The Creative column with PLUS 1 CREATIVE
Silver FERN
turns corn star
I wish I owned a corn business. Frozen corn, corn flour, cornish pasties...anything. That way I could force my agency to do the corniest silver fern ad ever! Cornier than all silver fern ads ever seen before...
The kiwi ad scene has always had this weird obsession with the silver fern, particularly when sponsors of sporting teams are involved.
And so, right on time with the world cup arriving, out came the ‘support the team ads’. And blow me away, by some conspiracy, they were all given the same brief: “Make it look like a silver fern on a black background!”
How is it possible that so many different brands and products all have the same looking ‘support the boys’ ads: people arranged like a silver fern, bottles and food arranged like a silver fern, vehicles and tools arranged like a silver fern, planes skywriting silver ferns and, to top it off, cruise ships making wakes like a silver fern?
It seems to me there is this firm belief that if you mimic the jersey, to your show support and loyalty for the team, consumers will stop to read your expensive full page ad, have a big laugh and rush out, right there and then, to buy your product.
Or, maybe, they’ll forget the whole ad because it’s so far removed from the product proposition, that the only reaction is a faint “Ah yeah, ok, I get it?”
I mean, if I owned a cruising company, I’d prefer an ad that shows a cocktail waiting by the pool on the top deck at sunset, and a big (corny) headline saying: “Nice work boys - you’re allowed to cruise now.”
Anyway, maybe I’m just jealous that I don’t have a corn business or some kind of corn client. I’d come up with this awesome ad:
