Who knew?

Here is a recruitment ad from ages ago

I rather like the nifty use of type in this Lothian and Borders Police headline. The copy's pretty good too (clickety click on the image to read it). I hope you liked my extensive opinion on this advert.

Clowns, eggs, advertising and moans

Things have been rather hectic at work over the past few weeks or so and I seem to have temporarily lost my lust for advertising. So, to my three devoted readers (hi Mum), apologies for my lack of posting recently.

Ads are not doing it for me at the minute. My libido is limp. More limp than a languid leaf of lettuce left lying around limpets. Yep. Pretty limp. I would rather be doing one of a hundred other things than ogle campaigns, no matter how great and accomplished and clever they are. Tedious jobs like stirring cups of tea or discussing the last insipid episode of X Factor are holding more ground than beautiful art direction or well crafted copy.

Press ads are tedious, TV ads are headache inducing, radio ads set teeth on edge. About the only medium I'm paying attention to is outdoor, and only because an outdoor execution has exactly two seconds to induce a reaction and it distracts me from the various oddballs sharing the bus. The Drum is depressing as it gets, with industry professionals either stroking each other's egos like pet cats or vehemently hurling mud at each other via the anonymous comment button. It's like being back at school.

I'm thinking about writing a novel, a screenplay, a comedy sketch show, a book of poems, a love letter, a diary entry, a biography, an essay - anything but ads and marketing copy. The value of the written word is too precious to fritter away on selling things all day, every day. It might be time to start a side project that isn't focused on advertising for once.

Perhaps I could learn to paint creepy clown faces onto hard boiled eggs. (Seriously, if you click on one link today, make it this one.)

The cream of the Scottish crop

The Scottish Advertising Awards came and went whilst I was shovelling down junk food and rubbernecking American billboards. I didn’t get around to looking at the winners and nominations until today due to my absence from the country. If you haven’t already, have a look at this year’s ads in all their crowning (or nominated) glory.

Christian Aid round three

This is the third execution I've spotted for Christian Aid's current press campaign and I love it. See the first ad for a removable postie to send away to Gordon Brown and his cronies, and the second for the full page. Click on the images to read the copy.

If you're interested, see the first and second executions here.

This will always annoy me

He doesn't just wish for peace. He. HE. HE!

R and R

I'm off to North Carolina for a bit. I'm going to the same place this was shot, according to my hosts:



Deddle deddle deddle deddle dee...

Amusing line from a carpet company

Outdoor galore!

Russell Road in Edinburgh is an ad haven. It's as if two billboards decided to settle down there and then an entire family of offspring nestled around them. I'm not sure if there is anywhere else in Edinburgh with as much outdoor ad space as this little backdoor road between Gorgie and Roseburn. Isn't it odd that a place devoid of people is so saturated with 48 sheets?

I took photos of all them when I was walking the up road last week. Here's a daily dose of inspiration for you (not).

I must say I do like the alcohol awareness art direction. Is that Leith's execution? I can't remember. I also like the M&S campaign, although it would have perhaps benefited from more than one headline.

It appears that the Buchanan Galleries models are slightly less anorexic this time round. Maybe the lady should have some M&S sausages and cookies to even her out. If she doesn't want any I'll happily stuff my face in her stead.

Scottish advertising is officially scary

How great is that movie poster? Bloody great, is how great it is.

Anyway. Nation1 are holding a Halloween Ball this year through in Weegieland. The theme is advertising legends! If you go here you can register and try and get some (free?) tickets.

I’m still trying to figure out who I’d dress up as in order to fit the bill. As it’s Monday and I have an impressive cold, any creativity I might have accumulated over the weekend has been extinguished and memorable characters from ads gone by have escaped my memory. In the spirit of my current sniffly nose, I think I would probably be best going as the Andrex puppy. At then I’d at least have the excuse of copious amounts of bog roll to blow my schnoz with.

More Edinburgh trams amusement

How to learn advertising

Is university all it’s cracked up to be when it comes to advertising? Does one really need to sit through years of theory before being spat out of the higher education machine with absolutely no practical experience whatsoever and a less than rudimentary understanding of how real agencies and clients do business?

Traditionally, higher education wasn’t about getting a job, but rather furthering one’s knowledge and broadening horizons. Today a degree doesn’t seem to offer the same USP. Instead, uni is all about the job at the end, if you’re lucky enough to get a decent one.

I went to uni. I didn’t do a marketing undergraduate, but rather an academically interesting yet vocationally useless arts degree. I did, however, gain a masters in an advertising discipline. I wonder if either of these qualifications - of which I spent five years working on – have helped me get where I am to a larger extent than if I’d spent that time learning about the craft of creative whilst grafting at an agency?

So, is a degree necessary for advertising? Having never employed anyone, I’m not sure if book smart is weighted as heavily as good, solid, practical experience. Degrees are arguably even less relevant for creative positions. Or at least that’s what I’ve discovered in my never ending quest to find a new copywriter position in an agency. CDs don't seem to care whether or not I’ve got educational qualifications related to being a creative. It’s all about the quality of the work for them. If my book isn’t up to scratch then I’m certainly not going to persuade them of my prowess with copy because I have a piece of paper saying that I apparently know about creative advertising.

Although, saying that, the Scottish IPA and ad agencies in Scotland have heavily invested in the Napier Uni creative advertising degree. So perhaps there is a case for higher educated creatives after all…