Wrigley uses ‘Bad boys’ in Extra ad

great idea, nicely done….albeit with some clumsy client involvement visible in the execution. i like it.

Seriously, why include this type of ads on Mumbrella? This is exactly why people hate advertising, and why the commercial breaks are as much fun as going to the dentist! It’s mindblowing that an A-list agency is behind it. The whole idea and subsequent execution is based on a pun, as is the case with so much Australian advertising. And people still think it’s clever….”Great idea…” duh. I think client involvement is the least of its problems robbo

@Adverb it’s a great extension of a long-running campaign……they’ve already set up the donuts and other nasties as “bad boys” and this punny execution reinforces the positioning of the product nicely. On brand, consistent over a long period (a quality sadly lacking for most clients) and has cut-through.

I don’t know what you expect from advertising but let’s face it we ain’t creating art here, just trying to get viable attention from punters to buy stuff. and with the “freshen my breath after eating” positioning I’d say Extra owns it, so someone has been doing a decent job.

and i have nothing to do with the client or agency, I just like the ad in all of it’s catchy obviousness.

I’d love to know what sort of ads you’d have mumbrella arbitrarily decide not to include here…….it’s an industry blog, not a museum or gallery.

I put this in the Not Good / Not Different category (to borrow from @faris)

I love it – have found that pink doughnut bloody adorable since the first of these ads came on.

The song is great.

Rob:
There’s a lot of space between art and this ad, so it’s meaningless to meet criticism with saying how this isn’t a museum. An attitude like that is the definition of mediocrity. Have a look at any selection of Cannes or D&AD winners and while you’ll find neither Fellini nor any Extra ads, you’ll find good quality strategic and creative thinking. Which I guess is what I’d like to see here at Mumbrella. Original, intelligent, creative, inspirational…If I want ads like this I can turn on the telly.

I’m sorry to hear this is only the latest execution of many. Did you love the first one as well, or is it just that you value consistency above all? I’m sure the client is terrified of killing of the animated donuts they’ve invested so heavily in, but I doubt many consumers will react or notice if they do.

Your defence is based on a comparison with the rest of the campaign and obviously the assumption that the campaign is a great one. I’m sure that can be debated. While being on brand is usually preferred, it doesn’t mean that the branding is great to begin with! Maybe, just maybe, it’s time for something new from Extra? After decades of assaulting us with extreme blandness I guess they do own that position, but they don’t leverage it. There is no reason, even according to your text book, surely, why they can’t make something vaguely entertaining and intelligent which stands a chance at connecting with actual human beings.

I know it’s scary to criticise, and I bet you say ‘yes, I agree’ a lot during a day in the office. I would love to hear what ads you don’t like though. If this is ‘great’ it can’t be a whole lot

@Adverb – get over yourself
Ad made me almost chuckle first time, I’ll probably hate it the second time i see it and it will become bloody annoying, but it’s still an effective ad in terms of selling sticks of chewing gum. who cares if it’s not art. As for what belongs on Mumbrella, why not start your own blog and you can post whatever the hell you want on it? Think Mumbrella editors can decide for themselves.

@Adverb, is it really necessary to be so nasty and get personal like that?

I agree that the ad isn’t ground breaking, but it’s simple and light hearted.. I don’t think gum should be taken too seriously anyway!

@ Adverb your dissertation speaks of award-winning creativity and “maybe it’s time for change” for Extra after the era of the animated donuts, but I’m not sure where the rationale lies? Change for it’s own sake is not a great reason to ditch an established creative platform.

The opportunity to make “entertaining and intelligent” ads is pretty loose and vague, and sounds more like it would be of interest to bored creatives than based on any hard evidence or expected business benefits.

I do value consistency as part of a strategy – most campaigns have such a short shelf life these days a lot of work might as well be generic category stuff as the client gets lost in the constantly changing messages.

There are other considerations too, such as not spending your budget every year reinventing the message when you can invest more in media placement while reinforcing a consistent message to consumers. Is that such a flawed strategy?

I agree that no-one outside the client will give a second thought to the animated donuts disappearing from the ads if Wrigley changed direction, but the flip side of that coin is the characters are identifiable and associated with the brand and so offer a bit of brand association as a starting point…..if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Clients and the industry give far too much weight to the idea of creative burnout in consumer minds, because outside the client building no one gives a crap about your business or your advertising, especially in a low involvement category like chewing gum.

Oh and btw i’m the exact opposite of a yes man and very contrarian in my views on lots of subjects. I love great creative work and i am also quick to criticise stuff that in my mind misses the mark……but more often than not this is based on business and strategic considerations, not purely creativity (which as a measure shouldn’t exist in a vacuum in this industry – it’s a means to an end, not an end in itself).

Lets face it, some clients push boundaries and some don’t – in my business i accept that some jobs pay the bills and some jobs are ball-tearers. You can pick and choose what goes in the folio.

Sounds to me like you want mumbrella to become an ivory tower of (your view of) creativity and ignore the vast bulk of the work that’s done in the industry – you’re better off addressing that to Tim, not me. I like the egalitarian environment here that lets all work get put forward and potentially debated, as in this case.

@Adverb – in this industry, it is more scary to be complimentary than critical. And when you are posting under another name, then being critical is just plain easy.

i wish they could make a tv series of wrigley’s extra which will feature the food creatures