Category Archives: Ad Campaign Commentary

Ad Campaign Commentary: Dolce & Gabbana

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Anytime I see an ad campaign that makes me go “WTF?!” is an instant winner in my books and totally worth mentioning.

This year’s Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring/ Summer 2011 ad campaign was photographed by Steven Klein and featured supermodels Izabel Goulart, Alessandra Ambrosio, Isabeli Fontana, etc. etc.

The photographs are an eyesore – my visual cognitive mechanisms work extra hard to analyze what is going on. Then it hits me. The whole process is CREATIVE (marketing) GENIUS – bombard the audience with gorgeous supermodels doing random activities combined with a really unique photography style that makes everyone stop flipping the pages and pay attention to the ads itself. Anytime an advertisement can catch and hold your attention for more than 5 seconds have accomplished their goals. In my case, more than 10 seconds have passed until I realized what was going on in the pages.

So what did I learn? It pays to stand out in art, fashion, photography, business, job interviews, etc. People will notice you and the thought of you becomes embedded in their minds. 
I love this last one. How many cats do you spot? 

Pigeons and Fashion Don’t Mix!

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I was flipping through the latest issue of W Magazine and saw an ad from Bottega Veneta’s Spring 2011 Ad Campaign. And the first thing I noticed was the beautiful model in the black dress and her handbag. And pigeons. Lots of pigeons. 
First off, before I go into a rant about how disgusting pigeons are, I’d like to say photographer Alex Prager did an amazing job with the entire ad campaign. I love the lighting and composition in this shot, and the movement captured. I definitely will use this as an inspiration for future shoots.
And then the pigeons. Let’s talk image association. When you see the image of pigeons you think: 1) rats with wings, 2) bums, 3) crap on car windshields, 4) infestations at public parks and courtyards, 5) the ugly cousin of the dove, 6) rats with wings (Opps I mentioned that already, didn’t I?) 

Some of you might disagree with me, but I totally think having the pigeons in this photo just ruined the entire ad campaign. Conflicting image associations of blonde model-beautiful dress/handbag + rats with wings does not go hand in hand. The whole point of ads is to make the audience associate a designer’s pieces with something pleasant, awesome, cool, sexy, or angelic.  Not disgusting things. Hence, pigeons don’t belong in fashion. And that is my Ad Campaign Commentary of the day. Thank you.