Art + Advertising

1.

BBDO, Australia

Leo Burnett

It's pretty easy to overlook billboards; they're everywhere, and are generally synonymous to annoyingly loud car salesmen. Amongst the plethora of, frankly, ugly billboards, I found these two examples to be rather artistic. The first, by BBDO Australia takes billboards out of the norm by breaking the unwritten limit placed on them; the ad is 3D vs. 2D. This is a rather unconventional, yet effective way to strike a chord with viewers; the reality of the situation is made clear, and they don't feel as if they're being preached to.

The second, by Leo Burnett, is artistic in that it too took an innovative approach to a bland medium. The creation of a giant sundial both spun the idea of a clock and billboard into an effective fusion, showcasing the boundlessness of human productivity. Also, these two examples reminded me of the work of Claes Oldenburg, an artist famous for his ;arge scale sculptures of everyday things.

2.

Carmichael Lynch

The series of print ads that Carmichael Lynch created for Harley Davidson is artistic in the novel approach it took to selling motorcycles. Rather than go for the "tough guy" approach, Carmichael Lynch appealed to the a person's individuality by creatively displaying the individuality of each of Harley's motorcycles. Using the mechanical parts of a motorcycle to portray the larger message as a whole (represented by the apparent face) effectively got the advertising message across in an aesthetically pleasing, and "out of the box" way.

3.

Richards Group

Unlike the other examples I've shown, this Hyundai commercial is artistic in that it showcases the creativity of the human body, not just the mind. It brings art to the forefront of this commercial by featuring dancers displaying their unbelievable talent. The silhouetted images that are created are nothing short of beautiful, fulfilling the need for art to be aesthetically pleasing, however, it is done so in a rather simple way. The music, void of words, also adds to this "simple" yet "pleasing" idea as well.

4.

Weiden + Kennedy

To some, this commercial is considered more scientific than it would be artistic. However, I would argue that this commercial is very artistic because of it's choreography. No, there aren't dancers being choreographed, there are car parts, but that's the beauty of it. The amount of time it took to plan this sequence, time it out, film it, all in what appears to be one shot, is amazing. It showed the beauty of hard work; hard work and perseverance created this commercial, and the same for a Honda.

5.

Fallon

Of course many people are easily impressed by things with vivid colors. Some even seem to consider things such as colored photographs to be of higher value than black and white. Here, Fallon takes this love of color, and translates it onto a much larger scale, proving that, at least in this instance, color reigns supreme. The beautiful landscapes from around the world are artistic themselves, but combined with the message for Sony Bravia at the end, puts the cherry on top of this commercial.