INTERESTING ANIMAL ADS- PART 1

Now it's time to take a short commercial break!

Animal ads come in all shapes, sizes and forms. Some of these ads relay social messages reagarding animal protection and conservation. In this blog, however, I look specifically at those ads which have innovatively used animals in a very catchy way to grab attention for a seemingly unrelated product or service.

In part 1 of the blog, I explore the print ads of such type. Take a look at this one:

Courtesy: Richworks

This is a Maxima watch ad. It's tagline is 'Toughest watches on the earth'. Clearly, the ad makers have played with the tagline idea and represented the concept of 'toughest' with the depiction of the turtle. The turtle is known to be able to survive for hundreds of years and have strong endurance (to climatic and environmental variables) levels. So the idea was to blend the positive attributes of the turtle with the qualities of the watch, they wish to promote.

Here's another one:

Courtesy: Richworks

Man eat man world? No,in this Financial Times ad, it is shark eat shark! The smallest one being eaten by the medium one. The medium by the larger and the larger by the largest shark. A very innovative way of depicting indepth coverage of 'mergers and acquisitions', by showing the near ruthless 'survival of the fittest' among the sharks in the depths of the ocean much like the business enterprises in the real world.

Using animals in advertising, does indeed attract a lot of attention to the product, thanks to the interesting and creative visuals and an appropriate tagline. What it indirectly also does is draw one's attention to the animal which is being depicted. It may be the shark, the turtle or a bear/lion in a 'power' related ad. In that way, on a larger scale, it is useful for animal welfare programs, especially if it concerns an endangered species.

The advantages apart, care also has to be taken by the copywriter and the company to not showcase the animal in an indecent or inappropriate manner. This is not because the animals' sentiments may be hurt (what they don't know, won't hurt them..as goes a well known saying/dialogue) but ads being a very popular mass medium, they may be instrumental in shaping human attitudes towards them. May be in an adverse and undesirable way!