Welcome back to an old friend: the TV ad
Described by Advertising Age as one of the most influential people in the communications business, former Jury President of the Film Advertising Jury Tham Khai Meng is Worldwide Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy & Mather.
In the article below, Khai outlines the criteria required for brilliance in film advertising. He claims the resurgence of storytelling as an art-form is a result of social media, and that we're in a golden age of tv commercials as a result.
Once upon a time, many years ago, in the days before YouTube, if you wanted some entertainment, you invited a vacuum cleaner salesman to call. He had a great way of making an entrance. First he would wedge his foot in the door to force a way in. Then he would take out a bag of dirt and throw it on your carpet. And just before you called the police, he would whip out the vacuum cleaner and Hoover up the mess.
Advertising used to employ a similar approach. It would force itself into your lounge, insult your intelligence and leave a mess on the carpet. That’s why for years we told people at parties that we worked for the Mafia or the tax authorities.
In the words of the old joke, “Don’t tell my mum I work in advertising, she thinks I’m a piano player in a brothel.”
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