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May 18th, 2013 // 1:27 pm @ andy // 3 Comments
Hello there. Yes, it’s me. Back again with more advertising related shenanigans. Now, I was going to start off with all my usual excuses regarding how long it’s been since I wrote anything on here. Busy, busy, busy, blah, blah, blah. Working in award winning Manchester advertising agencies, blah, blah. Popping over to America a bit, blah. But no. Today’s different. Today it’s something new. Today I’m just so bemused by a piece of advertising, (well, two actually but we’ll cross that bridge later), that I just want to get started. You with me? Good. Let’s go.
The reason I’m so bemused, nay bewildered, nay befuddled, is that the two pieces are for the same client. A client that, by and large, does fairly consistently good stuff too. And who is that client? I hear no-one in particular not asking. That client is Audi, that’s who.
Now I’m sure loads and loads and loads of you will have seen, heard or heard about the two Spocks one. And quite rightly so. It’s ace. I mean, just have a look.
Lovely that, isn’t it? I love the way the ad kind of steps back and lets the performances take the lead. The product really is secondary here. Obviously there are some beautiful, sexy car porn shots but come on, it’s a car ad and I, for one, love a bit of car porn if I’m honest. And let’s get this out there once and for all, I occasionally am. I also love the little twist that Merc Spock wins, technically. It just all feels like Audi having a bit of fun and sharing it with us. Funny, clever, grown-up, childish advertising.
Which is what makes the next ad even more bewildering. It’s the new Audi SQ5 ‘style or substance spot’ and it’s truly, madly, deeply awful in it’s awful awfulness. Have a peek.
Now I feel sure that it can’t be just me that thinks the camera is a bit too loving, a bit too leering, a bit too well, just vicious in it’s lingering, almost prurient, shots of the beautiful, elegant, aloof lady being brought down to earth with a bump, (and a very nasty bump at that), by a wayward heel. Isn’t it all a little cruel? And isn’t it a tiny bit voyeuristic too? Is that ripping seam exposing a thigh really necessary? And isn’t there just a touch of ‘serves you right, bitch’ misogyny about the whole scenario?
And then, as a final touch, the SQ5 cruising past our damsel in distress as she sits bruised and bewildered in the rain seems just like a final dash of humiliation for that self important slapper.
Well that’s how it feels to me, anyway.
And really, even if is just me who feels that selling a luxury motor based on someone else’s suffering is a tad distasteful, then the ad isn’t really doing a great job, is it?
So there you have it. A roaring success and a raw stinker from the same stable. Odd, isn’t it?
UPDATE…
Now here’s a funny thing. Just a few days after I posted the above blog, I saw the Audi sQ5 ad again. Lo and behold, the lingering shots of the lady’s ripped skirt and exposed thighs are no longer there, the sQ5 doesn’t appear to drive past any more and the voiceover no longer talks about style over substance. This time it’s some guff about ‘truly good design should never let you down’ and ‘beautiful engineering’.
Here, have a look.
So perhaps it wasn’t just me who found the ad in it’s original form ever so slightly repellent.
Then again, perhaps it was just me and Mr. Audi boss man reads thatandywhiteblog, living in fear of my incisive reviews.
Maybe I really am that powerful.
Now that’s a scary thought.
Category : Advertising &Blog &humour &Uncategorized