Creative Tactics

Ads of the World has so many great advertisements. I literally spent an hour just looking through them. Here are a few of the ones that really stuck out in my mind:

Storytelling





This series of advertisements for a Belgian newspaper tells a lot of stories. Protesters are being taken away by the police in all the pictures, and from the facial expressions and the brutality portrayed, I can only imagine what the people must have been going through. For example, the woman in one of the pictures is wearing a pink shirt that says “Women For Peace”. Her veins are popping and it looks like she’s screaming. It’s ironic that she’s rallying for peace and is being captured and forced away by police. In another one of the pictures, a man is forcefully being dragged by his arms. There’s a poster in the corner saying “Stop the…” (we can’t see the rest) which means that he was obviously fighting for something he believes in. Again, the viewers of the advertisement can try to imagine a whole story behind the picture. That’s why the tagline is so effective. It’s saying that instead of rallying and protesting and doing other dangerous things, the best way to share your opinion is to write to the newspaper.

Double Meaning




I interpreted the next two advertisements as having a double meaning. One shows watermelons in the shape of a bunch of grapes, and the other shows a lot of tomatoes in the shape of a raspberry. The advertisement is for a refrigerator that has a lot of space. By emphasizing the images on the advertisements (they are in the center with very little text, so your eye automatically jumps to the image), you can see that the fridge is big enough to fit everything. For example, it can fit grapes AND watermelons simultaneously. At the same time, the images are really appealing and make me want to go into my fridge and see what I have to eat! By playing the delicious fruit card, the advertisement is getting the viewers to think about food, and in turn, their refrigerator. That is why they have a double meaning: not only do the fruits literally have double meaning (they could be interpreted as either or), but the advertisement itself makes you think all about your fridge.

Disturbing Imagery



This advertisement has an interesting concept, but at the same time the image is a little disturbing. It is a llama made of clay, which looks a little too human-like. It looks as though the llama has human skin (very pale skin, but still human). The copy in the advertisement is written in the shape of two humps on the llama's back, which if taken literally, makes the clay figure a camel. Aside from the disturbing image of the animal, I like the humor and cleverness in the advertisement. Since chiropractors help ease back, neck, and other kinds of pain, the advertisement portrays the image that the chiropractor is good at his job by eliminating the animal’s humps. It’s even as if the animal changes from a camel to a llama. This ad would definitely catch someone’s attention, but I don’t know if it would make someone want to go see that specific doctor.

Cheers!
-Jen