Pepsi Uncle Drew advertisements

Pepsi have recently released the long awaited, much anticipated part 4 to their 'Uncle Drew' series.

The advertisements feature professional Basketball player Kyrie Irving disguised as an elderly man playing basketball against young people at the park. He lulls them into a false sense of security at first by making mistakes before turning it on and playing amazing basketball.

Each part features a new Basketball player alongside Irving and each one is as amusing and entertaining as the last for Basketball fans.

Fans of the series have waited over 2 years for a new addition to Uncle Drew and their dreams have come true.

The short viral advertisements created by 'The Marketing Arm' advertising agency have a huge following and I am a huge fan of the series, I often find myself getting involved in the speculation of who will be the next basketball player to be included.

Creating such a huge buzz for these viral videos can only be good for Pepsi. Fans eagerly anticipate the next part and Pepsi have gained a huge following because of it.

Cat treats 'temptations' advertisement

Adam&EveDDB have created an incredibly unique advertisement for the cat treats brand 'Temptations'. The minute long advertisement features various different cats dressed up in festive outfits.

The message conveyed at the end of the advertisement is that you should apologise to your cat for dressing them up in ridiculous outfits by giving them temptations treats.

The advertisement is very amusing and a unique way of selling the product and also a unique way of capturing the zeitgeist of the Christmas period.

Warburton's win the war on Christmas?

Warburton's christmas advertisement featuring the Muppets singing the 'Giant Crumpet Show' song has been voted the best Christmas advertisement of 2015.

In a time when Christmas advertising is usually dominated by the sad short stories, usually created by supermarkets it is quite strange and refreshing to see a bakers win the war on Christmas advertising with a comedy advertisement featuring the muppets.

The advertisement created by WCRS London, Featuring old classic characters such as Kermit and Miss Piggy using their famous sense of humour is hilarious and has proved wildly popular with the general public.

Using a comedic tone of voice is pretty unique for Christmas advertisements, so it is great that it has been so well received so far.

St Johns Ambulance- Chokeables

St Johns ambulance have decided to create awareness on how to help save a choking baby after a recent survey suggested that 79% of parents would not know how to save one.

The advertisement created by BBH features various miscellaneous objects that babies could choke on voiced by several celebrities such as David Mitchell and Jonny Vegas all explaining what to do if a baby starts to choke.

Roughly 21 million people the advertisement in it's first week on television. Also, apparently many babies have been saved as a direct result of the advertisement, many people claiming that they learned the technique from the short clip.

In that regard the advertisement is a huge success. The main goal would have been to raise awareness of this issue and explain how they can stop these accidents from happening.

By creating this short animated advert, they have achieved their goal and saved lives in the process of doing so.

'This Girl Can' campaign

Sport England introduced a campaign called 'This Girl Can'. The campaign features 'real' girls working out.

Created by FCB Inferno, the advertisements intention was to combat women's fears of working out
after a recent survey suggested that 75% of women would like to work out more, but don't because of the fear that they will be judged.

Sport England also released an app to support this campaign and encouraged women to post videos of themselves working out.

The campaign has clearly been very successful, winning nine Cannes Lions since its release.

Targeting a real-life issue is often a great approach to take with an advertising campaign, as it often gets many people talking.

Listerine - Feel every Smile

Most people take smiling for granted. Its an everyday expression and interaction that most of us have on a day-to-day basis. For blind people however, it is much more difficult for them to know whether or not people around them are smiling.

Listerine introduced an app to four blind people which uses facial recognition technology to recognise a persons smile. The blind user can wear their phone around their neck and if a person is looking at them and smiling the phone will vibrate.

The short video advertisement which features the four blind people shows them using the app and experience what it is like to see someone smile. They are also asked what a smile means to them.

The advertisement is beautiful and heart-warming and is different to the majority of toothpaste advertisements out there, which tend to focus on gleaming white teeth and high key lighting.

Listerine’s brand director Alice Lovell says the brand are trying to focus more on what a smile means to different people.

Listerine have done a great job standing out from the crowd by producing a great and thought provoking campaign.

Coca Cola's one brand strategy

Coca Cola have radically changed their advertising strategy this year. As opposed to all of the separate products having their individual advertising campaigns, they have decided to bring all of their products together and advertise them as one.

This is an interesting strategy from Coca Cola, bringing all four of their popular products together rather than advertise them individually.

I personally like the choice that Coca Cola have made and like the look of the products altogether.

Everyone has their favourite Coca Cola product and by bringing them together like this just subtly reminds people that Coca Cola are the company responsible for so many different products and flavours.

WWF's endangered emoji

Weiden & Kennedy have created a campaign for WWF titled 'Endangered Emoji'. According to WWF 17 of the emoji animals are endangered.

Using a zeitgeist to communicate a serious issue is an incredible thing for WWF to do. According to a recent study by the BBC the 'emoji' is the fastest growing language in the world. Therefore, WWF are able to communicate this serious issue with the whole world by using these unique characters that virtually everyone can understand.

By signing up to the campaign, you can donate 10 pence to the WWF for every endangered animal you tweet.

This incredibly unique campaign is considered one of the best advertising moves of the year and I can't help but agree. This is a great idea and I hope it proves to be successful for the WWF.

Great Business move spotted locally

I recently walked past a Timpson Dry cleaners and noticed a sign outside. The sign reads: 'If you are unemployed and need an outfit cleaned for an interview, we will clean it for free!'

This is not only a really great gesture by Timpson but also a great bit of advertising for them as a company. If an unemployed person does this, they are likely to return to the company if they are happy with the service. Also, even if people are not unemployed, just by seeing the sign they will appreciate the gesture and recognise the good nature of the company.

A subtle gesture like this one can be great for the reputation for a company.

Vodafone & Terry the Turkey

Vodafone's Christmas advertisement features a family lovingly raising a Turkey which appears that they will eat on Christmas Day. When the time comes however, the Father of the family decides against it and they all have a nut roast instead.

In a time when most companies are attempting to pull on the heart strings of the nation with their Christmas advertising, it is quite refreshing to see Vodafone us a comedic tone of voice whilst still portraying the value of family at Christmas time.

It may not get the recognition of the likes of Sainsbury's and John Lewis, but I think Vodafone have done a great job from standing out from the crowd by using a slightly different tone of voice.

'Robert Dyas' Sexuality advertisement [Ethics]

Robert Dyas is a DIY store based in London. Like most retailers at the moment they have recently released their Christmas advertisement for this year.

Their Christmas advertisement features both members of staff and customers commenting on their sexuality and also information about the store and their products.

The acceptance of sexuality is a zeitgeist at the moment, especially after many recent laws being changed in many different countries allowing same sex marriage. However, this advertisement is somewhat confusing as it seems to have no real proposition or agenda, other than the fact that the company support any sexuality.

The advertisement has certainly got people talking however, many people simply confused by the random nature of the advertisement. Any publicity is good publicity!

Creative local advertising in Stoke-on-Trent

An illustrator who goes by the name 'eight bit' has created some alternative illustrations for A local coffee shop in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent called 'Tsp.' The illustrations depict the latest John Lewis Christmas advertisement 'Man on the moon' but with a unique twist. When the little girl sends the telescope to the old man, as opposed to being happy he is disappointed to not receive cake. The slogan then reads 'Show someone they're loved this Christmas! (With Cake)

Christmas advertisements are a zeitgeist at the moment, the John Lewis advertisement in particular has got people talking more than most. To capture the zeitgeist with such unique illustrations is great for a small business to do!

Domestic abuse interactive billboard

London Agency WCRS have created the worlds first interactive billboard for Women's Aid

The billboard features a woman who has been domestically abused and has bruises on her face. The advertisement uses facial recognition to identify how many people are looking at the advertisement. The more people that are looking at the advertisement, the more that the injuries on her face disappear. The message here is that more people should be paying attention and acknowledging the serious issue of domestic abuse.

This advertisement could be considered a form of 'shockvertising'; which tends to be effective when raising awareness of serious issues, however disturbing or upsetting they may be.

The unique format of this advertisement is another reason for people to pay attention to this issue, which would have been Women's Aids main goal.

Protein World controversial advertisement

Protein World were relatively unknown until recent controversy with a print advertisement for their weight loss protein shakes.

The advertisement features a slender, half naked woman with the caption 'Are you beach body ready?'.

The advertisement featured 378 ASA complaints and there was also a petition to remove the advertisement from London Underground which received over 40,000 signatures. The ads were also defaced and there was even a hashtag #EachBodysReady.

Protein World CEO Arjun Seth was immensely pleased with the advertisement however, even with the negativity surrounding it. He claimed 'sales have tripled' and the 'PR department got their bonus'.

Although the general public are upset with this advertisement, you cannot argue with statistics. If sales are going to triple, I'm sure they would do it again in a heartbeat.

Kit Kat unique print advertisement

J Walter Thompson London have created a unique and subtle print advertisement for Kit Kat during the 'Black Friday' chaos.

The advertisement uses the vernacular of shopping to capture the zeitgeist of Black Friday, by subtly using the chocolate fingers within a barcode.

Capturing a zeitgeist is vital in advertising and the way that J Walter Thompson London have done this for Kit Kat is fantastic.

Coca-Cola fascinating packaging

Coca Cola are one of the most iconic brands in the world; especially when it comes to festive advertising and branding. They re-invented Santa Claus' suit and have one of the most iconic Christmas advertisements of all-time- The Holiday's are coming.

This year Coca-Cola have released some special-edition bottles with some incredibly unique packaging that forms a ribbon.

The Christmas-themed packaging would certainly cause an average consumer to look twice and is a great and unique way to get involved with Christmas branding.

John Lewis inspires

Age UK have recently seen a huge increase in volunteers since the release of the John Lewis' Christmas advertisements; which tugged on the heartstrings of the nation.

The advertisement encourages the audience to spend time with their loved ones; especially those who may not have any company at Christmas time.

Although the advertisement by Adam&EveDDB has largely split opinions this year, there is no denying it's success and in this case it even causes a positive contribution to society.

Digital Adshells

Companies are constantly attempting to make use of new technology in order to promote their brands. 'Adshells' at bus stops for example, have usually been an exception to this, up until recently.

Adshel is a company attempting to revolutionise adshells and billboards by making them digital; which could mean less print advertising.

An advantage of this form of advertising is the potential to be more engaging to passers by as oppose to a static image. A disadvantage of this, is the potential dangers and distractions a digital billboard could be to drivers. Overall it is just yet another platform for businesses to utilise.

Take Mini for example, who have made great use of digital advertising by showing the corresponding colours of traffic lights on their cars; demonstrating the range of colours that the mini is available in.