Ad of the Day: Boobs in Paris

Did you come to this post because it had the word boobs in it? That’s okay because that was my intention. Today’s Ad of the Day is brought to you by Valege, a French Lingerie brand. The reason why I picked this ad is because it takes a very different approach to selling bras. I loved that it was out-of-the-box and not your typical ad with cookie-cutter hot models. The ad starts out with one boob (animated, of course) at the airport anxiously waiting something. A plane arrives and another boob walks in. They have a ‘bouncy’ reunion and you see the boobs being smushed against another. It ends with the tagline and that wraps up this great concept.

I think we all expect ads for undergarments to be sexy with a famous model who fits the product exactly. At first, we are sort of shocked by the singular boob, but I think as the ad continues we find ourselves giggling because it’s such an outrageous visual but also harmless at the same time. This concept — like most amazing concepts — provides us with a simple concept and a divergent representation. The bra they are trying to sell is a push-up bra and the end of this ad shows the purpose of the product in a unique way. Once again, European ads never fail to impress me. What a spectacular spot for a product that is in such a cluttered category.

Enjoy.

Brainstorming on the Edge

Brainstorming is a concept you learn in elementary school. Such a simple concept, yet it holds the greatest ideas ever created. I never truly understood the importance of brainstorming until it was an assigned to my group in advertising class last year. I will never forget this exercise because the concept of brainstorming finally clicked with me. It’s like I had an AHA moment! Our assignment was to brainstorm using the word “plaid” and narrow it down into some concrete ideas for a new ice cream. I don’t remember what specific words we brainstormed, but it must have been over 50 words that we came up with in a matter five minutes. Some of the words had nothing to do with the word plaid. Home, woods, warm, fire, gingerbread, burly, hipster…

I guess my point is that brainstorming is such an interesting concept because it’s like thinking, without over-thinking. You just shout out the ideas that come to your head and move on. Then you get a bunch of words that will inspire the next great idea, concept, ad, plan, etc. What I love about this kind of thinking is that it encourages us to think on the edge. We think of ideas that we would never think of because we are not afraid of the creativity. The craziest ideas are created through brainstorming as well as the most successful ones. So don’t be afraid to blurt out anything! It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t make sense, it might later.

In this industry we are challenged to be unique. We are taught that different works. I guess this is why edgy things intrigue us so much and make us more curious than we already are. I will leave you with this quote from the Lovemarks book. Hopefully it will inspire you to brainstorm and think on the edge!

The edge gives us a special attitude. It’s a place to shake off conventions and worn out formulas, and shake out ideas. New ideas. The edge is exciting and risky, and extreme. I love it.