MADVERTISING

An average commercial break on TV isn´t the most mind-expanding experience in the world. It is the exact opposite: a dull blend of flavorless clichés and stale conformity. The happiest families, the whitest teeth, the biggest cars. Life is perfect in commercial land. Perfectly boring!

So why aren´t there any more good ads out there? Is it because we – the advertising creatives – can´t think of anything more intelligent than the usual mainstream crap that disrupts your soap opera? Believe me: it´s not! We have drawers full of commercial scripts that would make you laugh. Make you cry. Make you buy the product!

Let me explain to you why most of these ideas never end up on your screen. Let´s play a little game… A simulation of what usually happens to good ideas. And how easily very good can turn into very bad.

First, let´s look at one of the best ads ever. The SONY BRAVIA commercial “Balls”, directed by danish director Nicolei Fuglsig. A mind-bursting, touching, hypnotic masterpiece! We all know it. But let´s watch it again, shall we?

Done? I know. It´s perfect!

Now let´s imagine it didn´t exist yet. That it was only an idea. A vision in the creative´s head.

The creative writes it down. He presents it to the client. The client likes it. The creative is very, very happy! (He secretly pictures himself on stage at the Cannes Advertising Awards). The agency starts working on the commercial. Production companies are being screened. The creatives talk to directors. The client calls. They have SOME MINOR CHANGES to the script. The creative thinks about jumping out of a near window.

What follows is an ordeal full of horrible abuse and dreadful torture of the script. It´s what happens every day in ad agencies around the globe. It´s what kills most good ideas.

The FALLON guys are really lucky that the following list of MINOR CHANGES never came:

1. The “deserted streets” (line 2 in the script) have to be populated. Sony is a brand for the people. We have to show them!
2. We want to see Branding right from the start. The Logo has to be on screen starting at frame one!
3. We must see THE PRODUCT IN USE. It should be a scene with a young family watching TV. 2 kids, one dog (research shows that kids work!)
5. Include CLOSEUPS of the product.
4. Superimpose the price once you see the product for the first time (which should not be later than 5 seconds into the commercial.)
5. The frog is unacceptable. Animals rights activists will complain. No frog!
6. We don´t like the music. It sound too depressing. We prefer something more cheerful. Lyrics should include the words “color” or “colorful”.
7. The logo in the end must be at least double the size!

We need the revised script with all the changes by tomorrow night. That´s when the FOCUS GROUPS start.

Focus groups. The REAL misery. And the sudden death of EVERY good idea …

When you are an advertising creative, you have to constantly keep a close look on the world around you. And you have to keep asking questions. All the time.

Here´s a question I asked myself the other day:
“How exactly does the little cursor arrow on my screen work?”

The answer comes from Japan.
I always said it: nano technology is on the rise!

The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper.

(Thomas Jefferson)

Even an ordinary lunchbreak can have something special in store if you just keep your eyes open. The other day I walked out the agency and saw this:

In the thrilling world of advertising photography, the automotive sector is the most challenging one. Huge budgets, great technical effort, bodacious locations. The major league of high class photo production.

On location in the breathtaking scenery of a jagged desert canyon: a descending sun produces what we reverentially call “the magic hour”. Bustling activity within the crew. Lights are being set up. Final camera check. On a cliff, at the edge of a humungous gorge, there it stands: a little metal box with a strange glass dome on top …

A new trend is evolving: Car photography without cars.
It´s true. On more and more photo production sets for car advertising, the car is missing.

The magic word is RBV. Reality Based Visualisation. A technology invented by the german company SPHERON VR It is based on the SPHERON CAM (the little metal box), a camera that produces HDR (High Dynamic Range) images. Those capture the complete range of light information of the photographed surroundings. Now all the photographer has to do is take the picture. Without the car.

Back home, the real work starts: The car company supplies the post production with CAD data of the car. And combines it with yet another amazing technology: BRDF. Bi-directional Reflection Distribution Function, which calibrates a material´s reflection attributes.
Now the data is merged into the final picture. Of the car standing on the cliff at the edge of the gorge. Extensive image refining and color correction make the whole thing perfect.

The outcome is high class car photography. That looks very real.

In Germany, one company has taken this technology to perfection: ZERONE CGI.

But what´s next? Fashion photography without models…?