Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

I've always liked that saying. I have to admit it use to make me feel like I had the liberty to like or dislike whatever I wanted to without ever having to justify myself much except perhaps for a, 'well I don't think it looks nice'. That was it. Topic closed. After all, taste is personal. Isn't it? Woe unto him who has yet to realise his own ignorance, and in advertising one is met with heaps of it early on. Such short sighted renationalisations are simply not tolerated. I'm learning there is a very distinct beauty where clever advertising is involved, and it might not always be something that I immediately behold as beautiful in my eye.

This is my third blog review on print ads. Since the start of our copywriters course until this present day each day has brought new insights and new understandings into this very interesting and vast field of study. It is humbling to know that you might become an expert at recognising certain winning formulas over time, but to stay ahead by consistently coming up with new ones, I very much doubt. People change, markets change, political, social and economic climates change and like I mentioned in my review on Greenpeace, you are only as effective as you are relevant. These matters will always dictate to you, making us the slaves of an unpredictable form of evolution, except with advertising, every now and then we get to be the whip.

The print ad above was done for The Eye Care Foundation Brazil by BBDO. Now this is the kind of advertising whip that excites me. It is visually arresting and verbally compelling. It leaves you with an emotionally pleased feeling. It has all the qualities necessary for a campaign and as a result got used as such.

Still having your eye sight is something most of us take for granted. Because we do, you can just sense that it was of real importance to the client to communicate a strong idea about creating awareness surrounding the protection of your vision. What's great about it is that they manage to send out a meaningful message in a creative, engaging and entertaining way. To me it feels like you can tick all the 'Aha' boxes. What is said is clear and it is memorable. It is also thought provoking. I'm convinced this is exactly what any brand should try and achieve through their advertising; I'm even more convinced that this is exactly what any clever agency should want to achieve for their clients.

We might not all be Da Vinci's and create jaw dropping art, but we are in a business that allows us to create moments and memories that people can remember, should remember and will remember for years to come, if we make them that good.

Now, when it comes to this print ad – man, I wish I had seen that.