There are many ways of writing ads. Simply stating that your product is good. Giving evidence that it’s good. Or making people feel that it’s good. Ai could spit out versions of the first two pretty quickly, but it’d struggle on the third. The third requires a bit of psychology, observation and understanding of what makes people tick. Bill Bernbach put it this way “It took millions of years for man’s instincts to develop. It will take millions more forRead more
Posts tagged: #Pat Fallon
Hands up who’s heard of TOM LICHTENHELD?
In the late 80s, I discovered a discount bookshop on Shaftesbury Avenue, amongst the junk, ‘Knitting For The Whole Family’ and ‘Fun With Chives’ were piles American advertising books I’d never heard of; One Show Annuals. They were dirt cheap – £4.99. For the cost of one D&AD Annual I could buy six One Shows. So I bought six One Shows. The work was a revelation. Bolder, funnier and less genteel than the stuff in the D&AD. One agency stoodRead more
INTERVIEW: George Gier.
I’ve been on a bit of a Fallon McElligott tear recently. American awards annuals were stuffed with an obscene amount of their work, for over two decades. As varied as the work is, whether it’s Rolling Stone’s Perception/Reality campaign, Porsche’s ‘About as fast as you can go without eating airline food’, BMW Films, Miller’s ‘Evil Beaver’, Citibank’s ‘Live Richly’, it all has that same joyous vibe. You can sense that people enjoyed creating it. So expect a bunch of FallonRead more
PODCAST: Tom McElligott.
After years of being amazed at what was on the net, I’m now increasingly surprised at what’s not. Three years ago I was trawling for a particular ad of Tom’s, not only couldn’t I find it I could barely find any of his work. Outraged, I gathered together as much of his work as I could lay my hands on and put out a post called ‘Hands Up Who’s Heard Of Tom McElligott’. I was trying to be snarky and ironic, like you may writeRead more
Hands up who’s heard of MARY WELLS?
Bernbach. Lois. Gossage. McCabe. Ally. Chiat. Wieden. McElligott. Goodby. What about Wells? I can only recall hearing that name once in the last twenty years. Uttered by Tim Delaney. In a tone that suggested he didn’t think she was completely useless. Unusual, so it stuck with me. When her autobiography came out, I was first in line. But her tone was jarring. “Sure I had in me what it takes to lead the agency into becoming a global behemoth, butRead more