Bluesky-Walter Graff Weblog

Heinz recently sponsored a search for consumer content. They were looking for a new TV ad and wanted an ordinary consumer to come up with it. I took a look at most of the entries last night on their website. Some were clearly imitations of what advertising seems to be to consumers as presented by ad agencies: either a tongue in cheek joke, some slick animation, or some abstract spot. And in the end, they choose a spot so simple, with a message that relates to our lives. If you visit the site you’ll understand why it won. Those ads that mimic most of today’s advertising are often visually stimulating, but after it ends, I say to myself, “who cares?” I would imagine the agency that helped put the spot together simply wanted to forget about this adventure in consumer generated ads. It doesn’t look like it’s an award winner. Doesn’t have cool camera cranes, and fast pace cutting, or that special humor that makes most of today’s advertising so forgettable. No it’s simple, to the point, and makes one smile, while putting Heinz in a good light. Too bad most ad agencies can’t learn from this. They are often too busy trying too hard to be creative.

The site to view the other entries is http://www.topthistv.com/