Let's Talk About Ads

Obey Your Thirst

One of my all-time favorite commercials is this one done for Barr's Irn Bru, a famous Scottish soft drink.

It's a simple commercial, but it's very amusing. How often do you see old ladies popping out of luggage cases? I am usually looking for original ideas, but not all ideas are originals. In fact, most of the commercials out there are recycled over and over again. But this idea of the product being more amusing than whatever else is happening in the world works well here.

Okay, I may be biased a little. Irn Bru has always held a special place in my heart ever since I first tried it in Scotland. My love for Irn Bru was something that I could bring back to America and share with other people, something no one else has ever experienced before. And I do suppose this love of sharing the greatness of this soft drink is one of my reasons for wanting to praise this commercial (or advert as those UK people like to call them).

On an unrelated note, I was just thinking about my criticism for the egg radio commercial that I heard. I suppose it's not entirely fair to criticize something and not come up with a better alternative. After thinking about it for all of about five minutes, I came up with a path that the egg should follow.

The egg is good for the body because it provides a source of protein. Of course the American Egg Board would prefer to have the egg as an all-the-time food instead of just a breakfast food, which is what it's currently most commonly seen as. In order to do this, it's necessary to point out just why the egg is so great that it could be eaten at every meal.

I was thinking along the lines of having strong people try to crack an egg by holding it vertically between their thumb and index finger. It's nearly impossible to do so. A possible slogan for something like this could be "Live Toughly" or something along the lines of being strong.

posted by Sarah @ 1:01 AM