Tuesday
Apr012008
Posted on 
Apr 1, 2008
Apr 1, 2008 Manufacturing Real…
Are your ads sterile?
By Anna Gerard, Wizard of Ads Associate
Life is perfectly imperfect… And that… is the secret to its magnetism. There isn’t any such place as Pleasantville where everyone smiles and no one steps in dog poo.
The problem with advertising is too much of it, particularly tv and radio, is missing the dog poo… It’s just too sterile.
The other day I listened back to a radio commercial of mine and decided it was “mediocre” at best. For a while I couldn’t figure out why… the idea was ok, the voices were fine, but the problem was noise… or rather a lack of… The scenario was a hubby and wife mid argument, yet there was no noise except for the two voices… A studio producer’s bad habit… to make commercials sound flawless.
Silence might be golden but it doesn’t live in my neighbourhood… this morning I stopped… I stopped in my bathroom and just stood… listening… Within 5 minutes a plane flew over, I could hear the trucks of a roadwork crew nearby; the guy next door clanged last night’s bottles in the bin and the wind sneaking in the corner of my bedroom window causing a “thwack thwack” of blind on blind.
Life’s symphony doesn’t stop, it’s always present… the hum of an air conditioner, a car radio, the sound of wind stirring the trees, a newspaper blowing off a table, someone coughing… take that away and you take people away from what’s real.
So insist your ads be real… Real could be you voicing your commercials… the smooth radio announcer has had his day! Real could be recording the ad outside… watch the production guys go nuts when they can’t find a wind sock to block that “dreadful” noise! Real could be getting real reactions from customers, even strangers… Real could be doing something completely off the wall… And coming up with the most amazing result.
Sony Bravia decided for a tv campaign to toss 250,000 balls dancing down a San Francisco street. You’ve probably seen it, but did you know it’s 100 percent real… Watch the making of the ad.
I’m sure this concept would have cost a lot less to computer generate, but would it have been as spectacular? Take a look at the finished product.
Life’s imperfections are what make this so magnetic… the surprise of a frog leaping out a drain pipe, the way an abandoned bicycle rests against a power pole, the way juice spills out as a trash can tips to the ground. Would the computer wiz have thought of that? Or would they have made it perfect?
Most of the time we look past the simple moments in life, looking for something more spectacular, but the truth is real life is more captivating than any make believe.
Perfectly imperfect moments… they cling to something inside, and pull you in, because you know… they’re just like you.
Life is perfectly imperfect… And that… is the secret to its magnetism. There isn’t any such place as Pleasantville where everyone smiles and no one steps in dog poo.
The problem with advertising is too much of it, particularly tv and radio, is missing the dog poo… It’s just too sterile.
The other day I listened back to a radio commercial of mine and decided it was “mediocre” at best. For a while I couldn’t figure out why… the idea was ok, the voices were fine, but the problem was noise… or rather a lack of… The scenario was a hubby and wife mid argument, yet there was no noise except for the two voices… A studio producer’s bad habit… to make commercials sound flawless.
Silence might be golden but it doesn’t live in my neighbourhood… this morning I stopped… I stopped in my bathroom and just stood… listening… Within 5 minutes a plane flew over, I could hear the trucks of a roadwork crew nearby; the guy next door clanged last night’s bottles in the bin and the wind sneaking in the corner of my bedroom window causing a “thwack thwack” of blind on blind.
Life’s symphony doesn’t stop, it’s always present… the hum of an air conditioner, a car radio, the sound of wind stirring the trees, a newspaper blowing off a table, someone coughing… take that away and you take people away from what’s real.
So insist your ads be real… Real could be you voicing your commercials… the smooth radio announcer has had his day! Real could be recording the ad outside… watch the production guys go nuts when they can’t find a wind sock to block that “dreadful” noise! Real could be getting real reactions from customers, even strangers… Real could be doing something completely off the wall… And coming up with the most amazing result.
Sony Bravia decided for a tv campaign to toss 250,000 balls dancing down a San Francisco street. You’ve probably seen it, but did you know it’s 100 percent real… Watch the making of the ad.
I’m sure this concept would have cost a lot less to computer generate, but would it have been as spectacular? Take a look at the finished product.
Life’s imperfections are what make this so magnetic… the surprise of a frog leaping out a drain pipe, the way an abandoned bicycle rests against a power pole, the way juice spills out as a trash can tips to the ground. Would the computer wiz have thought of that? Or would they have made it perfect?
Most of the time we look past the simple moments in life, looking for something more spectacular, but the truth is real life is more captivating than any make believe.
Perfectly imperfect moments… they cling to something inside, and pull you in, because you know… they’re just like you.
Reader Comments (1)
The concept of "perfectly imperfect" can also be witnessed in art and music. The Rolling Stones hit song, "Gimme Shelter" provides a fascinating example.
First, the Stones used a old, broken-down guitar amp to produce the scratchy, howling rifts that would match the song’s apocalyptic lyrics.
Second, the group brought in guest vocalist, Merry Clayton to sing the song's hook. During the last stanza, Clayton's voice cracked several times as she belted out the emotional lyrics, "Rape, murder; It's just a shot away, It's just a shot away,"
Rather than have her sing another take, the Stones decided to keep Clayton's "imperfect" vocals as is. Their decision elevated the song to perfection as her voice crack mirrored the distorted guitar sound as well as the song's haunting lyrics.
How many producers would have missed adding this "real" emotion by insisting on "perfect" lyrics containing no voice crack?