Gorilla playing drums to “In the air tonight”
December 22, 2007Okay I’m late to this party, based on the fact that the video has already received well over a million views. But I don’t really get to YouTube on a regular basis. In fact I would never probably have heard about this clip except that they were talking about it on NPR as I was driving to work this morning (why I had to go in to work on a Saturday is a sad tale that I won’t bore you with).
So anyway, they had the creative director from the ad agency that made the commercial. It’s for Cadbury’s chocolate, but doesn’t even mention the product until the closing credits. The ad guy’s point was this — there’s just nothing new to say about a chocolate that’s been around for a century or more. So why bother trying to tout something about the product. Instead try to create a fun association so that when people think of Cadbury’s they’ll think of fun.
I loved that the ad guy very carefully made the point that this ad probably would not work as well in the US as it has in Britain. He says the US audience tends to like more direct selling in their adverts — buy this because it makes you stronger, or sexier, or whatever. Whereas in the UK a more subtle sell sometimes works better.
I don’t know, I think the ad has raised my opinion of Cadbury’s. I always thought of them as a rather stuffy British candy, not the kind I’d want to eat. Now maybe I’ll have to pick up a few Cadbury eggs for Easter or something.
So anyway here it is — a gorilla playing drums to the Phil Collins tune “In the air tonight”.