Solar-powered print ad pushes green energy

Here's a cool example of "Show, don't tell" advertising—a print ad that promotes green energy by being solar-powered itself. In the magazine, it's just a black-and-white sketch. But held up to sunlight, it blossoms into full color—and added text appears, completing the thought. (Yes, the copy could be better. Maybe it should say, "Hold this page up to the sunlight.") Created by BBR Saatchi & Saatchi in Tel Aviv for Israeli energy company Shikun & Binui Solaria. Via The Denver Egotist.

Filed under Energy, Israel, Nudd, Saatchi & Saatchi
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PSA: Don't be ridiculous, turn off the lights!

Using an entire box of disposable razors when shaving, discarding each one after a single stroke. Wrapping a small sandwich in yards of tin foil. Keeping every tap in the house running at all times. Taking a bite of an apple, tossing what's left on the ground and moving on to another one. Those scenarios are portrayed as "ridiculous" examples of wasteful behavior in this BC Hydro Powersmart PSA from DDB Vancouver. It closes with a shot of a blazing light fixture in a house where the owners have gone out. The voiceover says: "The most ridiculous thing about wasting power is that for some reason, we don't think it's ridiculous." Actually, I don't think it's ridiculous. I like leaving all the lights on. That way, when I come home, I can clearly see the fruit and razors I've scattered all over the floor and not trip and break my neck.

Filed under Canada, DDB, Energy, Environment, Gianatasio
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Unseen hands take care of invisible product

The visuals in this Piedmont Natural Gas ad by Luquire George Andrews are confusing me. The copy reads: "When your product is invisible, the people behind it are even more important." Yet, I see the products clear as day! Cool sports coupes at the car show! Adorable dolls and teddy bears in the toy-store window! And that beef bourguignon looks succulent! Whoa, sorry. Left the stove on again and started seeing things. I'll turn that off and crack some windows. Ah, now the ad makes sense. Natural gas: the invisible killer. Thanks, Piedmont! What this commercial really needs, of course, is an invisible monkey. That guy's been hurting for work since his Dodge spot.

Filed under Energy, Gianatasio, Luquire George Andrews
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J.R. Ewing ditches oil in ads for solar power

Larry Hagman, an old dude best known for playing the Texas oil baron J.R. Ewing on Dallas, is now hawking panels for SolarWorld. It's a good fit for the product, and those people who are old enough to remember Dallas will probably find it amusing. My issue is that the unifying link between all the executions is the creepy way he says "Shine, baby, shine!" and then cackles maniacally. I'm for solar power but staunchly against evil laughter. I'm also against using the old phone-call trick cause you're too cheap to hire other actors or too unimaginative to come up with a better plot device. But Hagman's laugh has made my addiction to CNN.com (where the spots are on heavy rotation) highly unpleasant. Somebody please shoot J.R. before this campaign hits TV. Or reshoot that cackle. I'm flexible. Four more spots after the jump.

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Filed under Celebrity endorsements, Cullers, Energy, SolarWorld
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Everything's backwards in Spanish utility ad

Ad shop Contrapunto in Barcelona crafted this visually impressive but kind of confusing spot for Gas Natural Fenosa, showing a guy and gal who literally go against the flow and move backward through their day. It's a good thing they're a couple, because no one else would put with their silly-looking walks. Frankly, the whole approach seems misdirected. The ad touts the company's combo gas/electricity service—so, why the backwards thing? As best I can figure, it's a strained metaphor showing they feel comfy and secure all day because they began it in a comfy home heated and lit by this (hopefully) benevolent utilities conglomerate. I prefer my gas company to be forward-thinking and keep up on the latest trends and technology. That way, there's less chance of my house blowing up. If I lived my life backwards, the words I'm writing now would vanish one keystroke at a time. My editor wouldn't mind that—it would mean less vacuousness overall, and more space for art.

Filed under Contrapunto, Energy, Europe, Gianatasio
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CP+B tries to crowdsource away the oil spill

Stopping the oil spill has apparently befuddled the best minds in science and engineering. Why not bring in the ad folks? Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the people behind the creepy Burger King and creepier Orville Deadenbacher, have collected 17 ideas from staffers over at executive creative director Andrew Keller's blog. The concepts include an A-Team-style solution with a large quantity of explosives. What good could come out of this mini-crowdsourcing exercise of non-experts? "The seeming luxury of not being able to look at a problem the same way others have or simply with a beautiful naiveté is what human advancement has been built on," Keller writes. "I've always felt I learn more from watching someone play guitar that can't actually play than someone that can. Their complete lack of knowledge actually opens them up to the possibility of innovation." If you want to contribute your own ideas, shoot an email to whatif [at] cpbgroup [dot] com.

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

Filed under Crispin Porter, Crowdsourcing, Energy, Morrissey
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'Beyond petroleum' not looking so slick now

BP's "Beyond petroleum" campaign, launched by Ogilvy & Mather almost a decade ago, has always been borderline ludicrous, positioning the oil company as essentially anti-oil (or at least post-oil). Critics have long characterized the ads as the height of hypocrisy and greenwashing (given BP's relatively small investment in alternate energies compared to its core business, and its pursuit of environmentally controversial projects like its oil sands work in Canada). Now, its purportedly green image has been dirtied once again with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, caused by a sunken rig it was operating. Anger toward the company has been muted so far, with only isolated calls for a boycott, but that may change when the spill reaches the coast. For BP's sake, hopefully there aren't too many overly dramatic, attention-seeking otters around.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under BP, Energy, Environment, Nudd, Ogilvy
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Appliance monsters really drain your energy

These PECO spots by Philadelphia ad shop Tierney have a classic Saturday-morning kids'-show feel. The wide-eyed, toothy, energy-guzzling appliances that have overstayed their welcome almost channel the puppet/druggie vibe of H.R. Pufnstuf or Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, with a dab of '90s Matt Groening tossed in. The lightbulb/vampire-bat in the closet and the malevolent snarling window are particularly inspired, though the belching dishwasher and ogre-fridge are also well realized. In fact, they're are all so cool, I'd never get rid of them and upgrade to more efficient appliances (even with PECO's offer of $35 to do so), which is the whole point of the campaign. I'm old enough to remember when the Sid and Marty Krofft shows were new, so I can relate to those aging appliances. We … I mean, they still have plenty of life left!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Energy, Gianatasio, PECO, Tierney
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Wallace & Gromit push energy conservation

Wallace and Gromit are back on TV in the U.K., only now their poorly conceived inventions serve a higher purpose: encouraging people to reduce their electricity usage. Utility npower is offering free real-time electricity monitors to its customers, in case any of them have a power-sucking home-entertainment setup like Wallace's ersatz widescreen TV. (He and Gromit are seen watching a scary movie—what is it with energy companies and horror these days?) It's a nice, responsible message, and it's good of the Aardman Animations crew to take time away from their busy schedule of winning Oscars to help out.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Filed under Aardman, Energy, Europe, Kiefaber
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Gas provider promises truly psycho savings

Norman Bates in the shower ... dispensing energy-conservation tips? It's a recurring dream of mine, and ad agency Richter7 nearly brings the vision to life in this spot promoting Questar Gas's ThermWise program. We don't exactly get a psycho slasher splashing around behind the curtain, but the client's savings-obsessed spokesguy comes close. This dude's intense—hide all knives and sharp objects! The ad gets kudos for its unorthodox approach, though perhaps thoughts of sudden, violent death aren't the best idea for a gas company. Still, I'd rather discover the Questar guy lurking in my shower than ... oh, I dunno ... my mother?! Now, that would be a nightmare. (Love ya, ma! Send money!)

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Energy, Gianatasio, Movies, Parody, Questar, Richter7
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Natural-gas ad warm and uncommonly fuzzy

Making natural gas seem all warm and cozy is a pretty tough marketing challenge, but this spot by TBWA Brussels makes a pretty stellar attempt. Produced by Lovo Films, the ad required fours days of shooting, more than 40 crew members, four cameras and several kilometers of yarn. The result makes you just want to go and cuddle with your water heater. It's also the first time I've wished that the "making of" video actually got into more detail. Via Not Yellow, Chicken.

—Posted by David Griner

Filed under Energy, Europe, Griner, TBWA
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Oil dinosaurs perish in Consol Energy's ads

Here's what I've learned about Pittsburgh from the ad campaigns sent to me by Steel City agency Brunner through the years. Almost everyone works in coal mines, so personal safety isn't highly prized. Drive-ins are the leading leisure-time activity, though patrons miss most of the movies because those kooky windshield sunscreens are all the rage. And now, judging by the new Brunner ad above for Consol Energy, a bunch of dying oil-derrick dinosaurs are roaming the Pennsylvania lowlands, spewing grit, grime and metal shards in all directions. (Either that or they're AT-AT refugees from the Snow Battle on Hoth.) At this rate, Pittsburgh will soon be a desolate wasteland (I mean, more than it already is) ... not unlike the burned and blasted landscapes in Brunner's apocalyptic Zippo lighter campaign! Stay out of Pittsburgh, people. For my next vacation, I'm going to Cleveland. Or maybe Copenhagen.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Brunner, Consol Energy, Energy, Gianatasio
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Smart Grid technology is music to our ears

According to this ad from BBDO, GE has a bold new idea that could change how we use energy. And that bold idea is: banjo music. Just kidding, it's actually Smart Grid technology, an electricity delivery system that's hailed as an answer to energy independence concerns. Which sounds awesome, until you realize that playing power lines like banjo strings will probably cause massive power outages.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Filed under BBDO, Energy, GE, Kiefaber
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Pickens puts his mouth where his money is

The problem with T. Boone Pickens' campaign to make America less dependent on foreign oil (a campaign that's riled up NBC's networks) is its reliance on T. Boone Pickens. I keep accidentally typing Slim Pickens while writing this—it's driving me nuts! If T.B.P. wants to run for president, just run! Run like that other drawling rich guy Perot, and lose in the election like he did. Look, I'm not a billionaire, so I can't afford to buy ads on TV just to see my own face on the screen. But if I were a billionaire, I'd drive my yacht into my mansion and keep my big yap shut. Yes, the yacht would be inside the mansion—deal with it! You're a billionaire, Pickens, so just uncap your oil well and buy us some gas. C'mon, Slim, gimme some money! (Wow, Frosted Flakes really do give you long-lasting energy! They sure fueled this rant. Hey, maybe we can get a more efficient fuel from corn. See, Pickens, we're on the same page!)

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Energy, Environment, Gianatasio, Political ads, TV
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