The New Flake Ad
There’s been a few comments on the post below concerning this ad:
I think it’s worth a post of its own for a few reasons, all of which will become gracelessly clear in the near future.
The first thing to make clear is that it’s a remake of this Alexander McQueen ad. That’s not me being controversial – they’ve used the same director and the two pieces of film are virtually identical.
Other points of interest:
1. It’s one of those ads where I have no idea what the script said. Um… ‘We open on that YouTube clip we just showed you, then stick your logo on the end’. Thanks for the cash, SUCKAZZZ!!1!1!1!
2. Knowing the odd recent history of this brand’s advertising, I’m somewhat surprised they shelved the Jonathan Glazer/Walter Campbell spot to shift the account and make this. It’s pretty dull, forgettable and meaningless. The other ad at least lived up to the Bernbach maxim: ‘If nobody notices your ad, everything else is immaterial’. It was a rip-roaring french tickler of a spot, all dirty looks and thinly-disguised innuendo. The one they’ve chosen to run instead is a vanilla blancmange that you don’t even know is a vanilla blancmange. You eat it then wonder if it was a particularly mild slice of Battenburg instead. If you get my drift.
3. I’m surprised Fallon have gone down the YT-clip-plus-logo route. It ill behooves their creative credentials, particularly at a time when they have lost so much business. All they have to fall back on is their creativity. It’s what built that agency in the first place. Chuck it away and what’s left?
4. Will it sell a bar of Flake? I really don’t think so. Obviously it’s aimed at lay-deez, so I may not be best placed to judge, but do any of the female readers of this blog really want a Flake after watching that? If I was a chick I might want that dress, though. It’s all frilly and expensive-looking.