Truth in advertising

I found this wonderful ad for the Filipino edition of FHM (For Him Magazine) in a roundup of ten ads America won’t see, via this /. thread.

While there are some interesting ads mentioned (from a Gucci ad deemed ‘too racy’ for the US with our bizarre cultural mores regarding sexuality and the human body to the absolutely astounding Honda Accord ‘Cog’ ad), the self-deprecating humor and honesty in FHM’s ad made it by far my favorite of the bunch.

One of the great benefits of living a TV-free lifestyle (and one of the reasons I went to a TV-free lifestyle) is that I don’t need to sit through the neverending stream of stupid, pandering, insipid ads that eat up a quarter of every show on television. However, every so often, some ads are rather entertaining to see, and it’s nice to be able to take a peek at them from time to time.

While I hate, hate, hate the appearance of what’s so euphemistically called “pre-show entertainment” in the movie theaters lately (the ten minutes of advertising that runs after the advertising slides, but before the fifteen minutes of trailers before you finally get to see the movie you paid for), I saw a great ad for HP photo printers that used a ‘flipbook’ form of animation. The spot opened with a 20-something guy standing in front of a staircase, and you watch him jump up and down a couple times. The scene then cuts to a pair of hands holding a flipbook titled “I defy gravity” made of photos taken of the guy at the peak of multiple jumps, creating an illusion of him flying over the ground, up and down staircases, and over parked cars. Once the flipbook finishes, you get a couple more shots of him jumping up and down, and then it’s over. Quick, simple, amusing, and sticks with you — nicely done.

But I still wish I didn’t have to sit through it before watching a movie.