Tactical Ops

The following is possibly one of my favorite ads. I'm sure we've all seen it in the past, whether in Sheehan's class or elsewhere. Regardless, it's a great example of changing the product...well, they didn't actually change or manipulate the product in a huge way, but upon looking at it we all know what it's supposed to be, as well as what the product actually is.

Fiery Fries.
French fry looks like a matchstick. Hot french fries. Spicy french fries from Burger King. Bam, message received.
Beautifully simple copy, art direction, and creative message. Now that's my kind of ad. 



This next ad takes a bit more thought, however the technique of storytelling is what makes it work

This ad is for a music festival in the South called The Garage, which specifically showcases only up-and-coming artists and bands who are either struggling to secure a recording deal for one reason or another or are just having a hard time getting discovered. These are the three ads in the campaign that I've seen, each one showing a beat up, damaged musical instrument, which is meant to tell the story of music that is struggling to make it through yet keeps getting beaten up by the world. The copy encourages you to look for more information on The Garage (and possibly attend the festival) in order to "Keep Music Alive".

This next ad employs the tactic of omission and suggestion. All it shows you is the stem of the pepper, from which you can infer that the pepper has been eaten. And thanks to Alka Seltzer - no heartburn!

However, after doing a double take (cough-connection to blog name-cough =]) and reading the copy, this ad makes you wonder. "Removes the source of heartburn fast" - does that mean the person was able to eat the pepper without worrying about heartburn...or did the Alka Seltzer eliminate the pepper so that all that was deemed safe to eat would be the stem - therefore removing the temptation of eating the pepper and consequently removing the threat of heartburn? I'm sure that's not what Alka Seltzer intended, but...

just some food for thought.