Art and Copy was a very interesting documentary about the advertising agency industry, and the different variables these companies face in developing ad campaigns for some of the most powerful corporations in the world. The first ad campaign that I found to be outstanding was campaign that was done for Tommy Hilfiger by George Lois. George Lois is a very interesting personality who is very assertive, a “visionary” as Hilfiger called him. His goal was to make Tommy Hilfiger “a famous and important brand, in a couple hours”, and he was able to make Tommy Hilfiger a fashion sensation overnight. How did Lois do this? He put a provocative and controversial print ad that read “The Four Great American Designers for Men Are:” with the initial R.L., C.K., and P.E., which of course are Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Perry Ellis. Tommy Hilfiger was actually very concerned about the ad because he did not want to seem arrogant against designers who were his idols. He had sleepless nights, and it weighed heavily on his conscious. But George Lois on the other hand new that it would give Tommy Hilfiger instant brand recognition, which is something that would have taken him years of advertising and millions of dollars to create. Given the position that Tommy Hilfiger was in, this was a perfect opportunity to brand his name alongside the greatest designers instantly. All he had to do was make sure that his clothing line actually matched up to his claim, and as Hilfiger himself said “I literally rolled up my sleeves” as he went to work to make sure every article of clothing he put out was perfect.
Another great ad that campaign was the “Got Milk?” ads that were done to increase milk sales in the United States which had been on a steady decline for several years. One of the things that was tough with doing the milk campaign is that milk is something that has remain unchanged for a long time. There aren’t many way you can change milk aside from chocolate and strawberry milk. Besides that, there are the different fat percentages. As Jeff Manning said from the California Milk Process Board “We market milk generically and the reason is because there are no brands of milk. People say I buy 2%, that’s my brand. If you’re Nike if you’re Snapple you get to introduce new flavors, bottles, packages, shoes. We’re selling white milk in bottles. It hasn’t changed since 1993.” The intent was to get people to make sure that they didn’t run out of milk. And while watching the movie I was pleasantly surprised when they showed the “Got Milk” television ad about Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. It was a famous commercial when it aired in the 1990s and it showed a guy who was in a library and got a call from a radio station to answer a question to win some money. He was eating a peanut butter sandwich, when the phone rang and could not speak because of the stickiness and dryness of the sandwich and of course…..he ran out milk in which the ad read “Got Milk?” It was a great ad, and the “Got Milk?” ad has remained a cultural staple ever since.
The last ad campaign that I would like to mention from Art and Copy was the Nike “Just Do It” ad campaign. Liz Dolan was the former head of marketing at Nike and was there during a time where Nike aimed to take sport to average person as they imported jogging to an American public. People had just started running for fitness and this happened in the mid to late 80s. Ironically enough the slogan for Nike came from a man that was about to be executed in Utah and he responded to firing squad by saying “Let’s do it”, which Nike adapted to “Just Do It.” The people at Nike new they were on to something, but they had no idea how profoundly impactful this slogan would be. Even they were shocked by the affect it would have on the public. Soon letters stared pouring in from people all over the world, and they were applying the slogan to everyday life situations. They were using it in scenarios where they had been procrastinating, or had emotional problems, in some cases even filing for divorce. The “Just Do it” slogan became more than a corporate saying that branded Nike as the industry leader in athletic footwear. It became a phrase that people began to live by and in turn it propelled Nike into a company that value the integration of sport and life, which changed the lives of people everywhere. The campaign was successful because it took the power of human emotion and the ability to accomplish something, and it aligned with the corporate identity of Nike. This has made them one of the world’s most successful companies, and the Nike swoosh on the most recognizable symbols anywhere.
