Thinkbox
In this film, we asked Leon Jaume, currently Executive Creative Director at House337, to talk about three TV ads that have inspired him over the years. Leon was ECD at WCRS when he spoke with us.
Leon passionately believes that TV advertising must one of two things: be entertaining or useful. He also shares why he thinks TV is a medium that is alluring for brands.
A few words about Leon Jaume
Leon has spent most of his advertising life at WCRS. He started there as a copywriter soon after the agency started and, after leaving and rejoining a couple of times, is now the Executive Creative Director.
He is much better at watching other people make brilliant TV ads than he was at writing them himself and is proud to have overseen a stream of brilliant and almost wilfully diverse work pour out of WCRS over the years for BMW, Orange, Sky, 118 118, Mini, Prudential, First Direct and 3 Mobile, to name but a handful.
His favourite campaigns are the ones which brought equal glory for the people who made them and the people who paid for them.
More about Leon’s 3 great ad choices
Carling Black Label 'Dambusters'
WCRS's Dambusters spot for Carling Black Label was a gem in what was a truly sparkling campaign.
Not only has it been acclaimed as one of the funniest commercials of the past 40 years but won an elusive D&AD Black Pencil for its director, Roger Woodburn.
The commercial spoofs the 154 film classic about the World War Two raid on the Ruhr Valley dams by a squadron of RAF Lancaster’s and their bouncing bombs.
In the spot, the bomber is thwarted by some nifty goalkeeping from a Carling-drinking German sentry.
- Agency WCRS
- Director Roger Woodburn
- Writer Kes Gray
- Production Company Park Village
Ronseal 'It does exactly what it says on the tin'
"It does exactly what it says on the tin" was originally an advertising slogan in the United Kingdom, which then became a common idiomatic phrase. It colloquially means anything that is as it appears or claims to be without further explanation needed.
It originated in a series of television advertisements by the woodstain and wood-dye manufacturer Ronseal, initiated in 1994.
The slogan was created by Liz Whiston and Dave Shelton at the London advertising agency HHCL. The idea of the phrase was to emphasise that the company's products would act and last for the amount of time exactly as described on the tin can. The expression soon entered common usage in the UK.
People use the phrase every day. On YouTube you can listen to Katie Melua's What It Says On The Tin. Google the line and you get millions of results.
In 1994, when my advertising partner Liz Whiston and I came up with the line "Does exactly what it says on the tin" for Ronseal, we never dreamed how it would enter the language.
- Agency HHCL
- Writers Liz Whiston and Dave Shelton
- Director Andy Wilson
John Lewis – the long wait
‘The Long Wait’ is over for Adam & Eve, Blink and MPC as they deliver the beautiful new Christmas campaign for John Lewis.
After the success of ‘Always a Woman’ & ‘Tribute to Givers’, John Lewis has returned with ‘The Long Wait’, a beautifully simple and poignant spot that celebrates the pleasure in giving those gifts that you just can’t wait to give. Directed by regular collaborator Dougal Wilson, the spot was produced by Matt Cragie at Adam & Eve and Ben Link at Blink.
Director of Colour Grading Jean-Clement Soret added the all-important grade. “The grade is a keypoint in this spot,” said Jean-Clement. “We had to make sure the mood and feeling that the creative team wanted to achieve was perfectly translated by the grade. The Christmas feel had to be there without having to saturate colours.” Shot on 35mm, Jean-Clement notes how this “gave that extra natural touch that is so important when you want to make something so believable.”
‘The Long Wait’ was graded on Baselight, shot out to print and then mastergraded. ‘The Long Wait’ and will air from 12th November 2011 in the UK.
- Agency Adam&Eve
- Director Dougal Wilson
- Creative Director Ben Priest, Ben Tollett and Emer Stamp
- Production Company Blink
