Guiness advert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEmbjiaA3E0

I got sent an email by a good friend today asking mine, and a few other peeps, opinion of the latest Guiness advert. The response of one freind was that it was good but not worth the press hyperbole; especially as it is 'just and advert.'

This led me to think a bit about the nature of adverts and the quality of this advert in particular.

The capatalisit society we live in places, by its nature, huge importance upon the mechanics of consumption. The polotics and sociological nuances of this fact are not important. What is important, in this particular context, is what that demands. One of the results of this situation is an increasing pressure on the marketting of products. Visual communication is the corner stone of ensuring that a particular brand gains and retains certain values in our minds. An advert, therefore, becomes the contemporary equivalent of an altarpiece in a church. The visual celebration and confirmation of that which is valued in society. In place of god is commerse. I am in danger of slipping into vain attempts to describe the ever elusive zeitgeist, so I shall move onto the advert itself.

It is a typical Guiness advert. As always they play on their slogan, 'Good things come to those who wait.' As ever they take a simple idea and translate it onto an epic scale. This time the idea is of a stack of dominos falling over. They have turned it into an epic narrative. From start to finish we move through a whole town witnessing a the dominos effect played out through a vast array of objects. For this broad discussion the details of these objects is not of huge importance.

The chian ends with a stack of books (I think...from first look) whose pages open upwards towards the top of the pile. We zoom out to see the ground of cheering people witness the pile turning into a sculptural represetnation of a pint of Guiness.

The quality of production is that of a film. The idea relates directly back to the guiness logo and ends with a symbol of the drink itself. Along the way the simplisitc idea has allowed the production team to go let loose creatively... from which objects are selected, how it is shot, how to get the whole thing to work, the relationship between the music and the action.

It is a perfect example of excellent visual communication, where the outcome perfectly fulfills the intention with invention, sophsiitication and originality.

The result of this is to embed certain specific ideas of the brand in our head. The quality of the advert means we assocaite the brand with creative endevour and thus its iconic value is reasserted.

The quality and impact of the advert means that in this instance an ad break has been turned into a gallery. No white walls or stuffy doormen at this establishment. Here the walls are less visable yet as with all institutions there are other less tangible sociological and philosophical ones, which we perhaps need to decode when considering such issues.

I have digressed and also in my rush failed to articulate myself with any sophisitication. Hopefully i have at least got across my opinion that being just an advert does not stop it from deserving the welcome hyperbole of the press.