±±¾©Èü³µpk10

The total eclipse of the sun heralded an advertising bonanza this

week, with many brands keen to cash in on the once-in-a-lifetime chance

to be associated with one of nature’s greatest spectacles.

MediaCom and London Records used the two minutes of darkness in Rinsey,

Cornwall, to project a laser show into the black sky, promoting the

Brand New Heavies’ latest release, Chunk Funk. In London, similar

projections lit up BBC Broadcasting House and the Intercontinental Hotel

on Park Lane.

Live TV’s broadcast of the eclipse was sponsored by Command & Conquer’s

new computer game, Tiberian Sun, with an ad by Banks Hoggins O’Shea/FCB

superimposed on-screen during the broadcast.

J. Walter Thompson and De Beers created a full-page press ad with the

line, ’The diamond ring effect. It can be yours to keep’, which refers

to the visual effect created as the sun creeps out from behind the moon

at the end of the total eclipse.

The Economist’s eclipse-themed press ad was typically understated,

reading: ’Friday morning the illumination.’ Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO

also used an ad van for the same client, with visuals of the different

stages of the eclipse and the words: ’Total; three quarters; partial;

The Economist.’

TBWA GGT Simons Palmer created an ’Absolut eclipse’ around the familiar

shape of the vodka bottle in an ad which reads: ’Insist on Absolut. The

purest vodka under the sun. Drink it before it disappears.’

Euro RSCG Wnek Gosper came up with three ads on the eclipse theme. For

Haagen-Dazs, a weather map of the British Isles - complete with cloud

symbols along the path of the total eclipse - sits above the ice-cream’s

familiar line: ’At least Haagen-Dazs is 100 per cent perfect.’

The same agency also advertised the Peugeot 206 as ’available with

optional moon-roof’ and produced an Abbey National ad challenging

competitors to ’eclipse this’ re-mortgage deal.