I got pointed to this ad by eMich, and I have to agree that it’s very well done. The way they used photos from recognizable places in the country makes it really inviting. Spa is produced in Belgium, and so by using imagery from Belgium as well, you create a very nationalistic feeling. A lot of people will try to identify the location, and if they’ve been there there’s an even stronger link. For those who live in the pictured area, the feeling is totally complete. I can imagine a lot of people would think this’ll fit just fine as decoration for a spot in their home.
* Edit: At first I didn’t want to start the discussion, but ummm on second thought it’s quite worth it. As pointed out in the comments, the picture of the Antwerp city scenery is inverted. That’s because Antwerp has an extreme/radical population and it’s the home town of the ‘Vlaams Belang’ (biggest party in the political scene), a Flemish extreme-right party with (sometimes) unspoken fascist/racist roots. The flying man could be easily confused with a legion soldier bringing the “Sieg Heil” greeting. Hence the inverted picture, to avoid confusion.
Agency: Duval Guillaume Brussels
Account Team: Stefanie Gielen, Sylvie De Couvreur, Inez De Pooter
Creative Director: Bottez Katrien, Ampe Peter
Copy: Benoît Menetret
Art Director: Jean-Marc Wachsmann
Art Buyer: Elly Laureys
Production: Ingrid Deuss
Typographer: Cécile Van Caillie
Photographer: Andreas Smetana
Media: Posters
Mich
March 28, 2007 at 4:08 pm
The picture in the Antwerp ad is inverted :-)
Coolz0r
March 28, 2007 at 4:47 pm
So I’ve read on your blog :-) Nice catch !
Wolf
March 28, 2007 at 8:12 pm
I enjoy your blog but please don’t post bullshit like this:
That’s because Antwerp has an extreme/radical population and it’s the home town of the ‘Vlaams Belang’ (biggest party in the political scene)
1) It’s true that Vlaams Belang is one of the biggest parties in Antwerp (less than 1/3 of the voters), but they aren’t the biggest party
2) This doesn’t make the population of Antwerp extreme/radical at all, at most 1/3 could be called extreme, radical, but mostly just extremely stupid.
The flying man could be easily confused with a legion soldier bringing the “Sieg Heil” greeting. Hence the inverted picture, to avoid confusion.
1) What? Holding a bottle is not the Siech Heil gesture. Besides, the Siech heil gesture involves more than holding one arm up, e.g. a specific foot/leg positioning, arm movement and hand positioning.
Besides this; they’re wonderful ads and it’s a splendid idea to use imagery of Belgium.
Coolz0r
March 28, 2007 at 11:24 pm
I totally agree with you, I’m just saying what’s being pointed out on another blog, where I got these images from.
Is it a coincidence the picture is inverted? I don’t know. Fact is, this is causing some buzz on other blogs, hence I thought it was worth noting.
It’s also in the ‘Edit’ part, I added it later on, after I’ve been pointed to it again in the comments.