As fevered anticipation goes, it wasn’t quite up there with the prospect of seeing Javier Bardem strut his stuff in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. But I was expecting something special of The Co-operative Group’s new ethical TV ad campaign – especially given the eye-watering £10m budget.
What a let down.
I’ve always liked Bob Dylan. But this did neither the song nor The Co-op Group’s ethical agenda justice.
It was overindulgent, overbearing and – at two and half minutes – over-long. And where was the pacing or drama?
I actually found myself yawning half way through as the ad tracked a dandelion seed “blowin’ in the wind” across yet another landscape. It was like being forced to watch an episode of that interminable BBC natural history programme Coast – without the production values.
The idea (I think) was to show how we are inextricably linked with the environment and the lives of the people who grow our food, many of whom are in the Third World. Fair enough. But did we need quite so much scenery?
The ad panned dizzyingly from aerial shots of the Angel of the North and a football match via a few arty cityscapes and skipping school kids shots to sweeping panoramas of wind farms, glaciers and finally close-ups of happy farm workers and smiling kids in the Third World.
“From community projects to a share of the profits, renewable energy to Fairtrade products, the Co-operative believe that when the benefits are passed around it’s good for everyone,” intoned John Hannah piously in the voice-over.
And that was pretty much the extent of the message. Yup, it took two and a half minutes and £10m that could surely have been better spent elsewhere to remind everyone in the most cloyingly happy clappy way possible what most of us learnt in primary school: it’s good to share.
The Co-op Group’s marketing director Patrick Allen apparently gets a lump in his throat every time he watches the ad. So did I – luckily I made it to the bathroom in time.
This was a wasted opportunity and whoever made the ad should be made to sit through Heaven’s Gate... twice. Why didn’t they do a better job of it? The answer, my friend...
What a let down.
I’ve always liked Bob Dylan. But this did neither the song nor The Co-op Group’s ethical agenda justice.
It was overindulgent, overbearing and – at two and half minutes – over-long. And where was the pacing or drama?
I actually found myself yawning half way through as the ad tracked a dandelion seed “blowin’ in the wind” across yet another landscape. It was like being forced to watch an episode of that interminable BBC natural history programme Coast – without the production values.
The idea (I think) was to show how we are inextricably linked with the environment and the lives of the people who grow our food, many of whom are in the Third World. Fair enough. But did we need quite so much scenery?
The ad panned dizzyingly from aerial shots of the Angel of the North and a football match via a few arty cityscapes and skipping school kids shots to sweeping panoramas of wind farms, glaciers and finally close-ups of happy farm workers and smiling kids in the Third World.
“From community projects to a share of the profits, renewable energy to Fairtrade products, the Co-operative believe that when the benefits are passed around it’s good for everyone,” intoned John Hannah piously in the voice-over.
And that was pretty much the extent of the message. Yup, it took two and a half minutes and £10m that could surely have been better spent elsewhere to remind everyone in the most cloyingly happy clappy way possible what most of us learnt in primary school: it’s good to share.
The Co-op Group’s marketing director Patrick Allen apparently gets a lump in his throat every time he watches the ad. So did I – luckily I made it to the bathroom in time.
This was a wasted opportunity and whoever made the ad should be made to sit through Heaven’s Gate... twice. Why didn’t they do a better job of it? The answer, my friend...
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