PRIVATE VIEW: Paul Chan

Is it that we are setting increasingly punishing standards because we live in a world in which it seems that everything has been done before? Perhaps. But I must stress that each and every ad I have reviewed here has my utmost respect because they respect reality - real-life paying clients, real pressures and real demands. I've been a Formula One fan for ages. So much so that this Mercedes Benz ad, the Future of Automobile, starts off on the right foot for me. The camerawork caught my eye. Even the content approach satisfied me; not many people know that a Formula One driver undergoes hours of torture while strapped into his car at 180mph. A commercial, like this one by Ericsson, that attempts to associate a 'lifestyle/user image' look with a product seldom stirs me. Note the glitzy lighting, the shining piano and the yuppies sitting bored in their jazz bar etc plus the cool, flirting conversation of the characters all brings to mind the cognac and watch ads of the 80's. Perhaps I wasn't the target audience for this series of ads by Asiawise.com. I really couldn't figure out the one featuring an 'Onion'. Do tech and financial matters really make men cry? I also felt that the chosen execution styles had been done before. Marking out spaces to illustrate a point. Unreeling of a tape to stress a hint of mystery. A little too familiar an approach, perhaps. The trouble with clients that promise to provide an edge in information supply, is that too many of them utilise the 'we are the guys to come to' approach. This might have been done a little differently to avoid blending in with the rest of the crowd. This series of four McDonald's "Breakfast" ads was probably designed with a utilitarian purpose of hammering home the message of an dollars 8 meal with few frills on the side. I recognise the creative effort to repeatedly stress the dollars 8 message in as new a light as possible. However, the approach of 'an ad within an ad' isn't particularly new. And what if I only caught the second and fourth in the series? The entire intended effect would be lost. All in all, a commendable effort in a product category that doesn't necessarily have the greatest potential for extreme creativity. Dentsu's TVCs for Star Channel, titled "Rocky" and "Titanic" are hilarious. Although a bit drawn out, these spoofs had me aching in places I forgot I even had. It took me a while to realise what was going on (and isn't that a hallmark of some great ads?) but the killer punch knocked the wind out of me. The backdrop, the effort to mirror little aspects of the original movies all rewarded my long wait for the punchline. The bid by the Churches of the Love Singapore Movement to make God more approachable is not something that people might necessarily associate with the Church. But it's obvious in this case, that they're going out to attract the younger generation. While I (once again) felt that the execution, which used 'still supers' to impress a point, had been done before, it was also apparent that this had been a 'writer's style of ad-making'. Some of the messages in the ads were refreshingly thought-provoking. Simple yet challenging, I think this series will mean a re-think of the client's image in many young minds. 1. MERCEDES BENZ Project: F1 Global Client: DaimlerChrysler AG Brief: The future of automobile Agency: Batey Ads Creative directors: Garry Tranter, Mattew Cullen Copy writers: Mattew Cullen, Andrew Reznik Art directors: Darren Hogan, Gary Tranter Production Company: Stink 41 2. ERICSSON Project: Style Outside, Surprise Inside Client: Ericsson Brief: Promote the 'style inside, surprise inside' of the T29 phone Agency: Results Advertising Creative director: Canon Wu Copy writer: Joy Chueh Art director: Kevin Chen Director: Wayne Peng Production Company: Polychrome Films Media Used: Terrestrial and Cable TV 3. ASIAWISE.COM Project: Asiawise.com (No holds-barred) Client's name and title: Gene Galbraith, CEO & chairman Brief: To create awareness of a new dot com information provider and to position the company as a leader in its area. Agency: Doremus & Company Creative director: Vijayan Ganesh Art director: Doris Hiw Retouching: Amoeba Digital Imagine Media used: SCMP, Today 4. MCDONALD'S Project: Breakfast Promotion Client: McDonald's HK Agency: DDB Creative director: Barry Mok, Louie Hui, Paul Chow and Derek Wong Media Used: TV, Bus, Print and Instore POP's 5. STAR CHANNEL Project: Rocky; Titanic Client: Star Channel Inc. Brief: A new television commercial for Star Channel Advertising agency: Dentsu Creative agency: Tugboat Creative director: Takuji Nakamura (Dentsu Inc.), Yasumichi Oka (Tugboat) Director: Shinya Nakajima Production Company: Tohokushinsya Film Corp 6. CHURCHES OF THE LOVE SINGAPORE MOVEMENT Project: God Brief: To promote a 'God' consciousness in Singapore Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Copy writer: Eugene Cheong Art director: Pei Pei Ng Director: Sng Tong Beng Production Company: Odeon Productions Hong Kong Media Used: TV, Press, Posters, DM, SMS, Internet

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