Sorry FT but I don't get it. I sent it to my 19 year old nephew and he doesn't get it either. His interesting observation was that this was probably written by some old marketing fart in a striped shirt and braces trying to be hip.

I guess it's an attempt to appeal to young "cool" and "hip" and pot-smoking graphic designer crowd - just starting in the business and needing cheap images. I have no idea if this kind of add works since I definitely don't belong to that crowd.
To me - but hey I am over 40 too:) - it just looks stupid.
They are definitely not targeting my demographics.

There must be some sort of serious disconnect going on.
Seems the suppliers are all 35+ but the buyers are all 20 somethings?

At least people are talking about the ad. That may be all they wanted...

Of course the purpose of advertising and marketing is generally to increase sales. I don't care how unique or 'brave' the ad was or how many awards it received if it didn't achieve it's purpose __ and there's precious little evidence of that.

Uh huh? Brand awareness comes to mind. Why is Coca Cola using polar bears in their ads (what do polar bears have to do with any type of beverage anyway?)? Why is Budweiser using a carriage with massive horses being pulled around a beautiful landscape? What do horses have to do with the fresh, refreshing taste of a Bud Light? What about the Geico gecko?

FT appears to have achieved their goal with their campaign, whether it was creating a buzz, increasing sales or just branding themselves into peoples' brains. That's all that matters to them.

Marketing a company obviously involves more than "just" creating ads so people want to buy their product (see the polar bears...).

Naturally at the end you want to see increasing sales but I would consider this one step of the way towards a (hopefully) successful future.

IMO you'd do better to say what actually happened - it was a finalist in the awards - than claim it won an award when it didn't.

Correct. Good investigating! It's amazing how most people just gobble up what's being posted on the internet... (including me sometimes  )

why would the word "n-a-z-i" be considered an insult? It's part of the history.

It's not a question of insult, it's about the tastelessness of cracking way-cool jokes about mass murder. Since Fotolia's main market is in Germany, I would call it a blunder on an iStock scale. Remember that in Germany the sale of National Socialist German Workers Party (since the short form is banned here!) memorabilia is a criminal offence and a dodgy British historian was jailed there not long ago for the crime of "holocaust denial".

I would avoid negative associations when writing advertising copy. I was thinking "how silly" until I reached that line about the National Socialist occupation and that stopped me dead in my tracks. It therefore became the only memorable part of a childish (to my aged eye), uninformative ad. So the message I ended up with was "Fotolia thinks fascism is cool". Hmmm.

Hey jsnover,

You should get your facts straight before spouting off about things you know nothing about. I am the CD, art director and designer of the Fotolia ad campaign, and it indeed won a Silver Pencil on Monday, May 9 at the One Show Design Awards at the IAC building at the Chelsea Piers. I was in attendance and picked it up, and it's sitting on my desk as I type this.

In order to win a Pencil, work must obviously first make the shortlist. From there it wins Gold, Silver, Bronze or Merit awards. Look it up. oneclub.org and search for Fotolia.

Our goal was to make ads that were unlike all the other crappy stock photo sites out there, and get people talking. I'd say our ads have done their jobs quite well thus far. And some judges from aroud the globe have agreed. Now if you'll excuse me I must go polish this Pencil.

Ciao.

Mike Meadus
maclaren.com/calgary

Quote from: Meadus on May 30, 2011, 16:32

Hey jsnover,

You should get your facts straight before spouting off about things you know nothing about. I am the CD, art director and designer of the Fotolia ad campaign, and it indeed won a Silver Pencil on Monday, May 9 at the One Show Design Awards at the IAC building at the Chelsea Piers. I was in attendance and picked it up, and it's sitting on my desk as I type this.

In order to win a Pencil, work must obviously first make the shortlist. From there it wins Gold, Silver, Bronze or Merit awards. Look it up. oneclub.org and search for Fotolia.

Our goal was to make ads that were unlike all the other crappy stock photo sites out there, and get people talking. I'd say our ads have done their jobs quite well thus far. And some judges from aroud the globe have agreed. Now if you'll excuse me I must go polish this Pencil.

Ciao.

Mike Meadus
maclaren.com/calgary

Good for you! Interesting that you signed up here just so you could drop in and gloat.

Judges might think that kind of language is "cool" and "hip", but it doesn't appear everyone does.

And as you said it...please, go polish your pencil! 

Actually I signed up because I was correcting an idiot who was spouting off crap without having a clue what she was talking about. Plus I thought I could get into some witty online battles with retards like yourself.

Get bent.

Quote from: cclapper on May 30, 2011, 16:45

And as you said it...please, go polish your pencil!  

Actually I signed up because I was correcting an idiot who was spouting off crap without having a clue what she was talking about. Plus I thought I could get into some witty online battles with retards like yourself.

Get bent.

Wow.  Do you "polish your pencil" with that mouth?!!

What a classy, witty retort.  Especially from someone who claims to make a living writing "award winning" copy.  

ETA:  Wonder how Fotolia feels about you coming into a forum frequented by their contributors and buyers and hurling abuse.  Presumably you were hired to increase their market share?   You are not representing them very well ATM.  

But then, perhaps a "seriously gifted advertising whiz" with "more tats than your average Hell's Angel" and "talent oozing out of his inky pores" is above worrying about how he is representing his client's interests in a popular industry forum...  

Here's my problem with the ad. I didn't see it. I don't mean I didn't see the magazine - I did. Just got through going through it, trying out a few tricks. I saw the iStock, Shutterstock and Bigstock ads. Then I noticed this thread and went back through the magazine and found it. Yup, there it was, but I didn't see it first time through.

Isn't that kinda the purpose of a print ad? That people see it? A page full of text on a page? For a company that sells images? Who cares what it said. I didn't see it. What percentage of other readers didn't see it?

Quote from: Meadus on May 30, 2011, 17:07

Quote from: cclapper on May 30, 2011, 16:45

And as you said it...please, go polish your pencil!  

Actually I signed up because I was correcting an idiot who was spouting off crap without having a clue what she was talking about. Plus I thought I could get into some witty online battles with retards like yourself.

Get bent.

Wow.  Do you "polish your pencil" with that mouth?!!

What a classy, witty retort.  Especially from someone who claims to make a living writing "award winning" copy.  

ETA:  Wonder how Fotolia feels about you coming into a forum frequented by their contributors and buyers and hurling abuse.  Presumably you were hired to increase their market share?   You are not representing them very well ATM.  

But then, perhaps a "seriously gifted advertising whiz" with "more tats than your average Hell's Angel" and "talent oozing out of his inky pores" is above worrying about how he is representing his client's interests in a popular industry forum...  

Hi Snowball. Cute name.

I never claimed to be the writer of the particular ads that have managed to quite successfully irk you. I said I was the CD, AD and designer of them. My creative partner actually penned them. I am, however, writing some blog entries that are successfully irking you.

And I'm not sure what the quotes around award winning means. They didn't 'win' a Pencil at the One Show, they actually won a Pencil at the One Show.

If you're wondering how Fotolia feels about me being mean to you, why don't you tell on me. I'm not representing Fotolia. I don't work for Fotolia. I helped create a campaign with the hope of getting people talking, and I can only assume that they're not all as dense as you.

And no, I do not polish my Pencil with my mouth. I use the felt bag it came in. I also don't kiss my mom with my mouth because she passed away recently. You insensitive douche.

Now run along and take a picture of something.

Quote from: Snowball on May 30, 2011, 17:49

Quote from: Meadus on May 30, 2011, 17:07

Quote from: cclapper on May 30, 2011, 16:45

And as you said it...please, go polish your pencil!  

Actually I signed up because I was correcting an idiot who was spouting off crap without having a clue what she was talking about. Plus I thought I could get into some witty online battles with retards like yourself.

Get bent.

Wow.  Do you "polish your pencil" with that mouth?!!

What a classy, witty retort.  Especially from someone who claims to make a living writing "award winning" copy.  

ETA:  Wonder how Fotolia feels about you coming into a forum frequented by their contributors and buyers and hurling abuse.  Presumably you were hired to increase their market share?   You are not representing them very well ATM.  

But then, perhaps a "seriously gifted advertising whiz" with "more tats than your average Hell's Angel" and "talent oozing out of his inky pores" is above worrying about how he is representing his client's interests in a popular industry forum...  

Hi Snowball. Cute name.

I never claimed to be the writer of the particular ads that have managed to quite successfully irk you. I said I was the CD, AD and designer of them. My creative partner actually penned them. I am, however, writing some blog entries that are successfully irking you.

And I'm not sure what the quotes around award winning means. They didn't 'win' a Pencil at the One Show, they actually won a Pencil at the One Show.

If you're wondering how Fotolia feels about me being mean to you, why don't you tell on me. I'm not representing Fotolia. I don't work for Fotolia. I helped create a campaign with the hope of getting people talking, and I can only assume that they're not all as dense as you.

And no, I do not polish my Pencil with my mouth. I use the felt bag it came in. I also don't kiss my mom with my mouth because she passed away recently. You insensitive douche.

Now run along and take a picture of something.

And for the love of God, stop using emoticons. I can't take anyone seriously who winks at me every time they think they've just written a real zinger.