Voodoo strong: Not for prudes or girl power?

Quote: "Nobody will ever win the Battle of the Sexes. There's just too much fraternising with the enemy"

                                                     -Henry Kissinger

Subliminal Matters: feminist or sexist?

Location: @ the chemist on Darlinghurst Road in Kings Cross

Ad Review: Well the ad makes you pay attention, that much is clear. Is there a more captivating image than a woman dominating a man by the sheer power of her stockings? Voodoo strong indeed. The absence of faces and the strategic parts that we don't see successfully shocked me. Prudes, beware there's a graphic ad in the pharmacy next to the strip joints in Kings Cross. Naturally, that makes perfect sense.

Ebay: Shop Like An Accountant

via Behind Brands

Quote: It's expensive to shop for quality in Sydney.
                            -Me 


Subliminal Matters: There's no shopping like an accountant going on in Sydney. Everything cheap here is poor quality, you pay to dress like a model person with fashion sense. 


Location: I captured a blurry picture of this ad from Macquarie St near the Cathedral, so I borrowed this clear shot of the ad from Behind Brands.


Ad Review: I loved the copywriting of this ad the moment I saw it. Great ad ebay! Seriously knocked it out the park for me. Maybe it's the New York shopper in me but it is absolutely appealing, catchy and immediately relatable. Unfortunately, I've been on ebay dot com dot au and sad to say, I can't shop like an accountant on the Aussie version of ebay but then again, for me, I have a hard time processing $70+ for jeans made by ???


That aside, I still enjoyed seeing this ad on my walk home this week.

Occupy Sydney On Again!

Quote: "We live in a world where the 1% that created the financial crisis are bailed out and rewarded, while the 99% pay the price through their wages, their houses and their pensions."
                                                  - Occupy Sydney

Subliminal Matters: This rhetoric is not reflective of Sydney.


Location: Martin Place, Sydney Australia


Ad Review: Clearly not an ad but definitely some subliminal matters at play in this captured moment. Sydney is not a place that I would associate with the 1% plutocracy (rich rulers). It's almost a weird juxtaposition to find the

Destiny's Hot Rod?

Quote: "Have you steered destiny's hot rod?..."
                                     -Levi

                                                  

Subliminal Matters: theme of last days & embracing the present; where the Mayans right? Is 2012 the last year of human existence?; are we making the world a better place

Location: Kings Cross Train Station

Ad Review: This ad has been up at Kings Cross train station for what feels like forever. The theme of end times and legacies seem to be in overdrive this year. Watching this ad for the first time I remember piecing the concept together in my head going: Did an alien leave this message for us earthlings? #overanalysing 

Either way I give this ad high marks because when I see it, I revert to my childhood fascination with earth and outer space. The copywriting, I'm not loving too much but hey, what's more fitting than eery words in relation to earthly legacies in the stratosphere. Hit read more to vote on this topic... 

Stop the slaughter in Syria

Quote: "On Tuesday [March 13th] Russia vowed to keep pumping arms into the country -- arms used to massacre civilians... The reality is that the overwhelming majority of human rights abuses have been committed by state security forces."
                                         -Amnesty International TAKE ACTION

Subliminal Matters: contrary to popular belief, people are paying attention to other issues outside of Kony 2012; Sydney-siders are politically conscious; people care. 


Location: Martin Place, opposite Parliament House


Ad Review: It's not an ad with a subliminal message. It's a picture subliminally sending an SOS on behalf of those in Syria. Since Syrians started protesting in March, Amnesty has reported that over 6,500 people have been killed. One thing the Kony 2012 campaign has proved is that people care. Signing a letter on their behalf may seem like a small effort but your action will help.  

Animal Rights

VOICELESS:THE ANIMAL PROTECTION INSTITUTE
FACTORY FARMING: THE TRUTH IS
HARD TO SWALLOW.

Quote: "Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals.
                                         - George Orwell, Animal Farm


Subliminal Matters: animal rights; animals are not just food; humane treatment of animals is important, because animals don't have a voice doesn't mean we should treat them as we want. 


Location: Cnr William & Bourke Street, Sydney


Ad Review: Great subliminal ad, I like the ad's presentation of the animal behind the fork. Clever & Convicting! However, as a meat eater when I saw this I felt confused. At first I was confused for the animal and then I was confused because I realized the ad was meant to compel you to change your eating habits yet, I was struggling with understanding how to feel guilty. :( To the animal lovers and vegans please don't hate me, it's just that...they taste so good and in my mind it's part of a good diet.  If it's any consolution, the ad did get me thinking about the treatment of the animal for my selfish gain and pleasure. Unfortunately however, I don't feel convicted to give up eating that poor enslaved beast. It's shocking the power the animal has over me. 
Disclaimer: I might also be detached from the reality of actually killing the animals before they make it to my plate. I don't do well with harsh realities.

Kony 2012 An Awareness Campaign: Skeptic/Supporter

Quote: "If an ad campaign is built around a weak idea - or as is so often the case, no idea at all - I don't give a damn how good the execution is, it's going to fail"

                - Morris Hite 

Subliminal Matters: Joseph Kony = child terrorist; Joseph Kony is #1 on the Int’l Criminal Court’s list for war crimes and crimes against humanity; Gadaffi was #24 on the same list; campaign charged with defamation of Uganda and not considering complexity of African issues; over simplification; Kony irrelevant today in light of other problems in the African continent; bigger picture of the campaign = it empowers everyday people to make a difference through social media medium; more good can come from Kony 2012 than bad; Kony 2012 scam for money.

Location: Worldwide campaign, internet advertising

Ad Review: Kony 2012 was created by the Invisible Children, a humanitarian org, which has dedicated itself to bringing Joseph Kony to justice for his crimes over the last 20-25 years.

People against the campaign have commented that:

·         The campaign reflects negatively on Africa and generates an old narrative that Africans cannot solve their own problems/ need the help of the “white man” to overcome internal issues, something referred to as “the saviour complex” or "White Man's Burden" .  More opinions.

The two points that I found most relevant from those against the campaign:

Freedom of Expression is for Everyone

Quote: "If I were starting life over gain, I am inclined to think that I would go into the advertising business in preference to almost any other. The general raising of the standards of modern civilisation among all groups of people during the past half century would have been impossible without the spreading of the knowledge of higher standards by means of advertising."
                                -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Freedom of expression needs your flame.

Subliminal Matters:  one person's denial of freedom of expression is directly related to each of us.


Location: Amnesty International


Ad Review: There are a few other ads with Amnesty's freedom of expression campaign but I selected this one because it humanises the campaign. It's often difficult to feel connected to another person's loss of a freedom but the power of ad campaigns comes when something in what you see hits home to you.


China holds 10% of the world's population and this issue of freedom of expression is most prevalent there. One question: does the chain reaction scenario represented in the ad begin with

Jeep Grill...in love!

Quote: "The philosophy behind much advertising is based on the old observation that every man is really two men- the man he is and the man he wants to be."
                             -William Feather

Subliminal Matters: Jeeps= adventure, fearlessness, freedom, open roads; does anyone else associate Jeeps with the coolest places in the world?


Location: Jeep Grill campaign, found online


Ad Review: Jeeps should be synonymous with adventure and that's why I loved this Jeep Grill campaign. I absolutely love an ad that transports me a place I'd want to be or reminds me of an experience I'd like to have. I think this one has truly achieved both. Creativity at it's best. I know some people think that its a spin off of an old BMW ad but even so, this ad is still original in its own right. Definitely similar in terms of the grill but not the same. I'd put them both in the classic category. 


What is it about a Jeep that makes you think of adventurous experiences and cool living?

Amnesty's 50th Anniversary

Quote: "50 years together with you cutting down  the voice of oppression" 

50 YEARS TOGETHER WITH YOU CUTTING DOWN THE VOICE OF OPPRESSION.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Subliminal Matters: Amnesty International celebrates 50 years of fighting oppressive voices around the world; Fidel Castro and Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus represent voices of oppression.

Location: Amnesty Int'l, Belgium


Ad Review: Creative, enticing (literally) and thought provoking. Thought provoking, not in such a great way simply because it does take a minute to register the message with the cake. But, hey, it gets you curious enough to figure it out. I like it a lot. Happy 50th Amnesty International! Amnesty USA has recently changed Exec. Directors from Larry Cox to Suzanne Nossel with the new year. Suzanne is currently undertaking a listening tour to get Amnesty supporters' feedback. To give your input for future Amnesty direction, do fill out her survey and I encourage you to be a part of Amnesty International going forward. 

Imagine All 3 At Once?

Quote: "This ad shows us who the real tools in the tool sheds are."
                         - Melinda Tankard Reist

IMAGINE ALL 3 AT ONCE?
WE CAN...
THE TOOL SHOP
THE TRADEY'S CANDY SHOP

Subliminal Matters: irresponsible advertising; sexist for objectifying women; bad day for females in construction industry wanting to be taken seriously?; it's not a man's world so we can't portray it as such to the innocent bystander.


Location: South Brisbane


Ad Review: This ad was in some hot water last year for its message and illustration. "Imagine all three at once" How about imagine the copywriter and creative team for this ad fired! It's a terrible use of billboard space. We all realise that construction has a heavy correlation to men but just like Mad Men, those days are over. Women are not excluded from industries like construction anymore. This ad just sets back this truth and that achievement many years. 


Note to all men: women are your counterparts in every industry today. That fact, makes this billboard, an inappropriate misconception. #duh

David Beckham Bodywear

Quote: "A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself"

                              -David Ogilvy

Subliminal Matters: selling men's underwear or lust?; sexy ads are acceptable when done tastefully; is there a double standard between sexy ads featuring males versus females?; David Beckham gets a pass, the girl in the General Pants ad was trashy?

Location: Superbowl Ad for H&M


Ad Review: Well I'm sure if you read the previous post, "Sex Sells...not in Australia" you might know where I'm about to take this review. So this ad by David Beckham has received rave reviews. Ellen DeGeneres even managed to creatively pop it into

Sex Sells...not in Australia! directed to take it down

Quote: "A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself"
                     -David Ogilvy

Subliminal Matters: too much flesh; sex sells; inappropriate; rated extra R; when did creativity and sex become one and the same?; advertisers wouldn't do it if it didn't boost sales.


Location: General Pants poster


Ad Review: Just found this May ad campaign for General Pants and noticed it made the top 10 list for ads most complained about in 2011. What makes this image offensive?: is it the fact that your eyes involuntarily go straight to the black tape and not the jeans? Or, is it the guy's hands undressing her? Or, is it the word sex in caps with an exclamation mark? Or, is it offensive because the hat on her head clearly belongs to a limo driver or a pilot? #thief. Vote and let me know if you find this over the top or not. 

Linsanity Covers Time Magazine

LINSANITY! JEREMY LIN LIGHTS UP THE NBA

Quote: 
Reporter: I heard you refer to this as a miracle from God and I wonder if you can talk about how your life has changed in the last week and a half?


Jeremy Lin: I would say it's a miracle just because anytime something like this happens (...) a lot of stuff has to be put into place and a lot of it is out of my control. If you look back at my story and it doesn't matter where you look, but God's fingerprints are all over the place (...)You can try to call it coincidence but at the end of the day, there are 20 or 30 things when you combine, a lot had to happen at the right time in order for me to be here. That's why I call it a miracle."

Subliminal Matters: is the current rave more about Jeremy Lin's ethnicity or his skills or both?; asians can ball too; is this superstar basketballer NBA boycott redemption?; "Linsanity"


Location: Cover of Time Magazine Feb 2012 issue


Ad Review: I'd buy this issue just by seeing the cover. Everyone loves an NBA sensation. Jeremy Lin on the cover of Time conveys the prestige he just walked into. After the NBA went on boycott and we all witnessed what felt like the rich fighting for more money, or what's otherwise called greed, I'm sure