3 great ads: Adrian Rossi
A few words about Adrian
Adrian Rossi started his career alongside his co-ECD Alex Grieve, at Saatchi & Saatchi under Paul Arden. They both left to join BBH where they created award winning work for 14 years, creating award winning work for clients including Levi’s, Audi, Barnardo’s & British Airways. After a year at digital agency Isobar, they joined AMVBBDO in 2011. Together they created work such as Guinness "Cloud" & "Clock", Eurostar "Stories are waiting" as well as the recent Sainsbury’s Christmas ad, "Mog".
Adrian’s choices
Castlemaine XXXX "Sherry"
Saatchi & Saatchi’s series of ads for Australian beer brand Castlemaine XXXX are some of the best-loved.
The 1986 sherry spot reveals the agency’s daring approach, by having fun at the expense of the stereotypical Aussie. "Australians wouldn’t give a Castlemaine XXXX for anything else" is the tagline which catapulted this stereotypical Aussie mentality – and the brand – into British consciousness. 15 years later, the tagline was resurrected – a testament to its success in building the brand.
BT "Stephen Hawking"
The 1993 Stephen Hawking "Just keep talking" spot by Saatchi & Saatchi resonated in a hopeful post-Gulf war moment. Despite only having a couple of hundred well placed ratings, it struck a chord with the public.
Pink Floyd borrowed a sample of Hawking’s voice from the ad for their tracks ‘Keep Talking’ (1994) and ‘Talkin’ Hawkin’ (2014). David Gilmour did this after he saw the ad saying: "This was the most powerful piece of television advertising that I’ve ever seen in my life… I just found it so moving that I felt that I had to try and do something with it, or with him or something, in some way."
Levi’s "Mr Boombastic"
This BBH 1995 spot was created with clay animation, or ‘claymation’, shifting the brand away from its cinematic advertising to something totally new. It’s also the ad that shot Shaggy’s ‘Boombastic’ to fame.
BBH's solution for Levi’s was to celebrate the authenticity of the Original 501 Jean. The ad embodies Americana, with a 1950s feel that harks back to a time when Levi's 501s were adopted as a badge of ‘cool’ – rebellion, sex, freedom and individuality.
