Private View: Steve Straw, executive creative director of Leo Burnett Singapore

Panadol: An easy product benefit to have fun with. Takes away headaches and stuff. So why waste a perfectly decent opportunity by writing a few expected, horrible puns? These ads won't relieve us from pain; they'll cause it ... 'Nuff said.

McDonald's: Mmm. There is a fun story here somewhere but, unfortunately, the execution is let down by the talent in the ad. If this is a problem that we're experiencing in our markets, then we really need to address it, instead of continuing to work with it. We need to build more time into our production schedules for casting. We need to spend a little more money on our talent. Are these the solutions? I don't know. But I do know that there is no sense in allowing good ideas to be let down by something that we can fix.

BT: I can't understand how someone actually believes people are going to read these ads. Particularly this one ... "Viruses cost organizations $55bn a year. Protect yours with networked IT services from BT."

"Protect yours"? Protect my what? My viruses? Add to that a busy layout with uninspiring visuals that have nothing to do with the headline and you've got a substantial amount of crap in front of you. My sympathy goes to the creative team who must have been forced, no, beaten into making these ads.

FHM: I find the whole execution a little too contrived for my liking.

Sure, manipulate objects and visuals to make a point. But this is going a bit too far. There's just no simplicity here. There's a great topic with no thought given to a simple execution, or a simple idea for that matter. A magazine with an attitude needs the kind of work that will support it. I can't see this doing that.

3 Plus: Out of all the ads I've just reviewed, I like these the most. They show nice thinking. They at least have an idea in them. Unfortunately, the art direction does not work nearly as hard as it could. I also can't help but feel that the idea could be better expressed if a little more time had been spent on other executions. But nice, fun and simple work with a clear product benefit (and not a shopping list). Got any more?

GUINNESS

Project: Guinness Foreign Extra Stout print campaign

Campaign: 'Why Not You?'

Objective: encourage Guinness drinkers to truly 'believe'

Client: Guinness Anchor Berhad Malaysia

Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Malaysia

Creative directors: Edmund Choe, Henry Yap

Art director: Ong Kien Hoe

Copywriter: Primus Nair

Photographer: Melvin Lee

Photography house: Untold Images

PANADOL

Project: Panadol Actifast

Advertising brief: to promote Panadol Actifast

Client: GlaxoSmithKline

Agency: Ogilvy & Mather

Creative director: Craig Smith

Art director: Yi Ling Tay, Hui Tze Lim

Copywriters: Yvonne Chia, Audra Tan

MCDONALD'S

Project: Breakfast brand outdoor

Advertising brief: a regional breakfast campaign

Agency: DDB

Client: McDonald's

Creative directors: Tim Souers, C.C. Tang

Art director: Lik Ho

Copywriters: Joanne Lui, Jesse Wong

Production house: Moviola

BT

Project: Group ICT Communication

Advertising brief: to boost awareness

Client: BT

Agency: St Luke's

Creative director: Al Young

Copywriters: Simon MacTaggart, Scott Leonard

Art director: Nick Darken

Production company: Exposure

FHM

Project: FHM 'Girl Next Door' contest

Brief: promote FHM magazine's 'Girl Next Door' contest

Client: FHM Singapore

Agency: DDB Singapore

Creative director: Neil Johnson

Copywriter: Chris Lim

Art director: Joel Chin

3 PLUS

Project: Dumex Malaysia, 3 Plus

Advertising brief: launch Dumex 3 Plus fine cereals - a product that

gives kids longer-lasting energy

Agency: Lowe

Creative director: Adrian Miller

Copywriter: James Jap

Art directors: Ian Lee, David Sin

Photographer: David Lok

- Interested in having your campaigns reviewed? Send submissions to Atifa Hargrave-Silk in the form of trims, transparencies or video printouts for TVCs plus the TVC itself, and proofs for print ads and posters. Please send all material to Media, 2201, 22/F The Centrium, 60 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong.

This article was first published on Media Asia