Comments on: You don’t always need to show the product you’re selling.

By: robin percyz

robin percyz — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 21:18:14 +0000

Haha, David your explanations were quite essential for me. For some reason, I managed to believe that I understood them prior to reading your comment… and then REALLY understanding them!

Thanks! Very entertaining!

Robin P.

By: vivienne

vivienne — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 13:27:18 +0000

The one from France made me laugh. It’s great!

By: David

David — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:15:19 +0000

I can see how most clients wouldn’t be willing to take a risk on this kind of work – just observing the comments section (and bear in mind that this is a design-savvy audience), it’s clear that not everyone will get it.

Ultimately, for a lot of men and women in suits, their priority has to be casting the biggest net and catching the most fish.

Of course if you’re a superstar ad agency or a superbrand company you can play a little with that.

Having said that, perhaps the beauty of ads like these is that there is no single interpretation – maybe in number 1 she’s wearing a dress with a low back and has secured herself to the rider with her strap? As such it’s less of a comment on size and more on the durability and hold of the bra.

By: CJ

CJ — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 05:34:25 +0000

Very, very clever. Victoria’s Secret could take a few lessons from these ads. Stop plastering boobs and butt cheeks all over and leave something to the imagination already.

By: Yohann Wilkerson

Yohann Wilkerson — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:41:17 +0000

I kind of like the double-D reference.

By: Allen

Allen — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 09:20:30 +0000

I only hope that all of these are legit and not scam because they are really clever…. The real question is that will the target market get their “cleverness” or will they be lost in the ad? I would guess that most of us who commented here are from the creative industry that is why we instantly got the message in these ads.

Kevin – I saw a pepsi ad where the logo was used to sell the brand. I think it was a billboard and they didn’t show any product shots. Imagine red skies, big blue waves and a very small photo of a surfer plus the message – dare for more. It really stood out from most of the clutter. Back in the 60′s they would always show the products with happy people in it. I think that right now everyone is tired of the “product” and it’s all about the “experience” with the product which was brilliantly shown here.

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 05:38:38 +0000

Very good and I think it’s possible to advertise anything without showing the product – you simply need to be more creative. OK, ‘simply’ is perhaps not the best word. I designed an ad for headphones that had no headphones in it, using a connection to music and music festivals. Hard to explain – I’ll see if I can find it and get a link. I like the fact that these ads make you think and, let’s face it, there are worse things we could be thinking about!

By: Marty Jones

Marty Jones — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:51:02 +0000

Perhaps this is a bit crass, but #5 would be more accurate if all the males weren’t looking directly at the camera, but a little lower.

Either way, brilliant!

By: Emma

Emma — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:02:46 +0000

Designer Monk —

Three things: One, the ads are obviously greatly exaggerating the cup size WonderBra can give you or how much space breasts take up in general. Two, Perhaps you have never had breasts and ridden on the back of a scooter or motorcycle? How about with extremely large breasts? Three, “comfort” is not exactly a necessary selling point when it comes to women’s beauty. It isn’t expected, honestly, and much of the time it doesn’t exist. Women’s beauty ads don’t need to say, “this product is comfortable,” because it just isn’t expected. Desired, yes, but not necessary. They simply need to say, for example, “this product will make your boobs look huge.” Objective achieved.

By: Emma

Emma — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:48:57 +0000

Designer Monk — I see you have never had breasts while riding on the back of a scooter or motorcycle.