Sex Sells? Testing! Testing!

This post is a test of the Squarespace app on my iPod. I've been able to post blogs from the app for a while but until now I was restricted to posting images. As I had no way of embedding videos it wasn't so handy for a me.

So to test the app here is a great advert which really caught my imagination. May not be safe for work unless you sell bras for a living.

Has this advert crossed a line for you? Would it be shown on TV in your country?
More importantly, would you be more likely to buy from this store in the future? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Oh, and let me know if this blog post didn't work...

Shirts and Cards and Food Sans Crap

I love finding quirky non-traditional adverts on the web.  These two are the best I've seen this week.

First up is an add for The Pump, a chain of quality sandwich bars across Manhattan.

The next add is for English Laundry who make hand stitched shirts to order.  They have collaborated with Dan and Dave, the card flourishing guys, and made this:

I hope you find these inspiring.

Does A Chair Steals The Show?

Today you need to stop what you're doing for a few minutes and take a look at this great short film from Blue Dot Studios in Soho, New York.  Blue Dot Studios is not a film studio or even at TV production house, they design and make chairs!  So why are they making a documentary?  Just watch it to find out...

So how would you describe this film? A fun documentary? A social experiment?  Product placement bonanza?  Well it's all three of course.

The film works as an advert because it is so well put together as a documentary that it doesn't even need to be subtle about the product placement.  Ok, so there's a chair in almost every shot but the chair actually becomes one of the main characters in the story so it fits perfectly.  I know I want one of Blue Dot's chairs now and have been to the website to check out their other products.

Spend a couple of moments thinking about your product or service.  Can you describe it as part of a story?  Remember, people respond much better to stories and anecdotes than hard facts.  Most, if not all, good products can be the starting point of a documentary or non-traditional advert.  Check out Robert Llewellyn's Carpool for another example.

Lift Update:  I'm going to the Royal Television Society Awards on Tuesday evening as one of the three North West Finalists.  Wish me luck and follow me on twitter for instant updates.