[Orchids & Onions] Fun ad oozes fizzy energy to dance an Orchid away

Then again, perhaps the way the ad unfolds resonates with me as a long-suffering South African electricity user... because the vibey concert comes to a sudden halt when the power goes down.

But, like most of us who regularly turn Eskom lemons into lemonade, this group of concert-goers are determined nothing will hold them back from enjoying music, even if they have to make it themselves.

So we see the sudden beat of scores of cans of Hunter’s Extreme being opened, putting down a funky bass line. Then comes the dancing, high energy... with many of the dancers wearing shoes with lights in the soles.

On top of that, people everywhere break out light sticks and in this vibey, unplugged manner, the show goes on. It gels nicely with the Hunter’s message that Extreme will be all the energy generator you need.

I also love the enthusiasm and the fun in the ad... and, heaven knows, we need more of that these days.

So, Orchid to Hunter’s.

Screengrabs from the ad.

Two food ads caught my eye recently. As I’ve said before, excellent production values are essential for good food advertising, and the latest TV offering for Robertsons Master Blend spice range is a great example.

It shows a juicy steak sizzling away. A shower of spice – like jewels of taste – falls on the meat and makes it even more appealing.

The catch line for the range is “play with your food” and the voice-over urges us to play with steak.

As the family’s steak braaier, I’m listening. That’s definitely going to be around the next time I chuck a piece of rump on the coals.

Simple but effective. Orchid for Robertsons.

I’m not a great fan of burgers, particularly the imported American fast-food type. Our family does pizzas and fish at takeaways rather than KFC or McDonald’s... although that may also be because the kids have grown up (my son’s sophisticated Italian girlfriend would probably shoot him if he wanted to order KFC where they live in Amsterdam).

But, again, I found the new Burger King ad to be catchy. And catchy is often enough, as ad people will tell you, to get a brand top of mind.

We see a number of people stopping mid-lunch to look at the dude who is having to open his mouth impossibly wide to squeeze in the Whopper burger. A woman on a park bench with a sandwich is wide-eyed; a construction worker drops his chicken drumstick; office employees pause mid-nibble with their Asian meals.

High above, passengers in the first-class section of a jumbo jet (King Air, it’s called) look out of the window, shunning their designer food. Even further out, an astronaut lets drops of his drink escape horizontally into weightless space as he, too, sees the size of the Burger King offering. Point made: Big burger. Big value. Big Taste. Big Orchid.

Apart from the current advertising world obsession with all things millennial, all things digital, the hip buzzword at the moment is “programmatic”. This, the digital clevers assure us, is the way, the truth and the light for online advertising.

Using sophisticated computer programmes, ads can be placed exactly where they will be most effective... at least, that is the theory.

Apart from the fact this presumes that, in the future, media planners will become obsolete, this also has, inherently, all the negatives associated with machines not controlled or supervised by humans.

So, the programmatic systems will place ads where they think it’s best... whereas a human media planner might well look and go: whoa! This thing’s out of date!

Clearly that didn’t happen with Mango’s banner digital ads promoting its special offers, which expired on 31 October. As late as 2 November, they were running on a number of sites, including our own, IOL.

That’s not the fault of Mango, nor of the site, but it does show the dangers of allowing machines to do too much for us.

The driver-less car? The planner-less campaign? I’d be worried they both end in a painful smash.

So, whoever is responsible for this bit of stupidity, you get an Onion. Of the human, not programmed, variety.

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