Meme Huffer

More thieving bastards

In the chair today we have the new Virgin Trains offering (awfully titled "Success Express") from MCBD:



Now, there is much that we could say about this ad. That it simply isn't very funny. That it is an over-earnest pastiche of those pastiche ads that Mother used to do (usually with Traktor, who shot this ad). That it is shouty and patronising, and makes zero attempt to engage the potential customer in anything resembling a meaningful conversation. That I feel sorry for my former colleagues at RKCR, who lost this account in a pitch only to see the client buy this bollocks... (do feel free to add your own).

But the gravest sin of all is that the thieving bastards knicked the idea wholesale from an infinitely superior  US Starbucks spot from several years back:



Shame on you.

Thieving bastards corner

Now, you'd think that landing a brief for sex products (sexessories?) would inspire agencies and creatives to giddy heights of originality, but it seems that the opposite is true. Last year we saw DDB ripping off a Seat/Playboy cover wrap for a Philips dildo press ad and now we see McCann Erickson shamelessly stealing a much-awarded Coco De Mer concept for their client Durex.

Here's Durex's new spot for Play O pleasure enhancing lubricant:

And here are a few of the Coco De Mer spots from 2001 which, famously, were shots of people at their actual moment of orgasm:

 

So far, so plagiaristic.

But what is particularly stunning about this theft is that Durex's arch-rivals Trojan had already stolen this exact same idea for a press campaign in 2004:

 
 

Would you take marketing advice from the Royal Mail?

I was just having my late-morning cup of tea and browse of Campaign, when I came across a little story headed "Royal Mail to advise brands".

Apparently the Royal Mail have "launched an online advice centre for advertisiers and media agencies... which offers free advice on how to maximise return on marketing investment. It will include research, campaigns, media planning strategies and case studies."

WTF?

 

Seriously, would you take marketing advice from the people who took the does-what-it-says-on-the-tin Post Office and disastrously rebranded it to Consignia, only for public opprobrium to force them to change it back after just over a year?

Although it does look like the folks over at Norwich Union Aviva may have already subscribed.

Yes, another one. As if the first massively stupid money-spunking ad wasn't enough...

Adwank corner: Powerpoint is just make-up for ugly thinking

 

More genius from Tom Fishburne: Brand Camp

Personally, I quite like the two-by-two...

Just do it

This one is dedicated to Bill.

Image from here via ffffound.

And a massive thanks to Angus for the ffffound invite -in the interests of paying it forward, the first person to drop me a line will receive my invite.

Adwank corner: "The truth is the new lie"

Josh just tweeted the link to a clip on Mike Arauz's blog, where Mike has posted this cautionary tale / brilliant clip from an old Canadian show where the manager of an ailing regional theatre visits a hot new ad agency:

As Homer J. Simpson  said, "its funny 'cause its true".

And as Mike says, don't drink your own Kool-Aid.

Sony launches Stupid Piece Of Shit

Meme Huffer's love affair with The Onion continues:

And if you haven't seen it, also check out their Apple MacBook Wheel review.

If WPP ran a strip club

Just found this clip of Rory Sutherland (Ogilvy Group vice-chairman) over on AgencySpy and thought it was worth sharing:

I'm still not sure how I feel about being compared to a stripper, though...

Great Quotes for Planners #61 -Avoiding the well-known

If you want to avoid being involved in yet another beer (or cider) in which three guys walk into a bar with ensuing hilarity (note that it's always three -one would be a lonely alcoholic loser and two could be gay... and its best of one could be black, while you're at it please), then please heed Mencken's advice:

"There is always a well-known solution to every human problem
-neat, plausible, and wrong."  -H.L. Mencken

Dig deeper. Question the obvious. And, please, avoid "conventional wisdom" like the plague.

Great Quotes for Planners #60 -keep your eyes open

"You can observe a lot just by watching" -Yogi Berra

For me, this quote nails one of the joys of planning -figuring out what people really think, need and want.

All too often, the lens of the focus group will distort the subject of your enquiry and the statistics can obscure rather than reveal the truth (it is true that the average person has one breast and one testicle, but that doesn't help us much).

So get out there in the real world. Don't just sit behind glass. Talk to people about what makes them tick. Be curious. Notice stuff.