Flying Lessons

Last week we had three intensive days with Dave Morris.
We were worked so hard, but it was very worthwhile.

On the first day we were given a product and a tagline, then had to scamp up some adverts that were 90% image, 10% copy. We had only a few hours to come up with something that would be graded as "good", "average" or "crap". Pressure!

I had Raid, and the line "The best insect repellent".
After much brain storming, I came up with the ideas to do spoofs of films that involved insects, looking at how they would have been different if the insects weren't involved:

• Spiderman- if Peter Parker had used Raid to get rid of the radioactive spider.
• The Fly- if Seth Brundle had used Raid to get rid of the fly.
• Jurassic Park- if they'd used Raid to get rid of the prehistoric insect in the amber.

I chose to scamp up the version of The Fly, as it was the easiest to get across visually, along with the idea that things wouldn't have turned into a disaster if Raid had been used. People probably would have recognised Spiderman more, as it's more recent, but arguably if Raid had been used the outcome would be bad.
It is ironic to note that as I am typing this, the Simpson's spoof of The Fly is on television.

On the second day we had to compose an argument for a nightmare product, such as why you should buy second hand cars, why men should wear make up, or why you should get cosmetic surgery.

I had to convince the room to buy cheap tires. After a lot of research, I realised I was going to struggle. Whenever I asked anyone about tires (as naturally, I know nothing, not being a driver), all I could get was "Don't buy cheap tires". :/

My argument wasn't that convincing, but I did try to tack of there not being much significant difference due to all tires having to go through the same safety tests.

The third day consisted of having to come up with ideas to rent Supercars more effectively than those who were on the Apprentice this year. We tried to come up with some advertising for it, mostly ambient things, but again, not overly successful.

However we did learn a lot from Dave Morris, particularly about visual connections and approaches to things. So I'm really happy with the week. Definitely have to do some proper versions of his work.