Director Nicolai Fuglsig, who also created the Sony Bravia 'balls' commercial, certainly got people's attention with his big dominos in a little Argentinean village. But the jury is still out on whether AMV BBDO's 'Tipping Point' ad ranks up there with the likes of 'Surfer.'
Tommy Mancktelow was first to shoot off his in Brand Republic's pub: "Just cannot believe someone spent £10m on an advert. Don't get me wrong it's a NICE advert. But worth £10m? I think that's just purely wasteful."
And like any pub, Mark Griffiths is the guy with his specialist subject: "As with all Guinness advertising, I'm looking forward to seeing this one. That said, I've been a critic of recent Guinness TV ads.
"When I published my book, 'Guinness Is Guinness' in 2004, there was already a sense that Guinness TV ads had peaked, that Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO were trying too hard, that the Guinness brand team had gone too deep and too far in trying to reflect a brand proposition of 'Inner Strength', that all creativity was stymied by the push for responsible drinking.
"The constant need to rebrand in a global sense had somehow led Guinness to move away from what worked. Jonathan Glazer's famous and expensive 'Surfer' ad had won awards but it was a one-off. 'Believe' and 'Out of Darkness Comes Light' were not very believable. The following ad about regressing into primordial soup was, again, a one-off that didn't seem to say anything.
"The last TV advertising that had worked was the 'Good things come to those who wait' ads in the late 90s. Remember the Italian swimmer? I recommended that Guinness would have to go back to what had worked. And so it is."
Phew mate, it's only beer and ads on the telly.
Several people noted similarities with Honda's "Cog" ad, but that didn't bother Colin Montgomery: "Yeah. It's very cog [which is very 'The Great Egg Race']. In the same way that the new 'never-ending rainbow' ad for Orange is very 'Sony Bravia'. In the same way that blah blah blah is the same as XYZ.
"Enough quibbling over originality. Advertising is largely parasitic. In the nicest possible way of course. So unless you want to cobble together a dissertation about it or, worse still, write a book about it, why not just love it or loathe it."
And we don't think Derek Wood will be buying the next round: "As a shareholder, I'd rather they banked the cash. Morons."
Meanwhile, Eloise Smith is probably a stakeholder in an ad agency: "Nice to see the Old School are still managing to get clients to hand over gargantuan wads of cash for fun yet probably fairly ineffective advertising."
And for those of you who are preparing for tonight's pub quiz, Nick William widens our vocabulary in response to Rory's on words that never get used by copywriters: "Tompion doesn't get many airings either. It is the ball of leaves and dirt that hedgehogs stick up their bums to prevent nits, ants and flies appearing during hibernation. Prince Charles probably wishes he was one occasionally."
Fortunately the conversation soon got back to proper pub subjects -- booze and sports.
Some people were uncomfortable with a story in Marketing magazine that a spirits company like Diageo may be sponsoring London 2012.
Peter Martin : "I await the full roster, but it will be interesting to see how many sponsors embody the Olympic ideal and how many are just getting in on the act with the organisers and hosts to make as much money as possible for their product/service from exposure the audiences that will [hopefully, or it's going to be expensive] be attracted and whipped into a frenzy of nationalistic fervor by the media.
"And the best part is, after it's all over, the drugs companies can sponsor the 'Best in class' drug test winn...er.... failures."
Graham Hawkey-Smith also thought it was an odd match: "Talking of strange partnerships, how about Diageo being announced yesterday as potential tier-1 sponsors of the 2012 Olympics?
"Alcohol and athletics, what a great fit. Love to have been in the meeting when they dreamt that one up. Can't wait to see how they position this one creatively in a few year's time."
Gordon Macmillan is downright indignant: "I think the booze and sport relationship is quite wrong. Maybe F1 aside. But to have Diageo as a headline sponsor of 2012 just smacks of 'give us the money'."
The highlight of the week has to a by Bernard, a graduate with a burning desire to be a creative at a big ad agency.
Unfortunately, some of the agency suits managed to bore poor Bernard to tears with their presentations on open days to potential recruits: "Now then, the open days. I must admit I was surprised that so few agencies even offered them, but I've managed to make it to three so far and must admit they're certainly worth going to.
"First was M&C Saatchi. The event itself was meticulously calculated. All the employees present were pristine in black suits and one woman was even wearing a corset.
"The presentation itself, made by a combination of the Managing Director and grads from various years gone by, was educational without being inspiring. I knew M&C Saatchi had a reputation as being a tad 'corporate', and it must be said the people themselves were a little icy.
"All but one were female, impeccably made-up and dressed, and one ex-grad had even seemingly learnt her presentation off by heart and recounted it in startlingly robotic fashion.
"In my view, the presentation was saved by the lone male. Slightly scruffy, with an unkempt beard, he was intelligent, witty and very endearing. His well-placed gags and modest tone, along with the impressive reel of adverts all under the banner of 'one word equity', made me feel more welcome at M&C Saatchi.
"The JWT open day was an interesting contrast. The atmosphere was immediately more casual, more relaxed, and, whilst the desk arrangement implied a press conference or even court hearing, the selection of speakers, from the very top of the company to the bottom (if I may use so hierarchical a phrase), showed a company that places real importance on its graduates.
"The presentation itself was slick, if a tiny bit too long, but there was a real buzz and liveliness to it. The interaction between the JWT employees was affectionate and appealing, but there was still an underlying tone of seriousness. Work hard play hard seemed like the mots justes.
And last but not least, don't miss the chat around Rory Sutherland's on the challenge the environmental movement faces in marketing moderation.