Write it in Your Own Voice (or Fuck Comic Sans).

All fonts have a personality and a purpose. The font in which you choose to type can tell a person a lot about you. If you use Comic Sans for anything other than a 6 year olds lemonade stand, it's a wonder you still have a job (other than at a pre-school). Comic Sans has a reputation second to no other font and has sparked much fontrovesy of late . There are multiple online hate campaigns targeting the jaunty, unassuming font that smirks at you and begs to be printed in multiple colours. Don't get me wrong, it is a great font for toy store signs, invites to church bake sales and (gasp) comic books. It is not so suitable for termination notices, funeral invitations, news websites and tombstones. As a Helvetica loyalist, I believe that friends don’t let friends use Comic Sans.

TBWA South Africa came up with the insight that fonts have their own voices and that a letter typed in a heavily stylised font will be read in the voice of the font and not that of the writer. Using that insight they came up with the “Write in your own voice” campaign for Uni-ball, highlighting the benefits of handwritten letters.

Three rather hilarious spots "Bust You Out", "Pappy is Dead" and "Swapped at Birth" were made showing the main characters reading serious letters that have been written in an inappropriate font.

                                          "Bust you Out" by TBWA South Africa for Uni-ball

 (please excuse the anti-rascist rant after the clip- Youtube is making the plain ad hard to upload as it has been pulled)

The first video "Bust You Out" opens with a muscled black man in a prison cell reading a letter explaining that his 'homie' is going to bust him out of jail. His homie explains: "We got a hood snitch up in the pen. We gon' cut you loose like a noose" and in the words of the commercial, "I aint spittin yo". The joke is in the narration which is voiced by an upper-crust English accent who sounds like he may have stepped right off the set of Downton Abbey and onto the wrong sound set. This is because the letter was written in the Edwardian script and not handwritten with a Uni-ball pen.

This particular ad has sparked  a lot of controversy because it supposedly "mocks black African-American men in prison" by playing up racial linguistic stereotypes. I think this is rubbish because Uni-ball is not saying that every black man is a gangster with a loose grasp of the English language. Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason and we should be free to illustrate them as long as we are not saying that specific people or a entire race can be boiled down to one single stereotype. Controversy aside, I love these ads.

Because Google and Blogger are not playing the game, I will have to post a link to the next two ads.

"Swapped at Birth" shows a little girl reading an earth shattering letter from her 'parents' telling her that she was swapped at birth and that her real parents are on the way to fetch her. It would be a gloomy spot if the it wasn't voiced in an over the top musical theme. The font used was Broadway-an entirely inappropriate font to use when telling your former daughter that she is going to spend her life with pig farmers. The shock on her face is palpable and I got the giggles at the end when the her dad sang: "p.s I hope you like pigs!"


 "Pappy is Dead" is based on the exact same concept except the main character is a soldier during a rather violent war. He has just received a letter which he reads while missiles blast in the background. His letter informs him that his grandfather has passed but the twat that wrote the letter obviously didn't take into consideration that Comic Sans reads in a voice of a pervy children's show host like Barney or Pee-wee from Pee-wees playhouse- probably the worst way you ever want that news to be delivered.

The mood in all the above ads is rather pensive and sombre which is brought across by both the art and stage direction- this is all part of the humour. Humour is a delicate balance of implausible and plausible. The letters and situations and the fact that people use inappropriate type-faces are plausible (-ish ,the pig farmer parents less so). The implausibility factor comes in with the fact that the letter writers actually sound like that or intended for the letter to be written in that voice. As a viewer you are torn between the drama of the words and the comedy of how they are read.

The insight rings true, nothing beats a handwritten letter. It shows the recipient that you have taken time and effort and your message will not be distorted by any design-illiterate decisions you may make. I am a bit miffed that this campaign was pulled as it's a fresh and original way to sell pens. Nobody chooses to watch ads, they choose to watch things that interest or amuse them and this campaign ticked both boxes for me.

A game to play next time you see something inappropriately typed in Comic Sans

                    

Ready...Set...Jelly!

It’s my eleventh birthday, I am kitted out in the latest tween fashions complete with butterfly clips and a puffy synthetic bomber jacket. I am on my way to Ratanga Junction for the first time and despite the Venga Boys blaring in the background, the car ride is sheer agony. I have been waiting my entire life to ride a rollercoaster so 20 measly minutes shouldn’t matter- but it does.  After horrendous ticket lines and begrudgingly heeding my mom’s haunting advice of “always save the best for last” I’ve made it to the lurid yellow monument of exhilaration lovingly dubbed The Cobra…and then I see the line.

Waiting sucks. It just does.  Find me someone who enjoys waiting in a line at the traffic department or on the phone to Telkom and I will find you a liar. Throughout my life I have experienced the heartache associated with waiting. I waited for J.k Rowling for years between her books. I even waited/am still waiting for my Hogwarts letter (I am sure the owl just got lost). In my adult life I have waited in a five hour queue for my tax number, but even more devastating is having to wait for Game of Thrones to buffer every single bloody week. With all my experience in waiting and the misery it has caused me I can undeniably, unequivocally affirm the notion that waiting really does suck.

First Choice (better known for their environmentally friendly milk) agrees with me. They know that asking a child to wait hours for jelly to set is just cruel and unreasonable and so these champions of chow came up with SA’s first already-set jelly in a box. Boomtown, a South African brand strategy agency has brought this harrowing insight to life with a series of fun brightly-coloured print ads.

First Choice Already-set Jelly, "Because Waiting Sucks" by Boomtown, South Africa

We can all relate to these ads, even if we haven't gone through those specific situations. Waiting in long lines to fun rides. Waiting for dad to blowup the jumping castle while all your friends look on with fervent anticipation. Waiting for the pool to fill up on a sweltering day when all you want is instant refreshment. Too much waiting! We want our fun and we want it NOW.

The creatives came up with a pay-off line that kids (and adults alike) can relate to. "Because waiting sucks" neatly and succinctly sums up the insight into why people should buy First Choice All-ready Set Jelly. My only qualm is that this campaign was launched at roughly the same time that Saatchi and Saatchi New Zealand launched their Texa allergy medication "Sneezing sucks" campaign. While it was an overseas ad for a very different target market it still detracts from the unique feel I originally associated with this campaign.

Jelly comes in an array of awesome jewel-bright colours. This is showcased by the well-considered colour palate chosen by the art director for the ads. For instance the jumping castle ad uses pink jelly for their pay-off line and then uses a huge, predominantly pink half blown-up jumping castle as the ads main focus. This colour scheme is further supported by the pink and yellow balloons and the pink outfit that one of the models are wearing. The fact that all the ads are set outdoors really emphasises this colour-centric design as the natural, bright lighting makes the colours pop nicely.

One component that I particularly enjoy is the treatment used on the pay-off line. "Because waiting sucks" has been carved out of a block of already-set jelly towering over a pack shot of the product. It is effective and aesthetically pleasing while serving the double purpose of showing the product and communicating the ads insight in an interesting way.

The Boomtown creatives chose children as the subject of frustration because as adults, we are expected to be able to deal with trivial things like waiting for jelly to set while children can display their unadulterated disdain without shame. They also use children because, while their parents pay for it, they are the main jelly consumers. The kids really convey their feelings effectively and their waiting-induced frustration is palpable.

Ads like this are light and fun while still being universally insightful. Sometimes I think that I can spot a South African ad from a mile away but this one was harder to spot mostly because of the quality- which to me was  of international standards.

This review has given me the worst jelly craving. Too bad I have to wait until college is over. Grrrrr