Really Strange Social Advertising

I've recently discovered some strange samples of the Russian social advertising. They are about disabled people and that we shouldn't pay attention on their disabilities. Generally, the message is like "OK, we are all different and that's great". Advertisers chose to emphasize this difference via comparing disabled people with some controversial artworks, like Malevich's "Black Square" etc. "Yes, you may not like it but it's still the art".  I think it's not very politically correct, at least. May be, a disabled person may be offended by such a comparison. Advertisers have stepped on the slippery ground, anyway. Let's have a look at what they've done.

Picture - Art

Look at deviations from the norm in the another way. 

Every disabled person can be great. 

 Fruit - Brand

(the text is the same as it is on the previous picture)

Tower - Legend 

The design is quite minimalistic and primitive drawings are in fashion now, but anyway, I think it's a rather bad sample of a social advertising campaign. Yes, "Black Square" is a great masterpiece, Apple Inc. is a great company which has changed our idea of electronic devices and Pisa Tower is the great landmark of this Italian town, but the idea of deficiency compared with "the norm" (a lifelike, realistic picture; a "whole" apple; a straight-standing tower) lies behind this "appreciation of greatness".  "Deviations from the norm" is a bad idea for a slogan, anyway. Who is defining this norm? Especially if we are speaking about people? I believe that many handicapped people really suffer from being "special" and from the constant emphasis on the idea that "they are not like normal people". This advertising campaign may only make things worse. 

But, may be, I'm not right and this idea for ads is really great. What do you think about it, by the way?

New things are long-forgotten old things: "vintage" ads for social networks

I think many of you have already seen advertisements for Twitter, YouTube and Facebook made in the style of the 1950s - when ads were quite different from what we see nowadays. They got immediate response because they have blended the completely new phenomenon - Internet with all its features and facilities - and the good old manner of advertising. So, there are some of these ads:

Your films will last forever on YouTube. The champion address on Internet!

Twitter. The sublime, mighty community with just 140 letters!

Skype. The fabulous voice system able to put your family together. 

Facebook. Striking, miraculous social team-up!

You say, it's impossible to represent the new feature of our postmodernist era - social networks and messengers - as they would be 50 years ago? As we see now, it has proved to be not so difficult. Just do the next things:

1. Choose the yellowish "old newspaper" background.

2. Stylize lettering - you can even play with logos in order to make ads more "reliably vintage".

3. Add drawn images (not photos!) of pin-up girls wearing the 1960s clothes. If you draw a computer - make it look like in the fantastic movies of the 1950s - not as it is now.

4. Accompany your ad with a little bit pathetic slogan and with a long story describing advantages of the product. 

Finally, you'll get a vintage ad. 

But, I think, it'll work not in all cases. You need to be really talented and to know a lot about old advertising. Creators of these ads have been able to do that. 

Sometimes I really think whether our grannies would be glad to have Internet access and all these social networks or not. But, anyway, if it existed in those days and was advertised in this way, they would be devout users of all these facilities. 

Stalin for teenagers - a new social ad campaign

75 years ago General Secretary for the Communist Party in the USSR, Joseph Stalin signed the resolution which started so-called "Big Terror". People of different ranks, positions and occupations were arrested for some fantastic and baseless reasons and then tortured in the NKVD (Stalin's secret police) cells, sent to prison-like labour camps in Siberia and the North of Russia. Among them were writers, poets, artists, scientists and scholars, doctors and factory directors, priests and descendants of former Russian aristocracy and merchants. One of most popular accusations was espionage for some capitalist countries adversary to the USSR. Many prisoners of the GULAG were disclosed to the police by their neighbors and friends.

Thus, these years of "Big Terror" can be considered the real tragedy of the Russian people. Not only privileged classes and intellectuals suffered; many ordinary people, peasants and workers were arrested and tortured too. The reasons for such unprecedented measures can be numerous - Stalin suspected that there would be a treason against him among his fellow Party members (so, many of those who were arrested weren't anti-Soviet at all; they were ardent Communists and hoped till the end that they had been sent to the labour camp for some terrible mistake and they would be released as soon as Stalin would be informed of that); that there were really some profound reasons to look for foreign spies in the young, but thrivingly developing industrial state as the USSR was in those times. People who idealize Stalin (as it's fashionable among some Russian people today) say that severe measures and repressions were necessary for "keeping everything in order". But still, there is the issue of  great controversy. Although the cult of Stalin's personality and his repressive activities were given a negative estimation of politicians and Communistic activists as early as in the beginning of the 1960s (to such extent that Stalin's monuments were destroyed, his portraits and posters with his face on them which had been in abundance earlier were banned and the Soviet anthem with lines about "great Stalin who has lit the way for us" was rewritten), many people felt that they couldn't accuse Stalin in all sins of those times. The charm of Stalin's personality is still very strong. Nowadays, some Russian people have even started to romanticize his image. If you have a look to the Russian internets, you'll find a lot of Stalin's fans.
The Russian Non-Profit Organization for Victims of Illegal Political Repressions is warned by this fact. Its activists say that the reasons for increasing of Stalin's popularity among young people is that they are not informed about the extent of Big Terror and think that it was long time ago and all sources lie. Moreover, teenagers and youngsters don't see any links between the 1930s events and their own lives.
So, activists have invented an original way to tell the history for the new generation who has grown up with the Internet. The series of social prints "Stalin - he is like..." has appeared recently and immediately grabbed my attention. Here are some of them.

Stalin - he is like Foursquare: he showed who belongs where. 

Stalin - he is like Yandex: he used to send search enquiries. 

Stalin - he is like Facebook: he called for sharing information 

Stalin - he is like Twitter: he was brief. 

Stalin - he is like YouTube: he allowed loading and sending. 

Stalin is like VKontakte: he captivated millions. 

The common slogan for this social ad campaign is: "Big Terror 1937-1938. 75 years are not the time to forget". 

As you pay attention you'll also see the very good job of graphic designers. They have played with logos of social networks and their interfaces in order to blend modern features with historical content. Twitter's bird becomes Stalin's mustaches; Facebook's sign for "Like" is completed with the famous Stalin's pipe; and features of VK's interface (function buttons) are rewritten with "To send a telegram", "To add to comrades", "To declare a people's enemy". In the left corner one can read some historical facts and figures about Big Terror. 

I think that is the well-done job; ads are not very pathetic and sentimental, but rather quirky and even funny (a sort of black humor). And they really make you thinking of Big Terror and its tragedy. 

Non-glossy Amsterdam by the Dutch Impressionist

I hope all of you have ever seen photos of Amsterdam. They present the city as something sunny, doll-house-like, cute and forever cheerful, making it an ideal touristic attraction. And, yeah, milliard bikes, soft drugs, Red District, and backpackers with their huge cameras here and there. Internet is full of pictures like these:

Here is a cheerful cyclist crossing the one of numerous canal bridges. They haven't just shown a great crowd of other cyclists with their bells ringing, trying to get through  dense tourist groups. 

Here is Rokin, one of most disgustingly crowded places in A'dam... Looking like the paradise, I think, they've shot it in the 6 a.m. at the morning. 

I live in Amsterdam and I must say that such views can be seen rather rarely. I mean blue skies and the absence of people (especially in the case of Damrak - the street leading to the Central Station cannot be empty in any place of day and night). Most days, A'dam weather is much more gloomier and there are a lot of chances that you will be soaked in the rain when you arrive here even in the midst of summer. And the weather changes very often, so you need all kinds of clothes here. 

But what is the real, not glossy, not touristic A'dam? I think, the art shows us more of the real Dutch capital than any pictures from guidebooks and touristic web sites. Especially if this art is Impressionistic.

George Hendrik Breitner was the well-known Impressionist artist and one of the first pioneers of photography in the fin du ciecle Netherlands. He made very real-life pictures of A'dam, especially at evenings and autumn-winter seasons. They look quite realistic and I must admit that I see the A'dam the same as Breitner saw it - in the brown-gray-dark palette.  Here are his works - that I could find in the Internet. However, if you are in A'dam, you can see them in Stadelijk Museum which has recently been opened after the long restoration. 

The Dam Square and the Nieuwekerk. 

Only horse-driven trams have disappeared and have taken place to the electricity-driven ones of the other blue-white design. 

Rokin as it was in the end of the 19th century. Less crowded, but still gloomy. 

A'dam in the winter. A very cheerful winter scene with beautiful ladies in furs. 

Breitner's works, despite of their gloominess, are rather lively, because they always depict people on the streets. Hasty strokes of the painting brush reflect the perpetual movement of the city. And I think these pictures really show A'dam as it was in the past and it is now. We can only replace ladies in elegant dresses with hipster girls and horse-driven trams with more modern ones, plus add bikes and we'll get the real A'dam as I see it now, in the mid-October. 

Quirky packaging for good purchases

What do you think of plastic or paper bags which go free with your purchases? Many of them are just made to be thrown away, so designers don't think a lot of their looks. But advertisers do know that the package which is decorated in the certain way can be the really powerful medium for advertising. If you design a humble plastic bag or a paper box in appealing way, it won't end its life in the waste bin but rather will be used more often and its originality will help you to achieve advertising aims. Moreover, this method can help to raise sales - so, more people will desire to buy something in your store if, instead of dull bags you give them quirky, original and fascinating packages.

There are some vivid and interesting examples of good packaging which I've liked most:

This is an interesting textile bag which promotes the medicine for weight loss. When the bag isn't tightened it depicts the wide waist, but when you tighten the lace you'll see the effect of taking this medicine. The concept is called "The Burn Bag". 

This bag is the visual demonstration of the buyer's virility, especially when you hold it in the certain position - in front of your body, below the waist line. 

This bag advertises the gym. Its hands have the function of a jumping rod - they're up when you grip them. I like the elegant black-and-white photos of athletes on the white background. 

This designer's solution seems to be a bit cruel. They have placed the photo of a man on the bag and have cut the hands in his head, so, when you carry this bag your hand is penetrating the man's head, and his facial expression says a lot of his feelings...

Another illusion of "holding" something - in this case, a gun. The designer's solution is again quite simple - just put the photo of a gun on the bag and cut the hands where the trigger should be. 

This bag clearly promotes Lipton tea. Advertisers haven't had to do much brainstorming - they've just made a tea bag oversized and have done it in plastic. 

This bag gives the whole illusion of driving a car - like you are sitting in it and someone sees you in the car's window. 

I like this solution for the bookstore's bag. Transparent bags bear images of people who hug something - and when you place your purchase in it you'll see what they hug. 

This bag gives people around you the illusion that you're carrying the big crate of beer, but in a strange way. When I see photos of people with such bags I start to worry how they'll manage to carry the crate safe and sound to home. But it's not the crate of all!

So, packages like these will never be thrown away immediately after purchases are unpacked. They are advertising masterpieces - and original accessories too! 

Rob Gonsalves - magic realism with Escher's touch

I've found some astonishing works of the well-known Canadian artist Rob Gonsalves. There are real wonders considering their composition, perspective and setting. They are mostly dream-like and they remind me of those dreams which look like reality but some small details of them are fantastic and you don't notice any strange thing while dreaming, but when you are awake and trying to remember your dream these details suddenly appear in front of your eyes again and they immediately strike you as unbelievable.

Some people like to compare Gonsalves' works with bizarre geometric fantasies of Escher. Similarities between them do really exist, because Rob Gonsalves uses tools of perspectives freely and abundantly. But Gonsalves' pictures are more dream-like and colorful, they remind us more of childish dreams than of dark adult fantasies. I think they are worth of seeing. And I must warn you - once you see one of Gonsalves' masterpieces you won't be able to stop gazing on them for, say, ten minutes. I've even uploaded one of his pictures as the wallpaper for my desktop and I'll never be tired to stare on it.

Meet magical images of this outstanding artist:

The girl, sending blue balloons in the cloud-loaded sky thus creating the good weather...

Unfinished Puzzle

The girl from the puzzle who meets the boy, trying to complete this puzzle. 

Deluged 

The naughty boy who despises the umbrella-wearing rule of others and who has dared to climb the tree and to see the sky in order to predict whether it'll be rain or not ...

Tree House in Autumn 

The magical builders who reconstruct the humble tree house in the middle of October, among orange trees, and who turn it into the solid mansion. 

Sail ships gliding through eternal sea under the long automobile bridge. Some of them seem like waves themselves...

Nocturnal Skating 

Falling stars in the midwinter night turning into fantom skaters with lanterns... The path between the clouds turns into the frozen river. 

The Sun Sets Sail

The mysterious bridge which, together with clouds, gives birth to mighty sailing ships... 

White Blanket 

Snow turning into the cosy blanket prepared for those who are  weary and ready to hibernate...

Still Waters 

People who turn glass pieces into the mirror pond...

Bedtime Aviation 

Children who are able to fly in their dreams, their bed covers turn into mosaic fields and a toy airplane becomes the real one... 

More images of Rob Gonsalves are here: www.robgonsalves.com

Ads for fitness clubs

What can make you leave your sofa and go doing fitness in a club or a gym? It's a rather tricky question... Of course, we, girls, are obsessed with our shape and weight and promises to help us losing weight and making us fitter and more attractive are enough to make us consider visiting a fitness club. But it's more difficult issue with guys... Yes, some of them do really worry of their shape and body and they will visit fitness clubs anyway. But a part of them has to be really forced doing sports because they don't see any problems with their bodies or weight, even if there ARE problems. So, many most original advertisements for fitness clubs are aimed on this category of sedentary young men who don't worry about their bellies and mid-riffs. Some of them are really shocking and you won't forget them! These are good samples of both commercial and social advertisements (whether we will apply for membership in a certain fitness club or won't, we will still think more of our shape and of the opportunity to improve it).

Yoga is a good way to be in the harmony with your soul through special exercises, but, aside of this spiritual stuff which occupies all ads for yoga centers we should remember that asanas will make us more flexible in the first place. This interesting concept - to place a girl's photo on the bending part of a cocktail tube - will remind us of it. Although there is no slogan here, we can put it out like this: "If you start visiting our yoga center you'll soon be as flexible as this girl on your cocktail tube". 

It's a very impressive example of the ad that will remind us of overweighting. A heavy man sitting on the bench is literally breaking the frame of the ad's poster. For those who want to gain weight through fitness this ad is also a very good reminder and stimulus to sign up with Fitness Company (as the fitness club is called). 

This ad shows you the effect of doing fitness in a certain gym. Overweight people come into the club through wide doors and leave it through much narrower ones. What can be better in showing effects of regular sports and dieting? 

Those who dream of "cubes on the stomach" and of strong protruding muscles will appreciate this transparent ad for a fitness club glued on the surface of the brick wall. 

Another interesting way to advertise a gym is to turn a bus' interior into it. So, any passenger, as we see from this, can feel himself as a powerlifter. 

The simple, but smart solution for advertising. Just place the photo of an obese man to the corner of the billboard and hang this billboard awry, as the man "overweights" it. 

Another smart&simple advertising solution. What you need are a huge billboard with an athlete and the skyscraper which is still being built. So, the association is rather straightforward and direct - build your body like this enormous building. 

Another play with overweighting - place the image of almost empty bus and place a plump girl in its corner, then hang a billboard awry. And you'll get an ideal advertising for a weight-losing program. 

All these ads are quite impressive. They can restore the wish to do sports in us by showing us ideal athletic bodies that can be our owns or obese and ugly bodies of people who ignore fitness.