Sunday 13 February 2011

Infinite Ad Stock

The Michelin building is celebrating its 100th anniversary and to mark the century that has passed since it opened as the French company's UK headquarters, a number of classic poster ads are being republished and sold.

What's interesting about these ads - along with the classic Guinness posters, for example - is that they have become ingrained in our collective consciousness. Call it infinite ad stock if you like, but classics like these are still working today - at least in terms of generating awareness for the brands they advertise, even though the products may have changed beyond all recognition.

And, more recently, I am sure that some of the classic commercials produced in the last century continue to wield their effect through YouTube resurrection. Take this classic from Hugh Hudson. I don't smoke, and Benson & Hedges is a minor brand here in Germany, dwarfed by the ubiquitous Marlboro, but the brand name is still present for me.

The poster of a hundred years ago became the spectacular film of the late 20th Century which became the app of the early 21st century. But I do wonder if something like the Domestos Flush Tracker will still be working for the brand in some way in a hundred years.

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