Creative Halloween Ads

So I figured it's almost Halloween, why not explore some Halloween ads!!

Our first ad is for Guinness. They say Guinness is "The true brew of Halloween". Other then a full glass of Guinness sitting in a pumpkin patch, I'm a little unsure why it's for Halloween. I could see if it was a spice lager or something of that nature but it's a regular ordinary glass of Guinness. Sure its dark color makes you think it may be spooky but in reality it's just a glass of Guinness being overtaken by a pumpkin patch with a spooky cloudy sky behind it. 

Our next Halloween ad is for Macdonalds. They are suggesting that no matter who you are or what your costume is you should come to get some food on Halloween. Even Cinderella in her carriage that just turned back into a pumpkin at mid-night can come through the drive-thru to get some food when she's hungry. Even her mice can join her in her dining experience. I'm not really sure how many Macdonalds' are open past midnight however, so I'm not sure Cinderella would have made it there before they closed.

The guy at the window looks really surprised, I guess it's normal for a carriage to roll through a drive-thru at midnight in the 21st century. 

This final Halloween ad is for Iglo frozen vegetables. This is more then one way you can play with your food. I feel like any child who would see this ad would be scared to eat a vegetable or be more willing to play with their food then eat it. It's a neat idea, I would have never thought to create a jack-o-lantern out of a potato, tomato, onion or carrot before. The bottom of the image says "making a delicious soup is no longer a nightmare." Maybe the carved veggies are supposed to be funny or maybe it's not a nightmare because they're gonna be eaten and thrown into a boiling pot of broth. 

Another Advertisement

I found this image in another google search, it's part of a WWF campaign. They are using the polar bears to represent ice caps/icebergs. Are the bears just sleeping or have they already become extinct in the photo? Global warming will one day result in the world having no ice caps left at all and the polar bears will be left with no home or food at all. Eventually they will die out and this ad, so I assume, is trying to prevent that, making it aware how serious the situation has become. 

Advertisements

Upon googling the term advertisement I found two ads with a very similar theme, a Nike ad and a Pepsi ad. Both theme's I would say are pretty obvious, but hold some what different meanings and messages.

Nike 'Just do it' ad.

So, looking at the Pepsi ad we can denote the famous Nike logo and it's slogan as graffiti in a run down city or town. We see a white dog, probably a Chiwawa, and a young boy peeing on the side of a building. Neither the dog or the young boy wear sneakers or any kind of shoe for that matter, so what is Nike trying to do? I mean, when I look at this the first thought that comes to mind is that the boy has to pee and Nike is encouraging him to 'just do it'. Nike's famous swoosh is every where we kind of just know by now what Nike makes. In a side note, I  find it funny that the dog looks on with confusion and interest at the boy, like he's not sure if he should do it too. 

'Pepsi Twist' ad.

When looking at this ad for Pepsi twist, you already seem to get the meaning of the ad and what they are trying to sell. We see a  full bottle of Pepsi Twist next to a full glass of what I would assume is regular pepsi. A very personified lime stands on the top of the bottle and is in the middle of peeing into the regular glass of Pepsi. Hence, the regular Pepsi is getting it's twist from the lime. It's a rather clever ad and it's meaning is clear, sort of gross but clear. 

The Hipstamatic

In a recent class, our discussion led to the use of the Hipstamatic application for iphone. We used this story as our reference for both pictures and the background information: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/through-my-eye-not-hipstamatics/ . The person of interest in this article won third place in a photography contest; he used his iphone with the Hipstamatic app. to create his images.

During our discussion some people in class commented on how every one can now make a good picture and that the artists (trained photographers) are getting mad that these photos were even given recognition. In my opinion, I think the photographers, those who have spent many years of both their time and money working and learning photography have the right to complain and be mad. Those of us who are spending our time and money to go to school and learn are having our techniques, that we worked so long to master, taken away from us with the push of a button. Those of us who have taken our time to create intricate photographs and who have done editing that could only be achieved before in Photoshop with many hours of work, are being under minded by an amateur using an iphone that does all the work for him. The hard work a photographer does in the editing process is being given to just any one with this application. Sure the photo looks cool but the person using the phone did nothing but push a button to get it to look that way.

The skills and practice of an artist/ photographer are being thrown out the window because now everyone is able to create an image and any one can be a photographer. It takes more practice and knowledge to be able to create an image then clicking a button. I'd like for the amateurs using this app. to trade in their iphones and pick up a real camera (NOT a point and shoot) and take a good picture. I dare them to explain to how shutter speed and aperture work and what lighting they used in order to create their shot. Then I'd like them to use Photoshop or go into a dark room and edit their work. Many people have the notion that photography is easy, it's not, those experienced make it look easy but really it take a lot of time and attention to detail to make some thing look good. 

There is more to photography then clicking a button.

Film vs. Digital

Unfortunately the art of film processing and photo enlarging in the darkroom is a dying art. Darkrooms are being phased out everywhere and slowly, film will be unavailable to those of us who desire to make our art in the darkroom.

The esthetic film has compared to digital is very profound. There is a different quality with a black and white film image compared to a digital one. The quality of film can not be reproduced digitally. The quality of the image is much more bold and profound and in some causes effects the context our your picture.

One day those seeking to learning about photography will miss out on the experiences of the dark room and what it is like to watch your images appear on your paper as you develop or have the ability to develop your own film. There is such an accomplished feeling that comes with doing this all by hand.

Although I speak highly of the darkroom, I am very much a digital person. I am impatient and like the instant ability to view my images right away to know that I have gotten the perfect shot. With film you have to be super careful in what your taking a photo of, there is more thought involved. You only have 36 shots to get the one you need. As for digital I have thousands of shots to get it right.

Just a Quick Statement

It may be bold to say that I am one of the few people of my class who have actually taken photo courses. I have taken darkroom class, working with black and white 35 mm film, digital classes, I've used photo shop and I am currently taking a class specifically for lighting. These are only a few of the classes I have taken over the past 3 and a half years that I've been in college.

I have the experience in shooting and being able to see the world in pictures, I am able to look at a situation and know right away whether or not it would make for a good picture.

There isn't always a meaning behind a photo. As an artist my work is supposed to provoke an emotion and an opinion. My photos show my interests but I am more than what my photos portray. I am not a big fan of editing a photo to the point where it doesn't look natural. For example the editing that goes into magazine shoots to make a person look 10lbs lighter. A photo should be natural and stay fairly close to the way it was originally shot.

Composition and lighting especially lighting is what makes for an amazing photo.