DEC AD PICKS - CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Merry Christmas, I hope you've all had a great year and you've enjoyed my Ad Picks. Here are a few Christmas ads that stood out for me to end the year.

Everyone always looks out for the John Lewis ad, they are always good fun with an extremely high production, but they still haven't topped Monty the Penguin in my opinion.

This is the closest one to Monty the Penguin. What I enjoyed more than the ad itself was the dragon character promoting certain products on sale at John Lewis in multiple 15 second ads.

There's a great one of him getting the instructions for a Christmas pudding on Google home and just lights it up. It's simple and a fun product demo.

Hiding Christmas gifts is tough, I'm always looking for new spots every year. This ad hits a fun insight that no other Christmas ads this year have done.

I'll leave you with this crafted illustration ad for McDonalds, it brought a big smile to my face and it
was nice to see an ad from a fast food giant at Christmas that didn't have their products in every shot.

See you in January.

OCT/NOV AD PICKS

Hello.

I'm back after a 4 week break to the UK visiting family. I've been busy catching up on ads over the last couple of weeks to create this combined October/November Ad Picks.

This month I've got 6 ads to share with you, but you'll have to wait until next month  for any Christmas ads, as I'll be sharing them in a Christmas Edition of Ad Picks.

The first piece is a problem I used to face a lot Skyping back to the UK before NBN came along. It's a lovely visual piece that looks like it could be a Jackson Pollack artwork, that leads you in to read the copy to realise it's for an internet provider.

This is one of the most powerful ads I've shared this year, it's a tough watch for a tough subject. It's shocking and sickening to find out that Filipino children are sexually abused by their own families.

Of course they couldn't show the actual events or even recreate parts of them. So to act out the abuse using teddy bears and dolls, whilst it still being this striking, is very clever thinking. It shocked me into sharing it too.

Illusion, a CGI and retouching studio in Bangkok (in the past decade have created multi award winning ads for Lego, KFC and Samsonite to name a few) have done it again. 

The craft in this is next level and the visual instantly screams out the benefit of it being powerful, whilst knowing it's a cleaning product without even looking at the product.

Australian and even the UK high streets are struggling with the rise of internet shopping, with many empty shopfronts. It starts to look a bit depressing seeing them everyday.

The Monkeys (this week being named B&T Agency of the Decade) have created this experience for CGU insurance, using these empty spaces to show people the potential.

It's a fun use of the empty walls using them as a blank canvas to excite people into creating their own venture. I hope it helps get the high streets looking healthy again.

The Berlin wall has created so many stories over the years and with the 30th anniversary of its demolition earlier this month, this video 'the voice of the wall' has been created using type from the wall itself.

The type leads you through a story from the wall's perpective in an engaging way that kept me hooked for the whole 2 minutes.

I just saw this ad this morning and this is one of my favourites this month through the comedy and how the funny storyline grows.

Squarespace have got Oscar the Grouch a website for his trash (that everyone finds stylish, inspired by some of Tracey Emin's work) that makes him become the biggest artist in the world. He's not happy about it though.

I'll see you in December for the Christmas edition of 'Ad Picks',

PADC 2019

Earlier this month was the annual PADC award show of 2019.

Gatecrasher had a stellar night picking up 4 Silvers, 2 Bronzes and 2 Finalists. I was heailvy involved in all of of the projects, apart from 1 digital Bronze winner, won by our digital lead Scott Pelham for DFES.

Our winners were:

2 Silvers, Transit, Individual and Ambient//Guerrilla
Perth Zoo - Zoorassic Park

1 Silver, Outdoor,  Individual
Department of Education - Violence in Schools

1 Silver, Ambient//Guerrilla
Perth Zoo - What's crackin' these school holidays?

1 Bronze, Ambient//Guerrilla
PTA - Trains come out of nowhere

1 Finalist, Interactive OOH, Individual
PTA - Trains come out of nowhere

1 Finalist, Outdoor,  Individual
PTA - Misjudged by this much

SEPT AD PICKS

I can't believe it's September already. This month I'm sharing 3 ads that have stuck with me.

The first one has some of the best choreography I've seen in an ad, with a solider battling himself. As I've found in the past, your mind can be your own worst enemy. Meditation helps me a lot. I hope this makes more people aware of the ongoing mental health issues soldiers face.

This next print ad is such a simple ad that hits the point perfectly for the brand - 'keep it simple stupid' works again.

The last one this month is the crazy new Lego spot. When I first saw this I thought it was a very French ad. I had to watch it back to back to take it all in. The amount of hidden easter eggs in this ad are outstanding.

The art direction is on another level. Creating a TV ad for LEGO, when there are multiple LEGO movies out would have been an interesting task and doing it in live action is certainty a different way to experience LEGO.

I'm off to England in a couple of a weeks for a month, so October's Ad Picks will be combined with Novembers one. I hope you have a great month.

NEW WORK - DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Here is a new outdoor ad we've recently done at Gatecrasher for the Department of Education.

When students share and like school fight videos in social media, they actually encourage more violence in doing so. This poster made that point very clearly at bus stops around schools.

Credits:

Client: Department of Education
Agency: Gatecrasher, Perth
Creative Director/Writer: Adam Barker 
Creative Director: Lori Canalini
Senior Art Director: Henry Billington
Copywriter: Hayley Kaptein
Account Director: Lisa Nixon
Retoucher: Jade Foo

AUG AD PICKS

Welcome to August Ad Picks. I've got 5 crackers for you this month, enjoy.

Filming ads from a different perspective is interesting to watch and this one is from a dog. You'll watch it waiting for something to happen and you will be surprised in the end.

I never knew this fact, I don't want to give it away, so watch it now.

I'm loving the cricket at the moment and 2 very distinctive UK and Australia brands have weighed in too with the rivalry. Marmite and Vegemite have been running ads in the UK press poking fun at each other.

I have to give it the poms with this sandpaper ad 'Love it or hate it. We won't be tampering with it'.

The IKEA catalogue is one of the most popular catalogues in the world, probably more read than most books too. This spot will bring a smile to your face introducing you to the IKEA catalogue guru who can fix peoples problems by naming page numbers from it.

I want to get hold of the new catalogue to cross reference all the little gems in this ad.

From the laughter to this serious message about domestic violence. There are multiple silent movies where women are abused by men, I was shocked to know there were so many.

ANAIS in Romania have added real women's abuse stories over this footage and have created a 40 minute movie to unsilence these violent scenes. It's a very powerful idea and it got a media coverage it deserved.

I'll leave you with this stunning visual that stood out for me from Thailand. I wouldn't to drive on this road though. See you in September.

NEW WORK - PTA

Here is a new piece we've been working on at Gatecrasher for PTA (Public Transport Authority) for Rail Safety week. Some people often think it's ok to take short cuts and trespass around train lines (which it 100% isn't), but they don't realise how fast a train can appear out of nowhere.

So we created this projection in the heart of the Perth CBD of a train coming out of nowhere to raise awareness of this issue. Check out the campaign video below:

Credits:

Client: PTA

Client: Kate Johnson, Communications and Publications Manager, PTA
Client: Hayley Menzies, Communications and Publications Manager, PTA
Client: Gemma Holden, A/Communications and Publications Manager, PTA
Client: Bryony Parker, Communications Officer, PTA 

Agency: Gatecrasher, Perth
Creative Director/Writer: Adam Barker 
Creative Director/Art Director: Lori Canalini
Senior Art Director: Henry Billington
Copywriter: Hayley Kaptein
Account Director: Melanie Goh
Digital Campaign Manager: Jamie Siew
Digital Project Manager: Scott Pelham
Digital Campaign Coordinator: Carina Mancinone 

Production: Stir Fry Content Kitchen
Producer/editor: Anouk Ratnawibhushana
DOP/editor: Toby Bajrovic0
CGI Artist: Cameron Aitkenhead 

Projection Technician: Tristan Garner
Operations Manager: Kevin Larson (Austage Perth)
Sound: Alex Wilson (The Sound Guys)  

JULY AD PICKS

This month I've selected 3 ads that stood out for me, please comment at the bottom if there's any ads that stood out for you this month. Enjoy.

The first is a funny campaign for Old Spice 'Never let a friend lose his swagger', this is the best of the 3 in the campaign where a mate is rescued from the Netflix style 'next episode starts in 5' button. They've hit their market well in this ad and it's certainly an ad I'd be sending onto a friend who's like this.

The McDonalds logo is used in many creative ways in the past and here is another fresh way showing diversity in a simple, creative way.

I'm pleased they didn't add the actual logo on, as it's not needed in this simple layout. The yellow background and product are the only things needed to help people along. I can see this picking up some awards over the next year.

Hats off to Paddy Power and Huddersfield Town for this one. They announced their new kit (as all clubs do around this time of year) with a huge PADDY POWER sash on it, a few newspapers and even the FA fell for this PR stunt. People saying it looked like a hens night sash on the kit.

They even wore the kit in one pre season match, which got the club into trouble with the FA, but it was probably worth it for how much free PR they got from it.

Then a few days later Paddy Power announced it was part of their 'Save our shirt' and their logo won't be on the shirt this year (I wish more football clubs had this, as some sponsor logos ruin the look of the kits).

See you next month.

JUNE AD PICKS

Hello. Let's get cracking into June's Ad Picks.

Apple have realised this cool new spot for their AirPods called 'Bounce' just the other day.

This black and white spot transforms everyday walls, cars and pavements into trampolines. It's directed and shot in such a sleek and interesting way. I'm sure you'll keep seeing this video all over the internet from now.

I loved the Simpsons as a kid (I still do), I remember watching the Simpsons every day after school. So now that you can buy the items from their living room, OMG. Genius IKEA.

Are you watching the women's world cup? I've been watching parts of it and it's excellent (not on the sofa above unfortunately).

Lucozade sport have done one of the best world cups ads in my opinion, with their version of the song 'football's coming home', being spoken in this poetic style ad. It's challenging and exciting.

The English women probably have a better chance of winning it than the Men's team too.

This ad for NZ lotto had me hooked from the start telling the story of a flight attendant who lost her ticket while away from her family. Very well casted and directed. Another cracker from NZ.

I hope you enjoyed reading and watching June's ad picks. See you next month.

APR/MAY AD PICKS

Having a baby gives me a lot less time to write this at home now, so I've combined two months Ad Picks in this post, as my son sleeps behind me.

This month I've got two great TVC spots and two outdoor posters to share. Enjoy.

I'll start with this fantastic line 'Don't wait for movies to get old' for Canal + (the French TV channel). You can have so much fun with it and they have recreated parts of Mission Impossible with elderly people doing the action in slow motion. Very well casted too.

I love the art direction is this next McDonalds ad. Making this many elements work together in one image is always tricky and they've pulled it off brilliantly. Bravo.

What a striking image this next one is, pure visual. One for Lürzer's Archive.

I'll leave you with this fun and slightly creepy spot. I don't want to give it away, so I'm not saying anymore who it is for.

 He's starting to wake up, so I'll see you in June.

NEW WORK - PERTH ZOO

We installed multiple decals over pavement cracks in high pedestrian traffic areas to encourage visitation to Perth Zoo over the Easter holiday period.

Keep an eye out for them if you're around South Perth over the next couple of weeks.

MAR AD PICKS

I missed my deadline by a couple of days. I've got a good excuse though as March has been a life changing month for my family with my wife giving birth to our first child, Theo at the start of the month.

Let's get cracking into the ads.

The first spot is very Wes Anderson esque, shall I say anymore?

The second spot is another brand creating a product, not an ad. They've created the Fire Vase, a flower vase that acts as a fire extinguisher, so when you throw it onto a fire the chemicals inside it put the fire out. The impact it has on the fire really surprised me, in a good way.

I hope this saves a lot of peoples lives and I can see them picking up some international awards for this one.

The last ad this month is this strong print campaign  'Belt Survivors', showing you even the tough guys wear seatbelts. The photography is really striking in the whole series and it stood out for me.

I hope you'e enjoyed this months delayed post. See you at the end of this month.

FEB AD PICKS

Welcome to February's Ad Picks.

I want to start this month with a new Nike Italy spot from W&K London, it's a fast paced ad with one of the best music tracks in an ad I've seen in a while. The track carries along awesome footage with some interesting transitions between each scene (the football one is great).

I felt like I had to watch this ad back to back to take the whole ad in.

It was also the month of the Super Bowl. I felt none of the ads topped previous years ads. I enjoyed the Hyundai ad with Jason Bateman, the Amazon spot and I thought the HBO with Bud Light was clever with the upcoming Game of Thrones Season.

But I felt Skittles had the most fun with 'Broadway the Rainbow', I really hope it does become a Broadway show. I'm not sure if it's as good last years though, when they made a movie and only showed it to one person. What was your favourite Super Bowl ad this year?

You have to read this long copy ad for Refuge in the UK about domestic violence. Read it first from top to bottom, then read it from bottom to top. It's incredibly well written and engaging enough to read the whole thing twice.

I wanted to leave you with a fun spot that will make you smile. I reckon when the creative team presented this to the client they just said 2 phases  - Pimp my ride and cute pets.

See you in March.

JAN AD PICKS

I hope you had a great break. Let's jump straight into 2019 with the first of many Ad Picks.

The first isn't so much an ad, but this will save thousands if not millions of lives. It's scary that people can 3D print guns undetected. This company along with TBWA put a stop to it in a clever undetected way.

This next ad poses an interesting question and brings it to life in a strong way. 1 in 3 businesses in the UK have been hacked. We all think cyber problems are online issues and don't think how it effects the people offline.

AMV BBDO London have hacked this real life bike shop creating a clone of it and hitting them with same problems online companies get - robbing them of their ideas and inventions.

See you in Feb.