Wammo, Pound & Mash returns this week with a look at the democratisation of creativity as a promotional tool. And some top billboard efforts from DDB for Spartacus.
Check out this competition being run by grabaseat that asks people submit a billboard slogan idea in the hope of winning 1000 Air Points dollars. If anything, it’s proof that writing good ads is harder than most people would suspect.
So far there are 400 pages of 20 entries (over 12,000 entries so far). And on each page a fair few are pretty funny. Good funny and bad funny. There are spelling mistakes, gross obviousness, totally inappropriate billboards and some good ones too (here’s the top 20). But it is good that people are having a crack. And all my mean-spiritedness was bad for my soul as I read through them and made snide tweets saying that anyone who ever thought anyone could write ads were invited to look at this comp. Well, after being rude, I then submitted one of my own complete with a spelling mistake, so now my effort can be rubbished to make it even.
On a different note, this is an example of user generated advertising done well. Doritos in Australia offered $30,000 to the winner, and, as the prize is bigger and it is their second go at this comp, that may have helped.
Make an Ad, Make a fortune was their plan and by offering a fortune they got a pretty good product.
And to end with an example of a really good billboard, DDB’s Spartacus effort is magic. The line about Spartacus having nothing to lose, not even his clothes, is pretty much perfection, summing up the show, acknowledging with a wink what people have heard about the nudity, giving it a fun and approachable aura and making it less of a naughty secret and more of a cheeky indulgence. It is a favourite of mine at the moment.
