Private Thoughts Made Public

I don’t watch that many advertisements on television. I either fast-forward them if I’m watching a video (and the only thing I’m taping at the moment is the repeats of the first series of Six Feet Under on Channel 4, and that’s only because I never watched them the first time round. I’m glad I caught it this time round – I never knew what I was missing!) or I tend to channel-hop while the ads are on. And with only 5 channels to choose from, that doesn’t take long.
But there’s usually one ad per year which catches my attention. Last year it was the Honda ad and this year it’s the ad for the new Golf. It’s very clever, a computer-generated version of Gene Kelly doing an updated dance routine to “Singing in the Rain”; the tagline for the advertising campaign is “the orginal, updated”.
But – and this is a big but – the ad is so clever I don’t take my eyes off Gene Kelly. I’ve seen the ad a few times now and it was only the last time that I saw it I actually took my eyes off the dancer and looked at the car. I thought the whole point of advertising was to get me to look at the product being advertised. Or maybe it’s just to get the product into my head. So in that respect I don’t think the advert works. I remember the ad, but only because it’s a clever piece of film-making, not because I notice the car or anything. But then again I am very aware that VW have a new Golf out. So maybe it does work, after all.
Still won’t make me go out and buy one, though.