The annual arrival of the Christmas advert onto our screens brings with it a sense of anticipation and a taster of the festive joy to come. What will the John Lewis advert be this year? How will the supermarkets decide to advertise their food? What we do not expect is a tsunami of backlash over…
TV, Venue
The life of the advert
Disney has released a new advert in support of the Make-A-Wish charity. The advert tells the story of grandmother Lola, her granddaughter and their family traditions. The story begins with the cuddly toy of Mickey Mouse being gifted to Lola as a child in 1940. As the advert continues, we see that Mickey becomes a…
Music
Sex sells: the modern music video
Music videos are, at heart, a marketing exercise. Labels don’t throw thousands of pounds at a band to make art, they do it to promote the music and try to sell it. There are four historical ways to market any product: humour, showcasing, controversy and sex. This Is America is a great example of a…
Fashion
Jameela Jamil shames Avon for dimples advert
‘Dimples are cute on your face (not on your thighs)’. This was the thoughtless and, frankly, unbelievable slogan used by beauty company Avon in their most recent marketing campaign. Unsurprisingly, it received instantaneous backlash, most notably from former UK television and radio presenter and current star of Netflix’s The Good Place, Jameela Jamil. As well…
Sex Survey 2019
Why it is okay to be the little spoon
The term ‘spooning’ has increasingly become part of our language over the last decade, bringing with it titles for partners in this now-celebrated cuddling act: the ‘big spoon’ and ‘little spoon’. While being the big spoon (the hugging partner) or the little spoon (the hugged partner) have always had their advantages and disadvantages – as…
Fashion
Gillette Controversy
Gillette is not the first company to endorse a political message within their advertisements, and nor will it be the last. The technique has been employed before by Lynx, Pepsi, and Nike among many others; it isn’t new or ground-breaking. We live in a society where injustice happens regularly, yet marketing campaigns that recognise and…
Comment
Iceland Christmas advert: too political or too pertinent?
Iceland has launched a Christmas advert campaign to raise awareness for deforestation. The narration is by Emma Thompson, in collaboration with Greenpeace. However Clearcast, the NGO that decides which ads to approve, banned it because it was “too political”, according to the 2003 Communications Act. It shows an animation of an orangutan in a girl’s…
Finance
Concrete investigates: the Christmas ad
On the whole, I think it would be safe to say that the Great British Public find TV ads to be a nuisance. They are always appearing just as things are about to get interesting, forcing everyone who’s watching to go and make themselves a cup of tea just to calm down after having had…
Uncategorized
Christmas and consumerism: filling our hearts and emptying our pockets
It’s not Christmas until the John Lewis advert is on our screens. Actually, it’s not even Christmas even when it is on our screens, it’s only just been Halloween – but the point still stands. This year’s sees a young boy and his friendship with a love-struck penguin on the run up to Christmas, who…
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