Christmas Ads

There have been a couple of interesting articles in the Guardian. The first is on brain activity while watching commercials. It seems that, 'watching the programmes appeared to suppress higher-level thinking that was only reactivated during the commercial breaks'. We also learn that the programme preceding an ad provides an influence on the way we receive it - suggesting that the most effective ads are related to the programme we have just seen. Read article.

In another article the correspondent talks about the influence of the current ad for the Sony Bravia LCD TV. The ad features coloured balls falling on sunny scenes to capture the idea of the beautiful colours reproduced by the screen. While the ad is impressive, see it here, this was just a small influence on the buying choice. Read article.

Ads achieve a lot if they are able to capture a truth. This print ad for John Lewis captures the truth that we often don't want to give anything decent for Christmas.


'Of course you could always give them bath salts instead'