Whilst I was putting my feet up and trying to avoiding the tin of Quality Street one evening over the festive holidays, I caught ITV’s ‘Ad of the Year’.
The winning advert, apparently chosen by a panel of 8,000 viewers was the ‘Harvey the dog’ campaign from The Red Brick Road for ITV’s own marketing body Thinkbox.
I’m not convinced that it was the best ad of the year but this was a viewers poll and what’s technically good is not always what sticks in the mind of the viewer. Sometimes it is simply what makes them smile or what stays in their mind.
It also got me thinking how dogs continue to play a big role in TV adverts. One advert that my partner and I moaned about throughout the holidays was the new animated Andrex dogs. Can Andrex really expect us to have as much attachment to these almost sinister looking dogs that we did to the cute labrador puppies? We can’t see the new ads lasting and are on the look out for a ‘Bring back the real dogs’ campaign to sign up to.
In contrast the dog advert that resonates with me, not for his controversial shivering but for his catchy singing is the Volkswagen Polo Confidence advert. The ad was actually banned after hundreds of complaints from viewers suspecting animal abuse but you can still view it on YouTube.
I look forward to seeing what role dogs play in advertising in 2011. Meanwhile it would be great to hear what your favourite dog advert is?
