Believe it or not – it’s a bad ad

Poor old Believe Advertising – the agency has just demonstrated that there is such a thing as bad publicity after all.  

The agency must be less than delighted that it took part in The Sun-Herald’s “Selling Australia” feature today.

In an item not unreminscent of The Pitch segment on The Gruen Transfer, agencies were asked to come up with their own ad campaigns for Australia. The paper even included Gruen regulars Todd Sampson and Russel Howcroft to give a verdict.

And while Loud’s work – a London Underground sign saying Down Under in front of a wide open road – won praise from the judges, Believe’s did not. It featured a young woman posing for a photo with a pair of pensioners and the message “Escape while you can”.

Branding consultant Hans Hulsbosch labelled it “a really dumb ad”, Sampson voted it the worst ad and Howcroft said he didn’t understand it. The paper also revealed:

“The agency’s first ad, depicting two mating kangaroos with the tagline ‘enjoy the wildlife’ was rejected on grounds of taste.”

The Australian tourism brief has always been a poison chalice, but at least DDB will be paid for whatever they eventually produce.