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Ads should entertain

Posted in Advertising, Creative, Mel Varley, Latest reporters' blogs October 31st, 2007 by Melinda Varley

It’s a common fact that advertising should “reflect society” but a lot of advertisers are forgetting that we want to also be entertained by ads.

One of my favourite shows (and this may sound a little geeky) was World’s Greatest Ads, it was an Australian show that showcased the best and most creative ads around the world.

However, I sometimes find it hard to find a funny ads or an entertaining ones during those seven minutes of ads every hour on terrestrial TV.

I did however see a fantastic ad while at the cinema over the weekend. It’s a new ‘windsocks’ ad for Heart radio which shows inflatable people waving their hands about and smiling as Heart radio plays up-beat tracks.

The ad was funny because of the look of the blow-up people and was also quite intriguing - it had my friends and I glued to the screen to find out what it was advertising. We all laughed, we were all entertained and that was a great ad.

And to mention it again, my favourite ad still is the E.ON’s ‘Winds of Change.’ The music is up-beat and draws attention and it was a totally new concept – people enjoying wind…for a change. It was clever and entertaining and made me sit through it until the end so I could find out what it was advertising. I also quite often have the song in my head!

Some ads (like the BT Kris Marshall one) try to be entertaining while presenting a ‘soap’ like story line but the ads that really draw our attention are the ones with the great music, masses of creativity and the ones that make us laugh. I think advertisers should try to entertain us, however, does it always work and are the simple ads the most successful – such as the Sheila’s Wheels ads?