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