Advertising at its best

When someone mentions advertising to you, most people think they are referring to things such as magazine adverts, tv commercials, billboards, websites, that sort of stuff, but there is an emerging side to advertising that is so much cooler.

This is the sort of advertising that makes you do a double take when you see it, and also maybe makes you smile at the ingeniuty of it. Somewhat similar to street art in a way, the advertising utilizes every aspect of our lives (our habitat, everyday objects etc) to produce innovative messages that you're sure to remember.



This piece of bag advertising is for the Dubai Autism Centre, and it's simplicity is what makes it such a striking form of advertising. It plays on basic human emotions (more maternal i'd say), and to great effect. Via Snopes.com, check it out for more examples of "Bagvertising"



Handing this out is sure to get you remembered by potential clients. A neat rubber business "card" for a personal trainer.



This real world advert/installation for an art exhibition is great! Sure to make potential customers smile (always a good thing!), this ad would probably have been the talking point of the area it was installed, thus potentially driving up sales/interest in the actually exhibition. By M&C Saatchi.



Another funny ad, but this time in the more familiar setting of a bus stop advertising board. The beauty of this ad is in it's content, which is for a jeans company. It says, "At this moment, your bum is completely exposed. If it were in a sexy pair of jeans, it would attract attention all the time!" Pure genius. By Bruketa Zinic and via I Believe in adv.



This advertisement for Dulcolax by Euro RSCG is sure to grab the attention of people passing by. Apart from it's direct approach, this ad is strategicly placed in front of a Pharmacist, with the intention of driving up sales.



Clever advertising can also be extremely effective for communicating more serious messages to an audience aswell, with this magazine avertisement as a prime example. The user gets to this particular page in the book/magazine and the only way to open the spread fully is to "break" the chains, revealing the message, "Ending slave labour is not easy". Extremely effective, simple and striking communication. Via I Believe in adv.



This has to be one of my favourite ad campaigns of all time. Like all greats, it's simple, yet so effective. Made for a tv station in Malaysia, it consists of a few helium filled missile shaped balloons attached to a truck. When the truck is in motion, it apears that 3 heat seeking missiles are chasing it. Campaign by JWT Malaysia.

If you're into this sort of thing, here are a few links to get your creative juices flowing:

http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/
http://adsoftheworld.com
http://www.ibelieveinadv.com

I'd also highly recommend "Guerrilla Advertising" by Gavin Lucas and Michael Dorrian, it has loads of innovative ideas, all accompanied by great commentary.