Visa ad imagines if technology never shrank
Whybin\TBWA of Sydney scores with this fun Visa Debit Card spot from Australia that depicts a world where technology hasn't kept pace with consumer demands. The images of contemporary folks lugging around outdated hardware like fax machines, dial TVs, typewriters and turntables really resonate. I fondly recall the days of unwieldy portables with rabbit ears and even jerry-rigged stereos set up to play LPs and 45s. And you're asking: What the hell are LPs? It wasn't really so long ago that when you left your home or office, you were effectively out of touch with the rest of the world, with no aesthetically beguiling system of tree-wrapped phone cords (watch the spot) to kept you tethered to humanity. And you're asking: What the hell are 45s? Let's just say they're a primitive medium that, at least at my house, often came in picture sleeves with Rick James on the cover. Via Ads of the World. |
|
Published on April 21, 2009 | Permalink
| Comments (5)
|
New ad for Visa Debit both super and freaky
By all rights, this TBWA\Chiat\Day spot for Visa, with its off-key take on the song "Super Freak," should fall as flat as the notes sung by its geeky, goofy and overly exuberant cast. And yet, I could not look away and immediately wanted to watch it again. It even manages to convey a coherent message: Life's freaky enough without having to worry about every online transaction, so trust Visa Debit. (Note to self: Trot out this post for smart-ass counterpoint the next time Visa Debit is implicated in identity theft.) And the sound you hear under your feet is not Rick James rolling over in his grave. That dude got insanely high on life, music and anything else he could lay his hands on. I imagine he's checking out the spot from the Great Beyond, bopping his head in approval and wishing he could take a hit off whatever those actors are smoking. |
|
Published on April 2, 2009 | Permalink
| Comments (4)
|
Disabled dancer going with the flow for Visa
Saatchi & Saatchi London created this fun new spot as part of its European "Life flows better with Visa" campaign. It stars Bill Shannon, a freestyle dance artist who was born with a degenerative hip condition and has come up with a fascinating way of dancing on crutches. Some are ragging on Saatchi for essentially copying a music video by the band RJD2 that also features Shannon. And that's a fair point, though it's still nice to see Shannon getting a wider audience through advertising. Visa has posted a behind-the-scenes video from the shoot to its YouTube channel. And check out a short documentary about Shannon here. |
|
Published on March 11, 2009 | Permalink
| Comments (3)
|
Visa vanquishes rivals with 'Go Phelps' ads
If you've been watching the Olympics, you've seen Visa's "Go World" commercials from TBWA\Chiat\Day, in which the impressive feats of Olympic athletes are recounted in gold-tinted slow motion. They made an impressive number of spots (all viewable at the Go World site), but what really struck me were the three executions specifically created for Michael Phelps that aired right after each of his wins. There was the generic, Michael-isn't-a-dolphin spot, which came after the first few, then the specific congratulations on winning more gold medals than anybody ever, and of course, another one for surpassing Mark Spitz's record with eight golds in one Olympics. In the bevy of ads that followed Phelps's wins, Visa stood out as the only advertiser with a relevant message. The spots were given extra gravitas by narrator Morgan Freeman, who was injured in a car crash recently. So, of course, they were recorded far in advance, even though the footage was turned around in less than a day from Phelps's previous victory. What I wonder is what the ad would have said if Phelps hadn't pulled it off. Did they have a special "You're still crazy-awesome, Michael, and we still love you" commercial ready? —Posted by Rebecca Cullers |
|
Published on August 18, 2008 | Permalink
| Comments (5)
|
