Too Bright

in

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UHItyRdQyY&feature=player_embedded] Caught this ad in a post on the Plum Line talking about Dems running ads against Obama & Pelosi.

Message aside I'm torn about it. On one hand, I love the visuals and the music. I love the bright sepia tones and the silhouette. On the other hand, why do they insist on cluttering up the screen with those glowing CG's. Yes, I know his name is Bright, but it's bad enough the CG's are repeating what the voice over already told us, but then they're glowing.

Ten years ago, glows like that would be very timely and costly to put into an ad, today, it's literally 3 minutes and pressing a button on a computer.  It's so easy to create the effects, but the question here is why? What's the point?  They're "bright" like his name?  If that's it... sigh.

I do love the shots though.  I wish they trusted them enough to tell the story.

A tale of two ads

in

Two ads from the conservative American Crossroads: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy3xKL4vlc8]

The positive ad in Ohio is pretty good stuff. Nicely designed, I especially like the talking politician graphics they use both at the front and the end.  Not as fond of the middle section with the moving images of Portman, I much prefer the stills in the plan section, that seem to be a better fit for the overall scheme. Still, this is surprisingly good.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f85DHhYcqU4&wpisrc=nl_fix]

This ad in Colorado on the other hand.... I've talked before about trusting your concept.  This ad has a pretty good concept Bennet has spent X billions every day.  Whether it's a compelling message or not, is another argument, but graphically, the idea of a calendar and $2.5 billion in spending could be really nicely pushed home.

But instead of trusting the concept they muck it up with too many CG's, pictures of Bennet (why do we have to see the guy, you say his name 5 times, will the picture of him really drive the point home).  Then they mix the monthly calendar with the daily calendar, which is not a grave offense, but just adds to the visual clutter.

It's ironic because in their attempt to make this ad more clear, they made it less so.