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Welcome to Pontificator’s Corner. This column is like a mini awards

jury. In the same way as creative awards are judged, it’s a mixture of:

a) who you know; b) who you like; c) personal prejudice about work; and

d) unhealthy rivalry. So for those of you who’ve never been on an

advertising jury (and I include some minor novelists and a lot of our

women readers in that list), this - roughly - is how it looks.

Mastercard by Publicis. Gerry Moira’s agency, so I have to beware the

potential backlash in this very column. However, the ad forcibly reminds

me of the old Halifax ‘Sunday morning’ commercial. A pretty yuppie,

purchasing lobsters and sun-dried cucumbers, obviously has two things I

don’t possess - an ability to cook exotic food and a Mastercard. I’m not

convinced by this strategy that I need the latter. Beautiful music, but

the whole thing strikes me as ‘fur coat and no knickers’. I’m not quite

sure why - it just does.

Puma by K Advertising. I don’t know anybody involved in this, so, in

theory, I can be objective. I like the line about ‘serious studs’, and

it’s got a really powerful presence. But I’m a bit confused about the

long-term strategy. Big bloke gets his kit off in the changing room - is

it appealing to the latent homosexual in all sports fans? You don’t see

his sliding tackle, but he does drape his boots very near the penalty

area. (Less a case of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps than a case

of this bloke pulling himself off by his bootstraps.) A powerful ‘one

off’, if you like.

Nokia by Grey. Again, I don’t know anyone involved, so I can slag it off

mercilessly...I mean...judge it objectively. The strategy compares the

advantages of owning a Nokia mobile phone with using semaphore, Japanese

drummers and/or Morse code. This strikes me as like comparing the

advantages of owning a credit card with attempting to purchase your

groceries by bartering your skills as a blacksmith.

The execution is called ‘ladder’. We see a bloke trying to get it up at

the back of an old outhouse. It topples over, then he rings someone to

help him get it up again. Not the sort of problem I can empathise with

much. But I’d be interested in seeing another ad in the campaign, if

only because it would enable me to make a joke about looking at a pair

of Nokias. (This joke, copyright Benny Hill 1979, is exactly the sort of

light-hearted banter you get on all-male juries. It is included for

educational purposes only.)

Persil by J. Walter Thompson. I know the director, so I’ve got to say

that it’s beautifully directed. In fact, I think the shot of the

‘Dalmatian’ shaking off his spots could become an archetypal advertising

image. Good work all round.

Ionica by Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe. A great agency, but the client

is a direct competitor of one of ours. What to do? Well...I think it’s a

very powerful piece of film, backed by a strong music track. There’s a

clear proposition (the Ionica system has no cables - it’s all done by

transmitters). I’m not sure how much of an advantage that really is -

but this is a launch ad that is bound to get noticed. (Difficult

balancing act, that. I don’t want to alienate my mates at Rainey Kelly

or at Mercury. I’ve probably done both.)

Bupa by Ogilvy and Mather. Two years ago, this was one of my favourite

campaigns, and it was clearly successful - in that it forced PPP to

spend lots of money doing a similar campaign.

Any client who produces such good work that their competitors have to

spend millions catching up is good for the advertising industry. (Or in

this case, good for Charles’s and Maurice’s bank balances.) And I love

the sentiment in the voiceover - ‘Everybody can do something that the

next person can’t.’ (That bloke from the Puma ad can probably do quite a

lot of them.)

It’s a classy piece of film.

Basically, this campaign is amazing. And, by and large, I want it to

stay that way.

Steve Henry is a creative partner of Howell Henry Chaldecott Lury

Puma

Project: King football boots

Client: Tony Jarvis, sales and marketing director

Brief: Capture the real face of football, as players know and love it

Agency: K Advertising

Writer: Paul Domenet

Art director: Kevin Jones

Director: Jon Greenhalgh

Production company: RSA Films

Exposure: Sky Sports

Lever Brothers

Project: Persil

Client: Richard Rivers, general manager, fabric detergent

Brief: Find a new and relevant way to capture the pleasure of great

cleaning results from Persil with its new stain-release system

Agency: J. Walter Thompson

Writer: John Donnelly

Art director: Ken Grimshaw

Director: Graham Fink

Production company: Paul Weiland Film Company

Exposure: National TV

Nokia

Project: Nokia mobile phones

Client: Heikke Norta, marketing director

Brief: Establish the Nokia brand as a simple way to communicate

Agency: Grey

Writer: Chris Street

Art director: John Clifford

Director: Laszlo Kadar

Production company: Wow Haus

Exposure: National TV

Bupa

Project: Bupa health fund

Client: Bruce Tranter, marketing director

Brief: Demonstrate how Bupa helps to keep you amazing through its new

health fund

Agency: Ogilvy and Mather

Writer: Tony Strong

Director: Gerard de Thame

Production company: Gerard de Thame Films

Exposure: National TV

Ionica

Project: Telephone service

Client: Stephen Ashman, head of sales and marketing

Brief: Launch Ionica’s telephone service

Agency: Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe

Writer: Richard Beesening

Art director: Andy Blood

Director: Daniel Barber

Production company: Rose Hackney Barber

Exposure: Regional TV - Anglia

Mastercard

Project: Mastercard brand

Client: George Strachan, senior vice-president, general manager of

Europe

Brief: Boost awareness of Mastercard through the continuation of the

‘every language speaks Mastercard theme’

Agency: Publicis

Writer: Gerry Moira

Art director: Gerry Moira

Director: Doug Nichol

Production company: Partizan/ Midi Minuit

Exposure: National and satellite TV

This article was first published on Campaign