Sometimes I sit in meetings and if I don’t agree with something I just smile and nod. And by sometimes… I mean quite a bit of the time. At the SCA lab I’d willingly speak my mind until the cows came home. I think my classmates can vouch for that. But it’s a little different now that I’m kinda trying not to get fired. It’s a balancing act between feeling super jaded and keeping what Pete describes as the ‘Deano’ energy. I guess it’s about picking your battles. I call it ‘Measured Magic.’ In a creative brainstorm, go your heart out. But in a meeting with CD’s, Seniors, Account Managers and Planners, it’s sometimes best to just stare out the window, without them noticing that you’re staring out the window. Maybe wear sunglasses. But what if it’s night time? Well then… Maybe just keep a Stress ball in your pocket. Off the Aussie My-diff-ability site, I recommend the Squish colour ball… Speaking of Squish… Couldn’t one Squish the rainbow before tasting it? 

Anyway, the point is that sometimes I have these moments where I’m like, ‘BUT WHERE IS THE IDEA?’ Or ‘THIS IS NONSENSE’. Nobody would ever buy into this thinking cause it’s just not genuine.’ Like the Coke X Gaming ad. It’s just not real. It’s just not true that gamers would want to put their controllers down for a Kumbaya moment. Plus, there’s this other small thing that’s actually a really big thing. Nobody cares about ads. Shock horror! So now, to try and make gamers care about coke, we’re going to make something that’s not even in their language. Something that’s not even down with the kids. If you can’t tell by now, it really does my head in. And yet here we are, sitting in a room, thinking that everyone wants a piece of our work. Advertising isn’t art. People don’t seek out our work and pay some coin to see it in a gallery. They don’t approach it…Stop… Stare… And pompously announce ‘Ah yes. Mhmmmmhmmm.’ PEOPLE DON’T CARE ABOUT ADS. So, in the business of communications, it’s VITAL that we create work that MAKES THEM CARE. Work that moves people. And grabs their attention. We all know that famous quote by Howard Luck Gossage… “The real fact of the matter is that nobody reads ads. People read what interests them, and sometimes it’s an ad.” 

Annnnnyyyyway…… As soon as one of these yucky meetings finish I need something Yummy. Most times EzyMart is the solution. What’s that? It’s an American candy store that’s strategically placed 5 mins walk away from Ogilvy. I need something sweet to curb my frustration. Sometimes it’s Wonka’s glorious Original Spree candy. Other times it’s Allen’s Frogs Alive Sourz, which is the kid equivalent of Crack. But most of the time it’s good old fashioned SKITTLES. Sometimes the sour ones too. You know, if the meeting I’ve just left has been a little sour. Tasting these sugary hard-then-soft balls of gooey bliss is the ultimate remedy. The pain of the meeting subsides. I’m taken back to a better time. A simpler time. I’m a kid again. I remember what it’s all about. Having fun. Making people laugh. Making their lives sweeter. Even just for a bit. HEY! THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT SKITTLES DO. But most ads out there are just so dry. Just so boring. Just so yucky. The other day on the MUSE by CLIO site, they ran an article entitled ‘ Skittles ‘Blank the Rainbow.’ The Dark Art of a Magical Campaign.’ I highly recommend it. In it was a podcast where the creatives who developed these hauntingly beautiful ads chat about their experiences. You can even feast your eyes on their original brief. Plus all their weird skittles ads can be found as you scroll down. They are the funnest. They are they funniest. I watched each one. I cried with laughter. It felt sweet. Very sweet indeed.

Well, they should edit that article and add another ad to its pedestal… Sam & Ivan. Oh, marvellous Sam & Ivan. I have watched your ‘Skittles Squishy Cloudz’ ad a few times already. About a hundred times to be exact. And I’ll keep watching it. At least 33 times an hour. Each day. For the rest of my silly little existence. Especially after one of those yucky meetings. The ad itself, if you haven’t seen it, is rather gorgeous. Without spoilers, it continues the absurd surrealist humour of Skittles but takes it to strange new heights. Oh and by the way the vocal sounds are wonderfully eerie. It’s an ad that only Sam & Ivan could have made. You take the bonkersness of Ivan & the kookiness of Sam. Then you dial it up a million notches and voilà. To say I’m slightly jealous that they got to work on God damn SKITTLES is a bloody understatement. But boy did they do it right. The 90’s has been revived and flipped on its head. This ad has some V energy to it. A powerful uplifting explosion of fun. It’s like the ads that hooked me on the sugary sweetness of the industry in the very first place. For example those whimsical Push Pop ads. Sam & Ivan are just like the goldfish in their ad. They seemed to have lost their memories of which rules to follow. They’re doing it their way. Which is most defs the Skittles way. They’ve made something that is super-silliness to its orange, lemon, lime, grape, strawberry and apple core. It’s wacky. It’s weird. It’s wonderful. It’s them. My god. If that’s only the 25 second trailer. I want to squish the entire film. I guess now all my future career decisions shall be based on which shop has the skittles account. But in all silly-seriousness… Finally, a great product… Accompanied by a great ad. I sigh a big sigh of relief as I skip back towards the Ogilvy courtyard. Maybe there are creatives who make ’em like they used too…If by some miracle you haven’t tasted Sam & Ivan’s Skittles sweetness, here you go:

Plus the epicly sweet article with all those sublime Skittles ads, don’t forget to listen to the podcast too.

P.S. – They better bring Skittles Squishy Cloudz to EzyMart.