INKSTAND

There are so many things wrong with this advertisement. I first saw it a while ago in the trade magazine at work about private label products. I saw it again and had to say something about it. The best thing it has going for it is that it is symmetrical. It’s the only element of the ad that suggests they planned anything. The concept of the ad seems to be a mish-mash of at least three very weak concepts.

First we have the question: “What are these people smiling about?” When you see this in an ad, you should expect the makers of the ad to reveal the answer to this question while trying to sell you something. This ad never actually tells you why the people in the photos are smiling. Apparently the “paper people” did something for them, but we remain in the dark as to what this great favor was. Could it be that they helped all these ladies establish their store brand with quality private label products? Possibly, but I doubt it.

Then we have the photos. The only theme in this lot of photos is they are women of different ages and complexions. The clash of different photography styles and time periods is difficult to look at. Even though I feel the smiles give the same effect in all the photos, the styles are not uniform enough to cram together on a page in this manner. It is also simultaneously difficult and uncomfortable to think of these women not only using paper products, but smiling so widely after doing so.


Lastly we have the smiley face made from computer-generated tissue rolls in the middle of the page. What the hell is that? Why is the tissue paper smiling? I think the designer felt that the circle of photos of women was so weak he had to try to salvage something by sticking something cute in the middle. The smiling tissue is there to distract from the discomfort of the photos and the aimlessness of the question at the top of the page.


This ad is terrible. Whoever designed it must have either been on a hell of a deadline or not been getting paid very much. Or both.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 at 2:12 am and is filed under rampant consumerism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.