Beer commercials all seem to be the same these days. Usually the commercial feature a handful of white males partying in bars, driving cars or trying to pursue beautiful women. A Guinness advertisement titled ''Clock'' completely rejects this concept. It deconstructs the ''typical'' beer ad and makes it an interesting story piece.
This advertisement produced by BBDO London is shot in complete black and white film with a set from the early 20th century. It is beautifully shot with stop motion imagery of a clockmaker working to turn back time. The clock tower is on fire and although the whole town is trying to diffuse the fire it is assumed the clock tower will burn down. All of the sudden the scene starts again and the fire is put out immediately. It then jumps the next scene where a the men are the town are coming home from a war. The clock then slows down time for the families to reunite longer. The end of the commercial then states'' in the end to we settle for ordinary or strive for more''?
I understand the parallel between the magical clock being extraordinary and the beer being extraordinary but I feel the parallel should have been pulled in tighter. If there had been a couple of shots of Gunnies beer throughout the commercial I feel that the viewer would have understood the parallel immediately instead of having to wait until the very end of the commercial to understand. That being said, it was still a unique take on a typical beer commercial. I really enjoyed the choice of storytelling rather than a quick product placement. The addition of black and white film and an older society creates a commercial that will stand the tests of time.
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