Monday, December 14, 2020

Purell - the campaign that says too much in too little of a space

Well, back when I used to teach, I always told my students: Do your ads in such a way one can see and understand them in a split of a second as they drive on the Dbayeh highway. Whomever did the Purell ad was not my student. It really says - too much. In too little of a space, even if the art direction is well done. But... 

OK hang in there: "Avoid the catastrophe" - it means do not shake hands or else 1) the titanic tattooed on one hand will hit the iceberg tattooed on the other 2) the cat tattooed on one hand will bounce on the bird tattooed on the other 3) (not present in the above photos) the shark tattooed on one hand will hurt the surfer tattooed on the other. Wait, there's more: there is also a disclaimer "stop cross-contamination sanitize your hands".

All this - as I said - to be understood, grasped, dissected in a split of a second. My two cents is that there has been too many meetings between agency and client, too many opinions went in there, and too much back and forth thought injected. For a much simpler campaign, yet one that works without being too much complicated, check the Santell ads (such as this one here or for stills this one here).