The Unnamed: Part 1

I have been doing an exercise. It had no purpose other than to inform the viability of a theme for my 30^th birthday party next year, but it did reveal something quite interesting.

I decided that I was quite fond of the idea of iconic ad characters as a new twist on the age-old dress up theme. It echoes what I spend my days doing and I believed it would present a multitude of possibilities for me and everyone invited.

I was wrong and sorely disappointed. But, why?

I was quite liberal in my approach. I decided that the character could be from any ad anyone remembered, provided that it was from within my TV-watching lifetime and wasn’t somebody famous*. From childhood, that gives us folk like The Oros Man, Rascals, The Nik Naks Man, Simba, The Frosties Tiger and Colonel Sanders with his feathered and fury friends.

Moving on in time, we brainstormed Mr Min, Joshua Door, The Michelin Man, The Camel Man, The Baker’s Man, David Kramer, the Morkels two-year-guarnatee-store chick, Ouma of rusks’ fame and Mrs Balls, the maker of the original Saffa chutney.

Into my teens and adulthood, we get the Vodacom Yebo Gogo duo, Boet en Swaar, Ronald Mc Donald, Captain Morgan, Johnny Walker, Mr Muscle, The Man your man could smell like, Kulula’s Jet-setting Pool Man, The Cadbury Gorilla etc. etc… Oh, and the Brand Power woman.

This posed a slight dilemma. Besides the challenge of a white chick convincingly dressing as the Brand Power babe, my options as a female are limited to Mrs Balls, Ouma and ‘Mrs Morkel’. Unless I got horribly drunk and repeated the Morkels’ slogan, that woman would not be easily recognized. Likewise, if one really interrogates the situation, I somehow doubt that unless a girl bears a striking resemblance to The Brand Power babe, Ouma and Mrs Balls, they could be easily confused with the number of other nameless woman who have appeared in detergent, soap and food ads over the years.

I’m stuffed. As is half my guest list. I find this situation rather curious. Here are my (slightly bitter) observations:

The last two iconic females, other than the recent Ms Brand Power, are Mrs Balls and Ouma. They may have been relegated to the kitchen, but alas, at least they had names, some associations (aprons) and gave a mildly persuasive sense that they had unique personalities.

Ms Brand Power is at least a character. She empowers woman to shop better. But that’s all we know and it’s not like she has a defining dress sense or outstanding characteristics.

Outside of the above three half-heartedly iconic ladies and even considering famous actresses and models* with good bodies, skin and teeth, women in ads tend to be represented by roles, benefits and through stereotypes and not as unique characters with much personality whatsoever. I shall rework my invitation to read:

Boys: iconic ad characters

Girls: stereotypes, emotions, benefits, roles

So ladies, (moms, daughters, friends, girlfriends, wives, working professionals and celebrities) here are your choices:

• Happy mom (cooking)
• Happy mom (cleaning)
• Happy mom (germ killing)
• Happy mom (supporting man)
• Happy mom (soothing sick kids)

• Happy young woman (glowing skin)
• Happy young woman (pearly white teeth)
• Happy young woman (good body)
• Happy young woman (healthy/regular [exciting one, this])

• Happy woman in white (obviously I’d only recommend this if you’re on your period)

• Teenager (inconspicuous supporting character- best for those who don’t like dress-ups anyway)

• Working professional (with this one, you can mix and match with any of the above. It adds depth and authenticity to your character)

One can’t help but wonder why the ladies aren’t privileged enough to be graced with a character more definitive and exciting than a role or stereotype…We also thrive/thrived on and are/were intrigued by fantasy, so I do wonder whether we’d be a little more entertained by and a little more remembering of someone other than an unnamed woman that is a copy/past of a section of a brand blueprint or guideline.

*Celebrities do not count.

1) They are meant to be like us, just prettier and more successful (obviously). Their role in ads is not to excite and charm us with their one-of-a-kind personality or character, but rather to use their ability to not be themselves and conform to a role (celebrity) as a means to convince us of a product benefit.

2) It’s not like long lashes, fancy dresses and varnish-shiny hair will convince anyone at my party anyway… whoever attempted this would still just be another celebrity unless they had a LOT of cash for a make-over or had a strategically placed mole. 

Communication for social issues

I’m not convinced that many ads designed to address social issues, specifically the perpetrators of damaging or wrong behaviour, have any effect at all on the people they are intended for and contribute meaningfully to anything besides an agency awards cabinet with a subsequent contribution to creative rankings.


There seems to be a common thread in communication that addresses (anti) social behaviour- they end up being conceptual portrayals of serious issues or disorders that acutely lack the psychological insight and education necessary to know how to connect meaningfully with the people the communication is targeted at. 

I am also slightly doubtful that many people who demonstrate serious anti social behaviour or who do things that are damaging to themselves and/or other people are able to look at their own situation objectively, let alone through the gaze of a privileged, conceptual ad-person. Generally, people tend to be in denial about a serious problem they have or behaviour they perpetrate, so providing them with some abstract visual about the effects of their behaviour seems rather inadequate.


To me, it’s like asking a person with anorexia to look in the mirror as a means to shock them into eating. Any person remotely informed about this disorder will understand that the mirror merely reflects individual perception- an outcome guaranteed to differ for people with the disorder and those without it.


These ads done by Lowe Bull, Cape Town, for SANCA are an example. The conceptual nature of this work would suggest a fairly sophisticated target audience. In this case, I somehow doubt that using examples of extreme situations like drug abuse and prostitution to dramatise the effects of drinking during pregnancy will necessarily resonate with the apparent target audience. I’d propose that for a middle class mum-to-be, learning disabilities may have been a more realistic and appropriate example of the effects of moderate drinking during pregnancy. However, if the communication is aimed at heavy drinkers or people who abuse alcohol, i.e. those that are most at risk of having babies with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, I’d suggest a visit to areas and communities where alcohol abuse and FAS are rife. I suspect one might find that the shock tactics of these ads, coupled with their conceptual nature are completely meaningless.


I really feel that it’s time advertising agencies took more responsibility for what they do by taking time to understand who they are speaking to, what behaviour they are attempting to change and the realistic process required to attempt to change that behaviour.

Christmas advertising so i don't forget...or don't remember?

Does advertising insist on imposing Christmas on me before summer has even hinted at arriving?

There was one of those endorsed brand-type ads on TV the other day with Soli Philander. The ad was for some cake mix- the actual brand flew completely over my head because of what kind of cake it actually was. It was a Christmas cake. On his baking table, there was some tinsel and a few other things Christmasy...CHRISTMAS, for crying out loud!

I checked my calender and my washing basket, it is September. And in September where I live, winter only hints at leaving, but really stays for a another impolite month or two, so i can't honstely be expected to worry about Christmas, can I? Also, why on earth would anyone be thinking of making Christmas cake now? Christmas shopping is even somewhat far-fetched- the average South African is likely more concerned with either September's payday or the start of some warmer weather to be worrying about how many raisins and things to put in their ??? Christmas cake mix.

Thankfully, I am able to boycott Christmas this year. I owe at least half my disinterest in this "symbolic" day to products and advertisers that use it simply to up their sales by pretending to be in the spirit of things. It's one thing when the start of summer is invaded with green and red bells and whistles, but quite another when it's at a time I'm not even sure if the last snow has fallen.

And the brand is…?

I read about this brand advert yesterday and saw the ad for the first time last night.

24 hours ago I had absolutely no clue what Brother was. I read the press release about this ad and concluded that it must be some inspiration-inducing ad for another financial services company. It had that air of patient achievement- an arguably overplayed theme in financial services’ brand advertising.

The press release sounded like a Barry Ronge movie review, but it certainly got me interested and I was pleasantly surprised when the ad interrupted my religious Survivor viewing.

I paid particular attention to the art direction, epitomised by striking camera angles, dramatic contrasts and the filtered colours that alluded to a romanticised notion of freedom. Indeed, the wakeboarder also provided a seemingly flawless performance in a remote and surreal setting.

Investec? Alan Gray? A bank? Life insurance?

No, Brother Printers that apparently provide a “flawless first impression” just like the wakeboarder, I presume.

I am trying to establish what the thinking was regarding this piece of communication.

The only link I can possibly force myself to make between the product and the advert is that the wake-boarder’s moves were apparently flawless and I presume Brother wants to say that the result of their printers and copiers will be too. Or to quote a colleague, is it the “flawless way the paper enters and exits the Brother machine” (just like the wakeboarder carves the wake) and the perfect colour that defines every printed copy like the colour of the setting in which the wake-boarder finds himself?

How far is a brand willing to go to try and establish a link?

We need to review this in context. First, can a pro wake-boarder be considered analogous to a printer? Second, is there a real and believable connection between a pristine and noticeably secluded natural setting and a printer?

Advert: A talented man wakeboards effortlessly on pure glass- his movements and grace a tribute to himself for mastering nature and to nature for allowing him the playground to do so.

Product: A printer that is made in a factory (which pumps out environment-compromising greenhouse gases) and that gets used in offices with fluorescent lights, office chairs and neutral-toned walls, complimented by the constant drone of air conditioners.

Brand?
Assuming that the brand is the connection between the potential customer and the product, perhaps the brand appeals to an office-worker’s desire to live a natural and free life, devoid of the daily 9- 5 slog and the admin that accompanies it. Or, are all printer/copier customers and printing professionals moved by a poetic metaphor for perfection when all they likely want is a direct guarantee of colour superiority, functionality and convenience inside an office space?

The setting of the advert or “brand’s voice” is so far removed from the functionality and existence of a printer or copier, I truly battle to understand what the brand wants consumers to understand.

The only link that I am left with is perfection. This makes sense if I aspire to all things natural from my printing room or corner in my electrically-illuminated office or if I deem the niche sport or leisure activity of wakeboarding to be appealing to my experience or aspirations.

We’re back to that awkward analogy between nature and wakeboarding versus a printer.

However, it did say something about lasting impressions, in which case if I can’t be shown a realistic portrayal of lasting impressions created by a printer/copier in a printing-appropriate world, an advert of a tropical island or volcanic eruption, the birth of a baby, the sprint of a cheetah or looming tsunami could have sufficed.

Brand Score: 5 (but only because I love nature and love a glass-like body of water)
To access the press release (and a link to the ad): www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/17/37614.html