SecretMethod70

Question first: Do you prefer advertisements to be artistic and creative, or to be informative?

I used to think advertisements like the one above were worthless to me the consumer, because it doesn't tell me important information about the product. The more I think about it though, I think I prefer artistic advertisements over their informative counterparts.

The above Polo ad accomplishes two things: it's enjoyable to watch, and it effectively conveys a core message. Buying a car is a decision which involves a lot of detail - far more than can be conveyed in 30 seconds - and that's one reason I think informative ads may be overrated. On the other hand, this ad makes me curious about the Polo's safety features, but allows me to discover the rest of the details myself. In fact, I think it's rather unobtrusive: it doesn't try to convince me, it just raises my awareness so that I can go out and make my own decision.

So what do you think? Do you miss the days when advertisements were made by artistic-minded people who, for whatever reason, found themselves in the advertising business? Do you like the current model, where cute talking Gecko's babble on about the basic details of auto insurance despite the fact far more information is required to make an informed decision? Or, do you yearn for the unpolished ads of the 60s: barebones, informative, and generally lacking in creativity?

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Le temps détruit tout

"Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

inBOIL

A good advertiser conveys useful information while being entertaining. Doing only one or the other indicates a lesser degree of skill.

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And you believe Bush and the liberals and divorced parents and gays and blacks and the Christian right and fossil fuels and Xbox are all to blame, meanwhile you yourselves create an ad where your kid hits you in the head with a baseball and you don't understand the message that the problem is you.

BadNick

The more of my senses and sensibilities they appeal to, the more likely I'll have a positive response to their ads. I don't expect to learn everything I need to know about a product from one commercial so if they stir my curiosity I'll look into it further. If they insult me, they're on my shit list.

Glory's Sun

commercials and advertisements are small pieces of artwork. so much time and devotion goes into them. there are some good ones that also inform, and there are others that portray the beauty of something. I prefer the creative and artful spots over the informative spots.

little_tippler

I like a bit of both, but I have to say that creative ads always get my attention more. Take a look at this one, it's one of my current favourites. Not as visually impressive, but I like the concept.

In Portugal, instead of saying 'Test drive now', it says 'don't be afraid to try it'. I quite like that. And I am not a fan of the Smart.



One of the cleverest car commercials I have ever seen, is this one:

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Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918

SecretMethod70

Nice. I LOL'd at the Audi commercial. Of course, I quite like Audi

I find these creative commercials far less offensive to watch. I think a big part of it is they're less likely to have someone speaking. For some reason, that's more likely to annoy me.

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Le temps détruit tout

"Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

MSD

I go both ways on this. I like the artistic ones, but at the same time I love the stupid shit that Geico and Burger King throw at me.

As far as I'm concerned, though, this is the best commercial of all time.

silas

I guess I'm also watching a lot less TV than I have in the past. And watching it in very different ways...via DVDs or an internet service such as Hulu. So the primary source of advertisements I tend to see these days are those that someone decides to send a link of via email to some friends or circulates at work.

Most of these tend to be a trailer for a new movie or a new video game or else an advertisement someone thought was particularly well done or funny. I usually watching these for the entertainment value more than to gleen any information from them.

MSD

Cross-posted from Found on the Net

Magpie_1

I prefer artistic ads. They grab my attention. In the world of advertisment they have to try even harder to grab your attention since we now live in a vary high teck world with things like PVR's that give you the power to fast foreword through the commercials and get right back to your programing. I wont stop for the dry informative ads. When they are artistic like the one shown. It makes me want to stop and watch to see what is being advertised.

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"Art is what you can get away with."
- Andy Warhol