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I recently got roped into being on the panel for the ‘100 best ads’

event that our agency organised. So, I’m sat there with Cox and Beattie

to my right, Cracknell and O’Shea to my left. It was like I was Leonard

Zelig matted into footage of famous people. Given as how I’ve only been

doing the job for five minutes, I was really interested in what they

thought were the ingredients for great advertising. And the most popular

ad among the panel? The Guardian’s ‘points of view’ commercial.

I was thinking about the Guardian ad, while I was looking at the new

Sony PlayStation work. Quickly cut shots of kids, presumably affected by

PlayStation, are intercut with shots of the games. Yes, I know I’m not

the target market and I know kids can consume lots of images quickly,

but surely they’d appreciate advertising with a better idea in it.

It seems that more and more creatives are so interested in the form of

commercials nowadays, they often forget about the content. ‘We’re going

to cross-process the film so the colour looks weird.’ But what’s the

idea? Trottie used to tell us that a technique is not an idea, it’s an

execution. So back to the Guardian ad. Just a few actors. A bit of

black-and-white film. No cross-processing. No funny lens. I didn’t see

any tin foil. Just a great idea.

Levi’s got five ads in the ‘100 best ads’. The new press work uses ‘the

original wearers’. It looks very similar to a current campaign for Nike.

This can happen. And I should know. The Levi’s press brief must be the

toughest to work on in the agency, so much terrific work has been done

before. But this new work doesn’t quite do it for me.

Perhaps it needed to be printed on tin foil?

Trying to shoot real life isn’t easy. Unless you shoot real life. The

‘witty people in a bar’ campaign for Miller attempts to do this. I’m

afraid I’ve only got one word to say to anyone attempting to do ‘witty

people in a bar’. Cheers.

I’ve seen Mark Powell walk past the Dog and Duck a thousand times. He

looks like an East End Mafia type. He is in fact, a top tailor. The

commercial features Mark being admired by a beautiful girl as he walks

down the street. It ends with her bumping, comedy fashion, into a lamp

post because she can’t take her eyes off Mark’s top tailoring. The

commercial was probably made for less than the price of Mark’s suit, so

well done to the creative team for making it happen, but I can’t think

who (Mark Denton apart) will be putting Mr Powell on their shopping list

after seeing it.

Finally, Kitten Soft. The only campaign that, for me, had something of

an idea in it. A bloke tells you in technical terms how soft the product

is. The hard sell. He asks his assistant if he has anything to add.

Ripple dissolve to the assistant’s thoughts. He’s running around

clutching lovely kittens and loo roll in what could be described as

Kitten Soft heaven. The soft sell.

So there you have it. No entries for the ‘100 best ads’, but in case you

think I’ve been a little harsh, I didn’t have any in there either.

Keith Courtney is the creative director of K Advertising

Miller Brewing Company

Project: Miller Genuine Draft

Client: David Hughes

Brief: Establish Miller Genuine Draft as the beer of urban America

Agency: TBWA

Writer: Simon Bere

Art director: Marc Bennett

Director: Andy Morahan

Production company: Great Guns

Exposure: National TV and cinema

Sony

Project: Sony PlayStation

Client: David Patton, marketing manager, software

Brief: Show the powerful experience of PlayStation

Agency: Simons Palmer

Writer: Paul Hodgkinson

Art director: Andy McKay

Director: Tomato

Production company: Helen Langridge Associates

Exposure: Pan-European

Levi Strauss UK

Project: Red Tab Denim

Client: Roy Edmondson, marketing director

Brief: Reinforce Levi’s Red Denim’s position as original and authentic

Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty

Writer: Victoria Fallon

Art director: Steve Hudson

Photographer: Nick Knight

Exposure: Style press

Jamont UK

Project: Dixcel Kitten Soft

Client: John Costigan, marketing director

Brief: Relaunch Dixcel Kitten Soft as a premium toilet tissue

Agency: Bates Dorland

Writer: Jon Canning

Art director: Russell Waldron

Director: Graham Rose

Production company: Rose Hackney Barber

Exposure: National TV

Mark Powell Bespoke Tailoring

Project: Bespoke Suits

Client: Mark Powell,

managing director

Brief: Convey the impact of a hand-made suit

Agency: Saatchi and Saatchi

Writer: Jo Tanner

Art director: Viv Walsh

Director: Keith Rogerson

Production company: BFCS

Exposure: London TV and cinema