{"id":11683,"date":"2018-02-27T10:15:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-27T10:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?post_type=curious&#038;p=11683"},"modified":"2020-08-26T16:46:54","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T15:46:54","slug":"advertising-gets-real","status":"publish","type":"curious","link":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/curious\/2018\/feb\/advertising-gets-real","title":{"rendered":"Advertising gets real"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"lazyblock-two-column-text-quote-image-Z29kFe4 wp-block-lazyblock-two-column-text-quote-image\"><section class=\"fullwidth fullwidth--overflow \" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\r\n  <div class=\"container container--spaced-lg\">\r\n    \r\n    <div class=\"row\">\r\n      \r\n      <div class=\"col-md-6\">\r\n                \r\n                \r\n  \t\t\t  \t\t\t<div class=\"img-inline img-offset-left-md\">\r\n          <picture class=\"embed-responsive-item\">\r\n            <source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/a.jpg 768w\">\r\n                        <img data-src=\"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/a.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"lazyload img-fluid img-1-1\">\r\n          <\/picture>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n              <\/div>\r\n      \r\n      <div class=\"col-md-6\">\r\n    \t\t<p>Last month Martin McDonagh\u2019s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri hit cinemas worldwide. The film features advertising at its heart and highlights the power of three billboards to champion the voices of the silenced and inspire real-world action. It was the poet and playwright Oscar Wilde who famously observed that \u2018Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life\u2019 and this wry insight has certainly been borne out in recent weeks. Campaigners lobbying for political action in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire in the UK, and the Florida school shooting in the US, have now both leveraged the widely-recognised symbol of three red billboards to shine a light on their respective causes.<\/p>\n<p>But not all advertising can so easily inspire real-world action \u2013 in our \u2018post-truth\u2019 era, the general scepticism and hunger for authenticity in consumers puts advertising in a precarious position. YouTube saw fit to introduce new regulations in 2016 which mandated that all content-makers disclose when a video was a paid product placement or endorsement. People were fed up with being sold something branded as reality, but which was really just a platform for brand promotion.\u00a0<\/p>  \t\t<\/div>\r\n  \t\t\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    \r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/section><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"lazyblock-text-full-width-bold-Z1MsvqR wp-block-lazyblock-text-full-width-bold\"><section class=\"fullwidth text-center\" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\n  <div class=\"container\">\n\n    <h4>So how have brands and agencies been dealing with this gulf between reality and fiction when it comes to advertising? How have they learnt to draw people into their brand-world and consequently inspire action in the real world?<\/h4>\n\n  <\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"lazyblock-image-full-width-1Ofgxu wp-block-lazyblock-image-full-width\"><section class=\"fullwidth fullwidth--img\">\n    <img data-src=\"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/aaa.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"lazyload img-fluid\">\n\n<\/section><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"lazyblock-two-column-text-quote-image-Z1vBbIK wp-block-lazyblock-two-column-text-quote-image\"><section class=\"fullwidth fullwidth--overflow \" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\r\n  <div class=\"container container--spaced-lg\">\r\n    \r\n    <div class=\"row\">\r\n      \r\n      <div class=\"col-md-6\">\r\n                \r\n                <blockquote class=\"blockquote blockquote--md-right\">\r\n          One way that we\u2019ve seen VCCP tackle this problem in the past is using satire.                  <\/blockquote>\r\n                \r\n  \t\t\t      <\/div>\r\n      \r\n      <div class=\"col-md-6\">\r\n    \t\t<p>Cast your mind back to our 2015 campaign for Amnesty International, created in protest of the\u00a0 London Arms Fair. Instead of taking the \u2018authenticity\u2019 route and creating a hard-hitting ad about the reality of weapons and their harmful consequences, the campaign opted for a more tongue-in-cheek, satirical approach to drive its message home. Through humour, the campaign exposes the true nature of the situation and invites the viewer to draw their own conclusions as to the absurdity of an international arms fair, tacitly supported by a UK government that simultaneously condemns human rights abuses in other countries.\u00a0<br \/>However, it seems that no amount of advertising can build a brand story or world that is immune to real-life consequences. Take Oxfam for example, a charity who finished 2017 on a high following the release of a brilliantly conceived campaign \u2013 The heist no one is talking about. The film was an eye-opening, cinematic venture which created a fictional narrative centred around a chilling metaphor.\u00a0<\/p>  \t\t<\/div>\r\n  \t\t\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    \r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/section><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"lazyblock-two-column-text-quote-image-ZOgA7e wp-block-lazyblock-two-column-text-quote-image\"><section class=\"fullwidth fullwidth--overflow \" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\r\n  <div class=\"container container--spaced-lg\">\r\n    \r\n    <div class=\"row\">\r\n      \r\n      <div class=\"col-md-6\">\r\n                \r\n                \r\n  \t\t\t  \t\t\t<div class=\"img-inline img-offset-left-md\">\r\n          <picture class=\"embed-responsive-item\">\r\n            <source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-20180820-at-105517.jpg 768w\">\r\n                        <img data-src=\"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-20180820-at-105517.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"lazyload img-fluid img-1-1\">\r\n          <\/picture>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n              <\/div>\r\n      \r\n      <div class=\"col-md-6\">\r\n    \t\t<div>Masked robbers storming a hospital and robbing people of their life-support systems represented companies who were dodging taxes in impoverished countries. The spot highlights the connection that this form of tax avoidance is stripping these countries of funds for vital services and consequently harming vulnerable, sick people. The powerful ad drew people into a terrifying narrative before ripping away the pretend and revealing that our real world is not as far removed as we think from the fictional world we see on-screen.<\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<\/div>\n<div>But this high evaporated earlier this month when Oxfam was hit by serious allegations of staff misconduct in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The backlash has reverberated around the world. Thousands of people have cancelled regular donations to the charity and the full extent of damage to public opinion of Oxfam remains unknown. While advertising can build up a powerful brand story, the real-life actions of a few can ultimately topple that narrative in an instant. Reality will always be unpredictable and fluctuating \u2013 and as an advertising agency we need to remain agile and reactive to keep up.\u00a0<\/div>  \t\t<\/div>\r\n  \t\t\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    \r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/section><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":9,"template":"","class_list":["post-11683","curious","type-curious","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"author":{"ID":11769,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2020-08-20 14:14:33","post_date_gmt":"2020-08-20 13:14:33","post_content":"","post_title":"Team Curious","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"team-curious","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2020-08-20 14:16:45","post_modified_gmt":"2020-08-20 13:16:45","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?post_type=people&#038;p=11769","menu_order":0,"post_type":"people","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},"hero_video":"","hero_image":{"ID":11684,"id":11684,"title":"aa","filename":"aa.jpg","filesize":65123,"url":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/aa.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/curious\/2018\/feb\/advertising-gets-real\/attachment\/aa","alt":"","author":"3","description":"","caption":"","name":"aa","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":11683,"date":"2020-08-20 09:16:39","modified":"2020-08-20 09:16:39","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/aa-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/aa-300x113.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":113,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/aa-768x288.jpg","medium_large-width":640,"medium_large-height":240,"large":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/aa-1024x384.jpg","large-width":640,"large-height":240,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/aa-1536x576.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":576,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/aa.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":720,"Header":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/aa-1920x720.jpg","Header-width":1920,"Header-height":720,"Wide":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/aa.jpg","Wide-width":1920,"Wide-height":720,"Square":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/aa-1152x720.jpg","Square-width":768,"Square-height":480,"Tall":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/aa-768x720.jpg","Tall-width":307,"Tall-height":288,"Mobile":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/aa-768x720.jpg","Mobile-width":768,"Mobile-height":720,"Facebook":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/aa-1200x630.jpg","Facebook-width":1200,"Facebook-height":630,"Grid-Item-Square":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/aa-768x720.jpg","Grid-Item-Square-width":768,"Grid-Item-Square-height":720,"Grid-Item-Wide":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/aa-768x384.jpg","Grid-Item-Wide-width":768,"Grid-Item-Wide-height":384,"Grid-Item-Tall":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/aa-384x720.jpg","Grid-Item-Tall-width":307,"Grid-Item-Tall-height":576}},"meta-title":"","meta-description":"","social-media-image":false,"relateditems":false,"related_content_title":"YOU MAY ALSO LIKE"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/curious\/11683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/curious"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/curious"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}