Captain Morgan

[PDG]

Here's our first one. It's rather playful but jammed with sex.
http://art.smugmug.com/photos/3430859-M.jpg
Large Version (http://art.smugmug.com/photos/3430859-L.jpg)
Some of the first things I noticed are the following.
His foot is resting on nothing. This is done on purpose so the viewer subconsciously goes back to the page because something felt wrong. Reminds me of those old "3-legged" ads. It also pushes the "leg-up" of the captain in order to increase brand awareness.
There are strong oral innuendos that are obviously being targetted towards males. They could've given that woman a hundred different expressions but they chose the "blow-up" doll look. And they lined up her mouth with his crotch. Definitely targetting a young, sex-driven market.
The shadows and bottle all point to the logo and Captain on the lower left. This is clearly done to remind the drooling viewer that this is an ad and that's the product.

I don't know whether I should love this or hate it. I'm on the fence with this one.

[Dave]

on the sexuality side the girl is also dressed as a bunny, yes he's a magician pulling a bunny out of a hat but the imagery also says he's very much a Playboy, increasing the sexual innuendo even further.

But still .... Got any Lamb's Navy Rum Calendars? :)

[Silky]

I personally don't care for this ad at all. I think it's boring and it certainly wouldn't catch my eye in a magazine or on a billboard. I don't see how the text "Got a little Captain in you" has anything at all to do with the content of the ad. I find it a degrading ad for women...and a sexist ad at that. I wouldn't buy Captain Morgain at all because of this ad, in fact I'd make sure NOT to buy it because of this ad.

Bleh...I give this ad a 2 on a scale of 1-10. :)

[Scott]

Got a little Jolt in you? heh, heh.

Okay.. my take.... they had the illustration then wanted to make an ad out of it. As PDG mentioned, the knee slapping just doesn't work. There's no sense of motion and if he's resting his hand on his knee, there needs to be support for the foot... duh!

There is also a thing in illustration called action lines. Basically the path that subtle image nuances force the eye to move along. The more of these action lines that follow similar paths or lead to a similar destination, the stronger the overall illustration becomes. Look at my attachment to show the action lines. None of them lead to a similar destination and none of them follow similar paths. This leads to a very UNdynamic image and a flat, boring, overall appearance no matter how well illustrated. The sexual connotations are obvious and really done poorly. If anything his "wand" should be directed at the head more.

[PDG]

[QUOTE=Silkenfairy]Bleh...I give this ad a 2 on a scale of 1-10. :)[/QUOTE]

Sorry, Sil :( I chose it purely for it's critiqueability (is that a word?). Didn't mean any harm. If it helps, the next few are guaranteed to be less questionable.

[PDG]

[QUOTE=Jolt]Got a little Jolt in you? heh, heh..[/QUOTE]

Now that was one cool critique.

/me walks away mumbling something about action lines...

[Silky]

[QUOTE=PDG]Sorry, Sil :( I chose it purely for it's critiqueability (is that a word?). Didn't mean any harm. If it helps, the next few are guaranteed to be less questionable.[/QUOTE]

Oh PDG...I was directing my comments at the ad itself, not that you posted it...LOL! When I look at an ad I tend to feel strongly one way or the other...this one I just didn't care for. :) More! More! I can show you all just how much I DON'T know about advertising. :D

[Silky]

[QUOTE=Jolt]If anything his "wand" should be directed at the head more.[/QUOTE]

Of which "wand" do you speak, hon? ;)

[Scott]

Both :)

[Dave]

What's the magic word?
What's the magic word?

:D

[Dsquared]

Silk, this ad was obviously not aimed at you. I imagine it was taken out of a mens magazine and not Ladies Home Journal or Better Homes and Fairies. :)
Personaly I think the colors are too drab, I am not a fan of blah brown.

[TinCupid]

I agree with D2 on the colors and Jolt on the jumbled targeting.
I also think it's a simply bad chop, the girl's head has no depth and the lighting is terrible, she should have shadows from the bunny ears, etc.
I also agree with Silky, this ad would entice me to do nothing more than avoid the product.




</.02>

[seabie]

Site maintenance, and just as I log on too, darn :( lol ..so all I'm seeing is the small version in Jolt's post. Based on it tho I have to agree with nearly everyone -- the colors are ultra lifeless, just plain b-o-r-i-n-g...the concept is dull to me as well..don't care for the composition, in large part I think because there is no real focal point, as Jolt so eloquently described and diagrammed out (I learned something!)...the woman's head is terribly c&p'd in appearance too and and..boy I'm good at complaining! :D

All that to say 2 out of 10 is about right for me too, Silk. :)

[Dave]

Guys n' Gals - just a cautionary note, you've heard of "Krispy Kreme" I imagine, well they're not unique, all companies tend to be very jealous of their consumer profile .... legal crap blah blah mumbo jumbo, you know.

I think it is safe to criticise an advert on technical and even aesthetic values from an illustration or even a photoshop point of view but we should be careful to NOT criticise the product itself EVEN to the point of clearly stating that in such posts.

[TrinityOfOne]

Krispy Kreme?

[Dave]

They threatened legal action for all the chopped images displayed on another worthy site. Quite a fuss was made about it by their oberstupengrunpenfuerher :)

[TrinityOfOne]

Ahhh, I see :)

[Jewels]

[QUOTE=TrinityOfOne]Krispy Kreme?[/QUOTE]


Mmmm, donuts! :) :) :)

[TrinityOfOne]

That's Krusty The clown! :)

[Jewels]

[QUOTE=Jewels]Mmmm, donuts! :) :) :)[/QUOTE]

Sorry, that wasn't a very constructive critiscism! I just don't like these adds, the whole 'leg in the air' thing just really bugs me....It sort of feels like they were all up at 4am tearing their hair out going " a gimmick, for heavens sake we need a gimmick - what the hell can we do with this weird captainy bloke on the label?!?!!" and after 72 hours no sleep and 42 gallons of coffee this suddenly seemed like a really clever idea. I find it very smug and somehow alienating - both to women and to everyone in general, like "are you clever enough to work out the extremely clever joke?"....Sorry, but it's either gone right over my head or it just ISN'T FUNNY!
Jolt's bit about the lines in the picture is fab - what a revelation. I started a painting last night and immediately started putting that into practice and feel like such a plank for not knowing this before, it makes so much sense - now my little fairy ensemble are looking very meaningful instead of like a lot of shifty types all about to leap off in different directions to mug people! So, thanks for that Jolt! :)

[Jewels]

[QUOTE=TrinityOfOne]That's Krusty The clown! :)[/QUOTE]


Oh, ok.... Mmmmm, clowns! :D

[TrinityOfOne]

Honk!

[Jewels]

[QUOTE=TrinityOfOne]Honk![/QUOTE]


Oh yes! But not here in the forums with people watching!!! ;)

[TrinityOfOne]

Silly! :)

[Dave]

I like this girl ..... she's silly, just like me :)

[Jewels]

[QUOTE=Dave]I like this girl ..... she's silly, just like me :)[/QUOTE]

Yaaay, hooray for silly people! :)

[TrinityOfOne]

Hooray indeed! (pulls trousers up round knees, ties a knotted handkerchief on head.) "MY BRAIN HURTS!"

[Dave]

Very Pythonesque :)

"and now for something completely different"

[White Mouse]

I know I'm late with the critique here
but hey, I just registered a couple of
days ago.

Ok, I agree with all the mentioned
crits on this ad... however from an
advertisement/marketing angle the
ad does just what it was supposed
to do... I'll explain.

1.) the ad is for an alcohol... a "man's"
alcohol, ask any market research
person and they'll tell you that men
purchase more alcoholic beverages
on average then women. So, the base
male attention grabbers were included.
(the girl with the open mouth in a bunny
costume, the falic bottle and wand....
etc.) So, the ad pulls the attention
of men that see it, even if only for a
moment, but for avertisements, that's
all they need.

2.) the slogan (Got a little Captain in
you?) is a psychological hit towards
men. After all, most men would like to see
themselves as a strong commanding officer.
Also the font sizing on the text plays to this
aswell... Captain being larger than the
other words drives the brand and stature
of the title Captain home.

3.) The colors used for the ad were muted
and dim to further intensify the bottle and
Captain Morgan image on the bottom of the
page. After all, once the "sex" part of the
image is understood, who cares about the
decor?

And finally, the ad has pushed the product
plain and simple... we are talking about it here
aren't we. Good or bad, attention given is
still a win in advertisment.

[calamityjane]

Sorry I know this is late but I just joined and wanted to say something on this ad. As White Mouse said they DID hit the target audience with the aspects included. However when it comes to advertising and marketing they failed miserably.

And all because of the most basic element in design!! They forgot to follow the NUMBER ONE rule. Which is DIRECTION.

The eye should be led in the direction you want it.

I'll explain here when a person looks at an ad or a pic there eye should be grabbed by one thing and led to the next, and so on and so on. The designer should control eye movement they didn't here. Which is why some people see some things and others see other things. In advertising you want the viewer to follow a projected plan from start to finish. Thats whats missing in this ad. If you go back and look at it you'll notice that your eyes just move everywhere.

[fray]

[QUOTE=Jewels]Oh yes! But not here in the forums with people watching!!! ;)[/QUOTE]

<pulls out his camera>
<hits Record button>
<walks away>

See... I'm not watching ;)

+ + + +

On to the ad. I like Captain Morgan's rum. Yummy!
That ad stinks. (see above comments)
The woman's head still got my attention, though.

<---perv

[calamityjane]

LOL 'Course it did thats why it's there. DUH!!

It's SO easy to get men's attention! lol

[Silky]

[QUOTE=calamityjane]LOL 'Course it did thats why it's there. DUH!!

It's SO easy to get men's attention! lol[/QUOTE]

Now CJ...you know sometimes all it takes is a warm breeze to get a guy's attention. ;)

[fray]

[QUOTE=Silkenfairy]a warm breeze to get a guy's attention.[/QUOTE]

dang, that's too much work...

all you got to do is stare at me to get my attention... ;)

my gf says I'm too easy... :.

[calamityjane]

LOL Aren't you ALL.

I was told last weekend if I didn't stop agitating I wasn't gonna get any!

My reply YEAH RIGHT!! Like THAT would EVER happen.

LOL

[fray]

hahaha


<hurumph>
(stoopid, needing more than 10 charaters....)
<sigh>

[calamityjane]

LOL not our fault you guys are so easy

[Dave]

Aren't going to get any what?

:innocent look on my face: