The Economist: Spider

The Economist: Spider

What's the worst to lose as we get older? Our hair? Our teeth? Our curiosity?
The Economist

Advertising Agency: AMV BBDO, London, UK

Your rating: None Average: 6.5 (28 votes)

Comments

Shocking campaign. Visually bereft and copy disabled too. Remember when the Economist's advertising was wonderful? RIP.

this ad needs more question marks.

mattcrump.com

first, let's say it was probably impossible to move on from the classic red concept (yes, absolut managed it).
but this doesn't make me want to read that wonderful magazine. sorry.

http://checkthistrick.blogspot.com
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No. I´m sorry. This is just bad.

i like the copies of this campaign. they're intelligent and thought-provoking.

interesting visuals as well, but i think a different approach would be better. :D

By the usual economist standards this is rubbish - looks like student work.

That line is terrible. Where's the cleverness? This is so off brand.

tantrik_indian's picture

The earlier economist ads made us feel it's cool to read the economist. This one asks us whether we have become dumb, like. What say?

~~be cool eh!~~

The look is at least a good try. The lines are downright a mess compared to the old ones.

i think it's a nice ad. apt on strategy,and unconventional on execution.reminds me of those lovely ads from the stable of The Economics.and i'm curious for more . . . .lol

I'm huge fan of 'red campaign'. but this is such a dissapointment. awfully patronising texts.
and dumb.

Outrageously gay!
Shamelessly gay!
Toatally gayful!

i agree with you, sh!td!ck!

nirmalranganathan's picture

The copy is very good, but the execution is not... The way the letters are placed, I just cannot read the copy at all...

Of course it's not like the old ones, but I think it's not that bad. I like particularly this one and I dissagree that it's not readable. You must be an idiot (no offence, Nirmal) not to be able to read it. It's clear and I kinda like also the overall art direction.

baaaaaaaad readability (is that the right word?)

Brillante

This is such a big shift in their creative (and marketing) strategy, it almost feels like they need to redesign the whole logo too while they're at it...
I'm not saying if it's right or wrong for the brand, only time will tell (and new subscription and sales figure)... I'm not sure who first proposed the change in direction, but like so many others, I sure miss the tongue-in-cheek humor and intelligence of the original campaign.
All this reminds me of the time when Coke changed their old formula in the mid-80s to introduce New Coke and the subsequent consumer outrage that spread like a bush fire.
I only hope they made the right decision in creating this campaign. Else, the return of "Classic Economist" won't be too far off... (I quietly pray.)

why spider??

*everybody lies, nothing is original*

chinaski's picture

i loved this ad.

It's about as generic as you can get. There's nothing that tells me the economist is any different from, say, Newsweek here.

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