World Aids Day !!!

There are also days when advertising
can be considered as a noble art:......

The international day of action on HIV and AIDS which takes place every year on 1 December - is one of those....

Every year, the World AIDS Day represents one of those opportunities for advertisers and designers around the world to use their communication skills and creativity for noble causes. The results are usually very creative ads, most of them being the fruits of voluntary, unpaid work coming from some of the greatest communication agencies.

Required by Sida Info Service – the French Aids information service - BDDP & Fils 2005 campaign will undoubtly catch your attention, whether you like it or not......



The above one poster targets the male gay community: the shocking visual displays a homosexual male who has been stabbed and killed by male sex.

The associated tagline reads: ‘Don’t let ignorance spoil your life’ (translated from the French ‘Ne gâchez pas votre vie par ignorance‘).

Three other posters that are part of BDDP & Fils 2005 campaign targets a more global audience, even if we would dream of having no audience or ‘market’ at all for that kind of ad. The posters show disturbing images of AIDS-mutilated bodies, while relying on the same sarcastic tagline: ‘You’re right when not protecting yourself from AIDS. You can live perfectly well with it.’(translated from the French ‘Vous avez raison de ne pas vous protéger du SIDA, on vit très bien avec‘).
The visual metonomy used - that is, the usage of a part of the body to stand for the whole body - makes the presence of the disease appear as very suble and atrocious in the same time. Those little rotten hair, toes and tooth that speak for the whole body seem to tell: AIDS is not always visible at first sight, but it is well-present and slowly decomposing human bodies and killing people. I am not sure if the aggressiveness of such a campaign will have the intended, right effects on everybody. But it will certainly shock you, and you will remember it once you see it....

And the one next which again is 2 year old , a poster by UNICEF but haunting by the stark frankness with which it throws us into the direct effect of AIDS.. death for the affected and trauma for the related...see this...


Hope as we enter another AIDS day, good sense will prevail !!!!

Artwork in Ads

Art work in ads can be beautifully woven into a message. It is not only respect for the art and the artist, that brings attention of a normal observer, but it makes it easier to convey even difficult messages in the form of cartoons, caricature or collage. It becomes easy to portray human behaviour. Although, these advertisements are for a recording company, wine maker, and for a fruit drink as shown, they follow colourful tones to convey meaning. I suppose, lot of colours spoil the drawing. I feel instead of giving mixed meanings, by making it simple and emphasising on clarity, artwork is a good advertising tool.

the social bores...!!!

How boring are social service ads? or for that matter any product or service ad with a call for a change kind of social message embedded in it? Generaly boring .. rite? The government kind of ads that are good in intention but poor and boring when it comes to execution....
Recently media is hit left and right by a series of ads issued by the GOI to make us "aware" of the importance of being careful about getting the right visa and other documents before going abroad for work, particularly as labour..... I dont intend to show it here, as adformula has better things to show.. take for instance the two ads that I thought of sharing here... Of course it sells a product or rather a service namely Aaj Tak, a TV channel, but a social cause is embedded so amazingly well... simple they are and short they are and yet so strong they are....

The fun gun...!!!

The man discovered COLOURS and invented PAINT,
The woman discovered PAINT and invented MAKEUP
The man discovered the WORD and invented CONVERSATION,
The woman discovered CONVERSATION and invented GOSSIP.
The man discovered GAMBLING and invented CARDS,
The woman discovered CARDS and invented WITCHERY.
The man discovered AGRICULTURE and invented FOOD,
The woman discovered FOOD and invented DIET.
The man discovered FRIENDSHIP and invented LOVE,
The woman discovered LOVE and invented MARRIAGE.
The man discovered TRADING and invented MONEY,
The woman discovered MONEY and invented SHOPPING.
Thereafter man has discovered and invented a lot of things...
While the women got STUCK to shopping.............

and what about Advertising?????