How could an ad manage to sell its product by making fun of its industry and its own product?
In this video ad from stock footage producer Dissolve, we see clip after clip of all the worn-out video we've ever seen.
There are windmills to appeal to the environmentalist in us, babies that make us smile and cross-racial collaboration that make us feel accomplished.
But the whole time, the ad is pointing to the fact that these images are cliches.
Here's one of the lines from the voice-over actor: "We care about the environment...loosely. Here's some powerful, rushing water. And some people planting trees."
What boggles my mind that it’s an ad that makes fun of ads, while trying to sell the stock footage it’s making fun of. How does that even work?!
To me, this ad shows that being savvy to your audience overshadows all else. Dissolve knows that our world, skeptical of ads, will appreciate this tongue-in-cheek statement. If you can make your audience chuckle and feel like they're in on a joke, you can get away with just about anything.
Will this be the case forever? Probably not. Advertising and media are shifting at rapid rates. But the mere fact that Dissolve is ahead of the humor curve creates very successful promotion.
There are windmills to appeal to the environmentalist in us, babies that make us smile and cross-racial collaboration that make us feel accomplished.
But the whole time, the ad is pointing to the fact that these images are cliches.
Here's one of the lines from the voice-over actor: "We care about the environment...loosely. Here's some powerful, rushing water. And some people planting trees."
What boggles my mind that it’s an ad that makes fun of ads, while trying to sell the stock footage it’s making fun of. How does that even work?!
To me, this ad shows that being savvy to your audience overshadows all else. Dissolve knows that our world, skeptical of ads, will appreciate this tongue-in-cheek statement. If you can make your audience chuckle and feel like they're in on a joke, you can get away with just about anything.
Will this be the case forever? Probably not. Advertising and media are shifting at rapid rates. But the mere fact that Dissolve is ahead of the humor curve creates very successful promotion.