Private View: Reactions to Uber, Samsung, Nissin ads

In episode three of Campaign's long-running 'Private View' feature in its new 'reaction video' format, we asked a pair of industry experts to record themselves reacting to three recent ads:

• Kit Koh, BBDO South China, Executive Creative Director
• Sunny Lai, Reload, Executive Creative Director

Koh was very enthused by the commercials displayed saying, "I like the selection this round as they came from different part of the world, and the ideas and insights are truly universal, I do have a favourite one but I think they are all awesome and nicely crafted, good job guys!"

First in the viewing list is a jaunty jazz-scored advert for Uber that has gained a great deal of praise. To highlight the idea of over-congestion, Forsman & Bodenfors bring a city of cardboard box cars to life.

Sunny Lai explains his own positive reaction to the advert saying, "The thought of using boxes as a metaphor is clever; it’s a creative asset."

Lai also believes that the offbeat creative choice reels in viewers. Lai says, "the boxes used in the storytelling brought curiosity to consumers that are watching it; wondering what the story is"

The second piece of viewing material is an act of throwing shade that successfully went viral. Wieden + Kennedy produced a story about an iPhone fanboy who slowly realises that Samsung has consistently been a superior brand. Playful yet vicious, it skewers without getting dirty.

Lai voices, "It’s always interesting to watch a commercial on how a brand hammers on its biggest competitor. You have to dig out all the real-life weaknesses of the competitor. The creative agency used both emotional and functional forms of storytelling to do that."

"Emotional from the expression of the hero that blindly upgraded iPhones over the years, just going with the flow. Functional from the real-life issues that customers had with iPhones was reflected in the storytelling."

The third and final piece is a Nissin Noodles commercial based on the premise of a technological gimmick. Specifically, Dentsu presents a case study for a fork that disguises the sound of slurping noodles. 

Sunny Lai is rather dismissive of the product solution itself saying, "It's not very logical with the tech solution. Actually, the tech solution didn’t solve the noise issue at all!

"But who cares about having a solution when it’s not even a societal problem. It’s about a tech that’s having fun with the slurping noise; Embracing the insight of the slurping noise. Isn’t it all about a slurping noise of delicious cup noodle enjoyment?"