Dear Barnes Catmur & Friends, you are morally bankrupt and creatively lazy. And if you truly "believe in using creativity to solve a business problem, not to show off to our mates." as you say on your site, then you're deluded as well.
If you were wondering why people have a low opinion of adland and the people in it (We come in second to last of least trusted professions after used car salesmen); this billboard answers your question.
Sure it successfully achieves communication goals: Disruptive, earns free media, gets cut-through, and certainly the audience will not forget the message. But the way it does it is despicable.
Annoying, offending, embarrassing or guilting people into action is no way to advertise. You don't need creatives for this. Any asshole can think up this crap.
Just because rabbits are a pest doesn't give you the right to nail their skin to a billboard. They are living creatures. While achieving communication goals, you have also successfully created another association for your client:
Hell Pizza are heartless douchebags.
They're the the guy at the party that does anything for attention - the desperado, the try-hard. The one you stop inviting because he's an embarrassment to himself.
Pizza is eaten by everyone not just bogan rednecks who would find this funny. Why would you create advertising that ostracises the majority of your potential customers?
I believe advertising can be used as a force for good. And, lucky for us, we live in a golden age of marketing where clients are on the same page.
Just think about the billboard that makes water in Peru or the vending machine that unites India and Pakistan. All great stuff that we can proudly show-off to our non-adland friends.
Then this junk comes along and all the good work is forgotten. Not cool Barnes Catmur & Friends, not cool.
By Christopher Ott
