Clever Creative: Gifts That Stink

Posted Wednesday February 15^th, 2017 by Caitlin Artigliere in Creativity + Art.

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day, which means you probably got things like chocolate, flowers, perfume and other gifts for your loved one to show them how much you care. But, in today’s Clever Creative, Visa is questioning whether gifting those staples were really a good idea. Check out the two ads to see if the gifts you got, or gave, were ones that stink:

The ads are slightly cynical given the holiday, but they bring up a good point: Humans are weird. We buy flowers all the time without thinking about what they actually are, or these unappealing facts. However, Visa did and use these “Uncommon Truths” to change the way you think about them, offering a gift alternative that’s not so gross: the Visa prepaid gift card.

Why our GEMites liked this Clever Creative:

Over the past week, we have seen our fair-share of lovey-dovey ads for Valentine’s Day, but this one goes against the grain. Instead of promoting love and romance, Visa decided to point out that our gift-giving habits are pretty strange and need to be reconsidered. We love the blunt and eye-opening reality check this ad delivers. Also, the ads include some interesting facts that we certainly didn’t know, or think about, when we purchased the typical flowers or perfume gifts yesterday. The best part about the ads is that they turn you off the idea of getting your loved one the common bouquet of reproductive organs or stinky whale vomit and then suggested their product as a better option.

Why our fellow creatives should like this:

We love when companies go the untraditional route when advertising their product, because in our professional opinion it generates creative ads. It also helps them stand out among the cluttered ad space. In Visa’s new Valentine’s Day ad, they did just that. We think our fellow creatives should like this ad because it challenges the status-quo of gift-giving, which made the ad stand out from all the sappy ads being put out by other companies. Visa made people question why they get these peculiar presents for people when instead they can buy a gift that gives your loved one the ability to pick out whatever they want, instead of being stuck with something gross that they maybe didn’t.

Another reason our fellow creatives should like the new Visa ads is because of the beautiful and eye-catching cinematography. The ads have bright and bold colors that would immediately draw the consumer’s eye to the ad, along with effects like speeding up the film and using slow-motion. These striking visuals are a great contrast to the voice-over description of flowers and perfumes. Once again, it makes the consumer question how something so normal and beautiful could actually be so unappealing. Visa’s new ads came out just in time for Valentine’s Day to make people reconsider their gifts that stink.

Let us know what you think, and be on the lookout for next week’s installment of Clever Creative!

If you’re looking for some clever creative of your own, feel free to contact us.

Clever Creative: Gifts That Stink

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