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

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