Happy Ikea Cats

Dinner for schmucks

After seeing the advert for this film I didn't really have high hopes for it. I expected the scenes to be limited to a dinner table and the comedy to be predictable.

I was pleasantly surprised.

I thought the comedy was exceptional. Very simple, silly kind of humour but I thought Steve Carell's role was perfect. The all-star cast starred not just American comedians but British too. It had Steve Carell (American Office), Chris O'Dowd (I.T crowd), Paul Rudd (Friends), Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover), Jemaine Clement (Flight of the conchords), David Walliams (Little Britain) and Kristen Schaal (Flight of the conchords). Before the film I thought that the film would end up being a battle for stardom, but the roles worked exceptionally well together.

My favourite thing about the film were the opening credits. The credits waa beautifully shot following a taxidermist creating and placing designs of two mice that are in love. The mouse scenes are magical and made the opening credits beautifully captivating. The song The Beatles "the fool on the hill" plays so suitably over the scenes that it would seem you were watching a romance film.

Why is Hugh Grant riding a horse?

Its not a horse!

It's Sarah Jessica Parker, in her new film... Did you hear about the Morgans? I didn't really have any expectations for this film (mainly because Avatar 3D had sold out and there were no other options) and so whatever the outcome, I could not be disappointed.


The story is about a recently separated married couple who, because of infidelity on the husbands part, are no longer on speaking terms. Paul Morgan is 'dreadfully' sorry and begs for forgiveness from his wife, Meryl. She reluctantly agrees to meet him in a swanky uptown restaurant and as they leave they witness one of Meryls clients get murdered .


After the murderer finds Meryl and nearly shoots her they are asked to go into a witness protection programme and leave New York. At this point you really see how small Sarah Jessica's acting spectrum is: "Leave New York? I was BORN here, I grew up here, I AM a New Yorker, I don't want to, I CAN'T leave" I expected to see Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha come onto the shot and ensure her that all men are pigs and anywhere out of Manhattan doesn't really exist. Meanwhile, Hugh is in the back of the shot being a bumbling British idiot and not really saying much except for classical British quotes and blinking occasionally. I can't be sure he even tried to act at all as at parts I thought I was watching an actors commentary and not an actor in the film.


Don't get me wrong, I love Hugh Grant, but he just didn't seem to care for this role much. He cared for his role as much as Parker seemed to care about him. The two main characters are well-known for their fame but for this film they seem to sleepwalk through a flat-line comedy in which old jokes can be seen a mile away.


If you dont like change this is the film for you. For everyone else, if youve seen the Trailer, youv'e seen the film.

Book adverts on TV (bad ones)

It isn't often that you see book adverts on TV. Unless it's a collection of books from WHSmith or Jordan's new autobiography. So when an advert for James Patterson's book collection appeared at primetime tonight this made me think how strange it is and notice the considerable gap in the market.

When I looked into Patterson I found out that he used to be in advertising, which explained a lot. Unsurprisingly, he was the chairman of America's largest advertising agency, J. Walter Thompson. I found that he ferociously scrutinises the designs of his book jackets and pours money into his marketing campaigns out his own pocket.

So why aren't book adverts rife on TV? In 1992, Patterson's own publisher refused to fund a TV advert which shows how adverse the industry is to TV advertising. As an advertising genius he can clearly see the benefit of advertising to a mass medium which the book industry does not. He went on to fund his own advert and the book was so successful that it has now been transformed into two films starring Morgan Freeman.

But even with all the experience Patterson's campaign is a collection of pretty awful Americanised adverts. They make me cringe....

Find more videos like this on The James Patterson Community

T.V adverts from my Childhood

Funny how 30 seconds can last a lifetime.

Television. Where brands get their breaks.

Thinkbox is the marketing body for commercial TV in the UK. For an advert promoting T.V advertising, this is perfect. It contains the most memorable adverts making every person reminisce about old adverts and the enjoyment they gave to them. It reflects the power and nostalgia of adverts on TV and is also comical providing an uplifting emotion. It's memories are so inspiring that any company would feel compelled to get their advert to that recognisable level.

It got me thinking about old adverts and ones which I can remember from the 1980's/90's. As a child I can remember the toys'r'us giraffe (1989), Aquafresh (1989) and Jacobs club chocolate biscuit (1991). I cant recall many but the ones I recall all have theme tunes. Seems the best way to advertise to children is to have a theme tune!

"If you like alot of chocolate on your biscuit, call our... club!"








I also found Matt LeBlanc in a coca-cola advert, 4 years before f.r.i.e.n.d.s, he was one of the coca-cola man! (1990)

How will Cadburys branding be affected by a Kraft take over?

The battle of for the acquisition of Cadbury continues this week into the run up for the last bid from Kraft. Kraft’s hostile bid was rejected and they had until January the 19th to come up with a better offer. Kraft’s offer values Cadbury at 740p per share where as British investors say the company is more likely to be 850p. However on Krafts side Warren Buffett, their largest investor, has warned the companies CEO not to overpay for Cadbury.

In this time Cadbury has to find a way to avoid being taken over by the U.S Company. The chairman, Roger Carr, can use the companies decreasing share price to repeat his stance that Kraft is a low-growth company and not offering what Cadbury is worth. Todd Stitzer, Cadbury’s chief executive, said they would rather to be acquired by Hershey or Ferrero, than to Kraft, because of their cultural similarities. It seems the mergering of these two companies will see what Kraft has to offer on the 19th before showing their hand.

Many British people have raised their concern that Cadburys will be sold to an American confectioner. Lord Mandleson was concerned that selling Cadburys to Kraft was to make “a fast buck”. He stated “firms or investors should expect to brave the court of public opinion if they are motivated only by short-term profit." And so they did when the Mail on Sunday put together a campaign to keep Cadburys British. Roger Carr, again, showed his similar opinions when he personally thanked MoS readers for their appreciation of “our great British heritage, our products and the values that remain at the heart of our business”. It seems the bid will have nothing to do with share prices on the 19th as even Carr has said he wished for Kraft not to ‘steal’ the company from their shareholders and describes them as under ‘siege’. This campaign seemed to work for advertising on the run-up to Christmas as demand for tins of Roses and Heros soar to record levels. It seems the British public are in great fear of loosing their loved chocolate to an Amercian giant.

Ruth Sunderland of The Observer, believes that “it is important for UK jobs and manufacturing for Cadbury to stay British. Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, has recognised this and indicated he may ask Kraft for detailed answers on jobs, pensions and research capacity. But even investors who dismiss such considerations as irrelevant patriotism must recognise the risks of selling out to Kraft” (Sunday 10 January 2010)

The emotion and love behind Cadbury started with Quakers George and Richard Cadbury when they created a utopia in Bournville for all of its workers. The ethos of Cadbury is to help the while communities and is grounded in Quaker beliefs. Lord Mandelson has said he would not stand by any bid that would not support its heritage. I truly believe that Kraft should be warned of the power of the British people when they feel anger towards a company. The recent take-down of the X-factor number one Christmas song could be repeated for Christmas number on chocolates.

When I have spoke to Family and friends they are worried about two things; jobs in the U.K and the taste of the chocolate. Cadbury has eight factories and 3,000 staff in the UK. It would be harmful to our economy to close these factories and loose precious business in a time of recession. The taste may seem less important in relation to the previous problem, but everyone is afraid that the chocolate will be flavored to suit a more American palette. Cadbury’s Whole nut is available in the U.S sold under Hershey’s however U.K people report of its bitter American taste compared to the creamy delight of U.K chocolate.

What will happen to Cadbury’s branding in the case of an American takeover? British people love Cadburys because it is so British. The adverts are time-keeping and nostalgic to many. Cadbury’s brand is so strong that any product is instantly recognizable as their brand. This cannot be said for Kraft’s products. Terry’s chocolate orange, Toberlone and Oreo are all under the Kraft range and although their brands are strong they are not consistent under the same mother identity.

There is great fear that an American company just won’t get our British heritage. Any potential American CEO should be revising their British knowledge now in preparation for their role if they are going to see any success at all. Mark Artus, CEO of 1HQ, a British branding consultancy, said “Cadbury's values are firmly rooted into the fabric of all that is British and the original Victorian philanthropist approach to giving people jobs."

In the case of an American Take-over I would hate to see Cadbury’s advertising be at all effected. Their classical adverts are British through-and-through and that’s why people love them so much. Decades of adverts create nostalgia and are reminiscent to so many. The Milk Tray men and Cadbury flake women played such a large part in the companies branding that even Cadburys chairman Richard Carr said: 'Our thanks also go to the Cadbury's Flake girls and the Milk Tray men who all contributed to making our products so popular.'

The Milk tray man adverts was one of the most iconic and longest running advertising campaigns in British history. It ran from 1968 to 2003 and featured attractive men modeled on James Bond. They had to complete Action man style moves to get the Milk tray box to their loved ones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM4DMe25CvQ



Another well-known advert was the Cadbury’s Caramel Bunny. The animated cartoon vixen told audiences to ‘take it easy’ while being admired for her beauty. The bunny returned in 2003 with the catch phrase “still got it”. She has even been voted the third sexist cartoon character of all time. However, she wasn’t as sexy as the Flake woman who stirred up quite a fuss in the 1970’s for being a bit too raunchy. The adverts showed women enjoying a flake, people complained saying she was enjoying it too much and in a far too suggestive manner. The lyrics were "Only the crumbliest, flakiest chocolate, tastes like chocolate never tasted before."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpFl_kK0Y88





The Cadburys adverts have taken us right into the 2000’s with their hit adverts for the glass and half full productions. The Crazy eyebrows and gorilla playing drums adverts are strange ways to advertise chocolate and ways in which American CEO’s may not have approved or understood. It would be a shame to loose such a truly British gem in the advertising field to a giant such as Kraft. They were so classical that it was the talk to Britain. An amazing advert that despite its weirdness captivated our country.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWEOHd9JNmk


Richard Wachman, The Observer, Sunday 10 January 2010
Jonathon Petre, 09th January 2010
Katie Dawson, BBC News, Bournville

The answer to our project - 5 gum??

Our recent, spruce up a mundane product using your advertising and branding skills seems to have been answered. Is this how the gum brief should have been done? If this was entered to our lecturers what grade would it receive?

The first flaw is: its target market. The market has attempted to tempt the MTV segment. In my opinion the packaging resembles your grandfather trying to be 'hip' and 'down'. Im sure with the stark black space and cool bright colors stand out to audience but does it stand out to the right one? There are 3 flavours at the moment: Cobalt, Rain and Flare, which is “cool speak” for peppermint, spearmint and cinnamon.

I can imagine Mike Sheedy saying: "Yes, its good, but what does it do?? What is this gum doing that other gum doesnt?"

You Tube - expanding advertising space

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQsJedjVUkk

The new advert promoting Oatibix. The rave about it on You Tube has been quite astounding. The Lorry is back, this time our driver is joined by two friends and we follow their journey as they sing along to the classic 1979 hit 'My Sharona'. A very simple, plain advert that has proved comical to the general audience. 'Hard Sell' is definitely the word for it! Today Gavin Newsham voiced his own opinions on the advert:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/jun/20/oatibix-advertisement-youtube

It brings about a useful thing to consider which is the USE of YouTube in advertising. Now you can add the clips to your widgets on your mac, bookmark them, send them to your friends and enjoy them over and over. This makes word-of-mouth even easier than ever before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM

The T-Mobile, life is for sharing campaign, video uses a similar approach in which 12,646,911 people have SO FAR tuned in to watch. Life definitely is for sharing when it comes to sharing adverts on you tube!