Oft I hear these words at meetings when I am presenting
scripts.
‘It has to have an emotional appeal.’
This from the clients point of view mean two things. Happy
or sad.
Actually strike out sad. It is happy and/or inspiring.
Is that all consumers are capable of? Is that all brands can
promise? A hint of a smile or a determined grunt. Nothing deeper. Don’t get
visceral with the consumer.
Are these true emotions?
Why can’t we try to find that emotional g spot instead of
leaving it at a chaste kiss?
Imagine if everything around us was designed to be a high
strung experience across all spectrums of emotions that we are capable of?
It exists in product design. It exists in fashion. It exists
in architecture. It exists in automobile design.
Paintings do it. Music does it. Films do it.
But very rarely in commercials. And closer to home, India,
you could stand to loose your job if your ads made your consumer burst in to
tears, violently disturbed him/her, made one feel erotic or got visceral in any
manner.
And so the advertising people are churning out safe, happy,
shiny ads and getting an affectionate ruffling on the head by the client. ( Yes. Me too. )
But I was happy to note that there are brands and creative
people out there that are doing precisely this. Below I have compiled some work
that does this.
Chocolate ice cream. Ever feel a tad erotic, sensual and a wee bit more alive when you eat a delicious one??
Check out this ad for
magnum. That sinful and very sensual
feeling that eating a chocolate icecream gives you.
You are in an elevator, or a club or on the streets and a beautiful man or woman passes you by and you get a whiff of his/her perfume and your olfactory senses burn with synapses going wild sending signals to your brain and the synapses are given a no red signal clearance all the way to where the unreasonable sensual reactor resides.
What a wonderful way to tell us that this planet is a living
breathing thing.
Brandalism, an ongoing movement in London during the
Olympics does this. Though they are thumbing their nose at big brand
advertising, it does so by getting under your skin and making that point. In a
way a brilliant example of compelling communication in print.
It might be too exhaustive to take up print work done with
this philosophy and possibly will require some extensive research so I will
leave you with a few ads from a brand that you all probably know. Hans brinker
budget hotels done by my favourite creative house, kessels Kramer, which I was
fortunate to spend a day at. Brutally frank, truthful and real.
Like ads should be.
