World Ad Café

Discuss how the following ads demonstrate some of the paradoxes discussed in the text. Feel free to include links to ads that you think embody paradoxical information in your own responses. Be sure to look at the comments made before you. You may refer to the answers of others in your own response. Duplicate comments will not get full credit.

One of the most fun things about studying international strategic communications has to be discovering new creative ideas from around the world. Copywriters and artists all over the globe are reinventing advertising, pushing the envelope of traditional ads, and imagining new ways of delivering messages in the digital world. Public relations professionals are finding new and exciting ways to engage increasingly fragmented publics.

There are a couple of great repositories for international ads online. One is Ads of the World, a site where creative personnel upload new spots to get industry feedback, often in advance of sending the ads to juried shows, such as the Cannes Lions. Another is the BBC Advertising. The Old Spice Man and Love Distance ads are examples.

Video 2.2: Old Spice - The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.

 

Video 2.3: Condoms Sagami - Love Distance.

 

Remember, World Ads in Open Discussions, will be open throughout the semester so you can share examples of favorite ads you view in the course of your research. Please include a link to the ad, and tell us why you found it interesting. You might address:

• How does the advertisement illustrate the culture it comes from?
• Would the ad be effective in the U.S. as it is, or would it need to be modified in some way?