4439 pencils 4439 pencils 
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Comments
Bet you can't eat just one.
here's the good news: you have a fine ad. it makes sense, it's clear, it's addressing a point of significance to a large chunk of the populous. case closed.
but ask yourself if this is the kind of ad that, were you the ECD looking for a writer (or art director, okay), made you race back to your desk and pick up the phone because you HAD to get this genius in right away? what would a great manager look for? someone who approached a problem from the angle ten other people in his department might or someone who just came up with something completely left-field?
this is not an ad I would have never expected to be written for maltesers. it's a direct line from candy to diet to permission. a mathematician could have gotten to this point. that doesn't make this any less good but it negates greatness. that's an important difference when you want to work at a shop that values creativity.
perhaps you've read 'hey whipple, squeeze this' and perhaps you remember that line luke wrote about an ad depicting a man standing on his arms and how the line better was going to be about the device that kept the change in his pockets. that's unexpected. david abbott's management trainee aged forty-two who never read the economist was unexpected because this was a magazine full of damn reportage articles. it made sense when he spelled it out but who would have ever thought of it until then if not that nice, middle-class british gentleman in the corner who never could write anything but lines made to market to nice, middle-class british gentlemen?
I'm writing all this to encourage you to drop this ad and start over. do lines, by all means do. not enough people can really write captivating lines. so do a bunch of lines but ask yourself with every line you write if it made you look at maltesers in a way you had never looked at them before. yes, stick to diets and calories but make it more obscure, surprising, unexpected. it might take 10 and it might take 300 but if you stick to it you may very well hit solid gold. writing is a lot about keeping at it and beating your own brain into submission. it's the ones who lack tan and social lives that end up being superstar writers.
good luck.
Wow, that was a mouthful. Thanx for being stimulated enough by this to have you write such an academic response. Indeed you make sense to me and perhaps I should read some more literature. I'm happy with this little ditty but my brain is always open to improvement of ideas.
Thanks for your encouraging monologue.
D
don't you have work to do?
you could have written: OK. Not great. Work harder.
it works... i think it can make money, who cares about the score? :)
ah yes, but making money isn't the point here. getting hired is.
but yeah, if I just wanted the brief off my desk, you'd be right.
Sounds like he's in account management or wants to be.
ah well...
in Singapore you are driven to think business alongside your creative work. At the end it's money matters, as we are not gallery artist but we're in making money business. Great artistic and captivating portfolio is one thing, another thing is the profit and ROI graph :) I train myself to think as businessman as one day everyone wants to have their own business and not trying to suck up boss' ass at all time.
By the way,... even I'm not in accounts, I'm a strong believer that advertisement is about business. If it's a great art direction, great visual, great copy, but it doesn't sell,.. it's not an ad... maybe just a poster? And guess what,.. this is ads of the world forum :)
Most of us here think of creativity first. I make money doing what I love and leave the business to those who know best. You will make a great manager probably and good luck to you. If money is your key motivation then I don't value your input on anyones creative work here. We all know we have to sell a product and that is one of the main criterea which makes a great ad, it just goes without saying and fuels our creativity.
"...I don't value your input on anyones creative work here."
Sorry to let you down, I would keep that in mind, from now on I would make sure it is not your work that I would comment.
Dude you JUST said that creativity is not nearly as important as the bottom line. I wouldn't take to heart any creative criticism from an accountant, so why should anyone else?
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"I saw a subliminal ad executive once, but only for a second." - The Wright
www.ryanfox.ca
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I have thousands of points and $1.50 so I'm off to Starbucks
I disagree with what you guys said.
A good advertising creative should think both creatively and strategically.
Creative without a strategy is called art. Creative with a strategy is called advertising.
Ya but this is a spec creative review site. We're not discussing ROI here.
____________________________________________________________
"I saw a subliminal ad executive once, but only for a second." - The Wright
www.ryanfox.ca
____________________________________________________________
I have thousands of points and $1.50 so I'm off to Starbucks
"think business" sounds like code for "who cares if it makes sense, let's just make the logo bigger" ... and that is actually harming business. we value creaqtivity not because we want to see our work in some sort of gallery space, which rarely happens anyway, but because we like to make a cohesive and convincing argument for our client. creativity results in consumers being given a reason to do x, y or z. that is not vanity but a smart business decision.
"who cares if it makes sense, let's just make the logo bigger" --> this doesn't make sense at all.
Anyway I don't mean business is the only criteria, as all of you believe that creativity is not the only criteria. At the end creativity sells, I just pointed that when the creativity doesn't sell then it's just as good as a frame for your wall to boost your pride and self satisfaction. I do value creativity, but I value more a creativity that sells. It is true that I'm not a pure designer or creative artist, I left that phase and moving on.
Anyway this discussion is out of topic and not a desired input for the work,.. someone pls move it to the dungeon if you want to continue talking about this, I'll be happy to exchange minds.
okay, perhaps I need to explain this again: what makes an ad sell? a concept that does make sense. that is creativity. not some kind of photography or clever type treatment. the problem with clients who "just want to have something that sells" is that these types of people usually don't care if an idea makes sense. they just want their ad to be highly visible and thus make the logo as big as possible. that's how you end up with smiling chicks on posters with a massive logo. no message, no concept, no incentive. the result is actually the opposite of the intended outcome - the ad ends up less relevant to people and gets ignored.
remember fallon's old line? "if you can't outspend them, outsmart them" ... that outsmart? figuring how to to that? THAT'S what creativity is.
people who proclaim creativity as anything other than finding a superior solution to achieve a goal (i.e. "selling") are usually chief marketing officers who just don't have a clue what creativity is. sadly there are creatives who don't either.
krautland you teach? Kids out there would benefit from it :)
no, I'm just a guy who spends time thinking about how he could get better himself a lot. in other words: I'm neurotic.
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I think it is evry good. is it a real ad?
Could be.
Don't break your balls over calories??? Doesn't make any sense.
It makes perfect sense, 'don't break your balls' means, don't worry or don't get worked up about calories. If you read the tag, it is stating that each ball has only 11 calories. This is a very, very good ad. Read what krautland said.
Nice ad, clever copy.
just wondering who your market is - dont bust your balls is clearly a guy thing so I'm thinking this might appeal to guys, but having said that how many guys who eat this product care about how many calories in each ball
I think it wouldn't be out of place for a metrosexual kind of market, not all males fit the streotype of beer swilling, steak drenched in fat, yobos and there's plenty of male oriented print publications around. The benefit should refer to kilojules rather than calories to be more masculine. I actually like the fact that it is applying a traditionally female concern with a male tone. I like twists.
Stop defending this stupid ad as if it was yours.
Maltesers, like galaxy, are mostly targeted at women. Women don't have balls. Maybe only the ones in your town do.
Hence, "Don't break your balls" doesn't make any sense. If you go through a book of english idioms, and try to find a suitable client for each idiom, that doesn't make it a good ad.
What a weird and obvious strategy. Let's see, Maltesers are low in calories and therefore you can enjoy them without guilt. How many brands are telling the same story? Too many. A chocolate is a treat, and a Malteser is unlike any other chocolate candy. I remember eating them as a kid in England, and they were really unique and special. That's probably a better area to focus on. Hence, my first comment on this post. Sorry, I was being glib, but I'm really saying the same thing there as I am here, but in shorthand. Your strategy is not very exciting, and that's why you have a dull ad. I think this forum and site is meant to show ideas that really push the envelope. You can do better.
i think it s smart...
i agree. these days we have writers who prefer to think visually (nothing wrong if they can write engrossing copy ads ALSO). guess it's their inability to write. someone started this trend of a big visual and three words of copy. The world's taken to it like they'd be doomed if they tried something different. Where are the ads where the idea is in the headline.
This malteser ad tried...but the copy could have been much, much better. this is probably the first line i would have written and deleted.
Sorry Markacopy but i think it is not a case of the world taking to it.
The world is just a faster place, we live longer and in less time.
Words are less natural to people than visual, we have to learn words, whereas visual are pretty much universal.
Agreed, visuals are much more universal. Visuals therefore create a SIMILAR and an INSTANT imagery in everyone's mind. Hence they're easy on comprehension. PEOPLE SPEND LESS TIME ON YOUR AD AND MOVE ON.
Words necessarily do not create a similar but always a UNIQUE imagery for every reader. A reader reads the words and visualises the picture, which is why it's unique to him/her. An interestingly-crafted headline has the power to hold a reader's attention longer. THE READER SPENDS A LITTLE MORE TIME ON COMPREHENSION, HENCE SPENDS A LONGER TIME WITH YOUR AD. As long as the ad invokes a positive imagery, more people will have your brand in their consideration set.
The "balls" that are mentioned in the ad are not men's balls you perverts!! They are Maltesers!!! What this ad says is that you don't have to break them as there are only 11 calories in each of them!!
I think it is smart and creative! Good job!
I love this, great.
CRAP CRAP CRAP thrash It. Very bad, start learn from basics
So. Are you gonna go around leaving similar comments to people who don't like the work you posted?
So many suits getting involved in the creative side of advertising is very very bad, even worse than unneeded calories!
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