Every little apostrophe helps

Is Tesco doing their own copywriting now?

Piss poor pee campaign

Now I'm going to have a guess at how this diabolical mish-mash of an ad came about.

Chester Council person 1: We need to make a campaign to stop people from pissing in our town centre.

Chester Council person 2: I've got a computer with some photo editing software on it.

Chester Council person 1: Well that means you have all you need to create an advert. No need to outsource the work to a proper advertising agency - we can do it ourselves.

And if that's not how it happened - and the work was outsourced to an agency, then I'm going to start an ad business in Chester.

UFC trailer

This is a trailer for an upcoming UFC fight.

What is a Tissue Meeting?

I've been hearing whispers about a new type of trendy meeting. It's called the 'Tissue Meeting'. Now as I'm the type of person who gets his nose wipes from the toilet roll I wondered what on earth this could mean. Is office space so expensive that people are expected to hold meetings in the WC. And would that be in a cubical or by the taps.
I've known a few advertising types in my time who have a penchant for meeting in the cubicals for one reason or another. But I don't recall anyone using the term 'tissue meeting' to arrange such a rendezvous. "Hey. I've got some great gear. Fancy a tissue meeting in the toilet?"

There's only one reason why someone would define a meeting as a'Tissue Meeting'. That's because the people who organise one have got their heads so far up their arses - that they need something to wipe away all the crap.

Have you no pride?

What is wrong with advertising people these days? When I went into the business it was because I liked to create ideas. New ones that I could call my own, or at least mine and my Art Director's. And maybe include a creative Director as well in the credits. I digress. The main point being that I wanted to create stuff that had never been done before, although I accept that everything has its influences.
Lately I seem to be seeing an increasing number of re-hashes of ads that were originally created for other brands. In my mind the worst culprit of all is the brand that adopts the "I'm a ........" as its umbrella idea.

Here are just a few of recent times.

I'm a PC (Microsoft)
I am Nikon (Nikon)
I am  Giulietta (Alfa Romeo.See below)

What I don't understand is who thinks it's so darn good in the first place to want to use it. And even then, don't they know it's been used time and time again.
I can almost hear the researchers and the planners justifying its existence. "The poeple who drive the Guilettarrrhhhh are the type of people who see themselves as Guilettarrrhhhh types." And so they come up with a campaign that simply affirms that simple observation.

Not only is it unoriginal. It's just not creative at all. It's like something someone says in focus group.

Researcher: "If you were a car, what type of car would you be?"
Man1: "I'd be a Ferrari."
Researcher: "Don't you mean. Guilettarrrhhhh?"
Man1: "Oh yes. That's what I meant. Do I still get my 20 quid?"

Day V Lately

I don't actually mind the re-hash of the old Yellow Pages ad...'J R Hartley'. The new one being called 'Day V Lately'. But one thing really bugs me about one aspect of it, which is the Day V Lately part. I mean what kind of name is that? I don't get why his real name is so bizzare. I've never met anyone called 'Day'.
I've met a Ray and a Jay and a Shay.
Ray V Lately would have been much more apt and probably tie in with the timing of his record.

Mobile blogging

So I just got my first smart phone. I'm wondering if it will change the way I comment on the world of advertising. It's now possible for me to see an advert and snap it with my 5 meg button and post it within seconds.
With this amout of freedom to blog any where, anytime, there's a distinct possibility I'll post any old tosh.