"Unhate" campaign from United Colors of Benetton was not the first time that Obama's image has been used for commercial purposes albeit without consent. The above image of BO in front of Great Wall of China sporting the jacket from Weatherproof, was used by President of Weatherproof, Freddie Stollmack in a billboard hoarding on Times Square in Early 2010. Unfortunately, the billboard was up without procuring permission from White House.
The most controversial of the lot was that of Pope in lip-lock with the Imam. UCB seems to have out-done itself in its bid to be rife with social/global/political message of universal love has courted controversy ... which has been its USP from the time of its inception. These UCB ads make no bones about bringing forth the bitterness between the parties portrayed and has thereby thrown caution to the wind. It takes Bromance to a whole new level. The content and effort at the art work is commendable but the fact that images of global leaders have been used without consent would obviously not go down well with the primes.
Bold. Strong. Effective. Polemic.
Barack Obama and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez kissing
China's leader Hu Jintao and Barack Obama
Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel with French president Nicolas Sarkozy
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Lee Myung-bak, President of South Korea
Palestian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Title: Coco Mademoiselle
Brand: Chanel
Product: Coco Mademoiselle
Star: Keira Knightley
Background song: "L-O-V-E" by Joss Stone (original sung by Nat King Cole)
Director : Joe Wright
What I love about this ad is the fact that she is more a tease than a Sl*t. The imagery of a lithe woman riding a Ducati, accentuates her femininity. She looks leonine and in control of what she wants and chooses to do. In its true essence she symbolizes the breed of women, that the product aims to represent. Keira concludes the rendition with signature panache.
It is with the same director, Joe Wright that Keira worked with for Pride and Prejudice.
The sequence starts with a transmission bearing rolling down a board into a synchro hub. The hub in turn rolls into a gear wheel cog, which falls off of the board and into a camshaft and pulley wheel. The camshaft swings around into the centre section of an exhaust pipe mounted on top of an engine crankshaft assembly. The exhaust in turn swings round to knock, which in turn swings into the first of a series of valve stems. The valve stems roll down a front bonnet placed on top of an alloy wheel rim, releasing an engine oil dipstick with a throttle actuator shaft on the end. The disptick flicks over an engine cam cover into a radiator. The radiator overturns, falling onto a wheel balanced on top of a water pump housing. This wheel rolls off and knocks into the first of a series of three weighted wheels, which roll up a ramp into a brake disc.
If you still don't know what I am talking about take a look at the video. One of the best ads of all times and one of the most award winning ads. It is the Honda Cog Ad.
It took 606 takes to get the video right but it was worth each try. The final ad that was screened for the first time during an ad break of the Brazilian Grand Prix was such a runaway hit even the rival ad company bosses were indicating that it was one of the best ads that they had seen.
