The Top 5 Advertising Campaigns ('No' Feature)

Tomorrow Friday  8th February sees the UK&Irish release of Oscar Nominated NO starring Gael Garcia Bernal.

.Bernal is cynical advertising executive, Rene Saavedra, who is asked to spearhead the ‘NO’ campaign to bring democracy to Chile. How does he manage to create a campaign despite scant resources, scrutiny from colleagues sympathetic to the regime including ad agency colleagues and the secret police?

No is the true story of how the ad men toppled tyrant dictor General Augusto Pinochet in 1988 and to celebrate tomorrow's release we have a look a five of the best advertising campaigns that toppled the 'opposition'

1 Volkswagen's "Think Small" Campaign

Volkswagen completely destroyed the status quo for automobile ads with the “Think Small” campaign as the 50s and 60s were a time when cars were a fashion statements and an example of social status.  This was also a foreign car,a post-WWII German car no-less!
At the time the campaign was created, Americans didn’t buy small German cars and preferred instead big, conspicuous vehicles! So what did this Volkswagen ad do? It played right into the audience’s expectations: “You think I’m small? Yeah, I am and that’s what makes me special!”
Print advertisements for the campaign were filled mostly with white space, with a small image of the Beetle shown, which was meant to emphasize its simplicity and minimalism.

2 Clairol: Does She or Doesn’t She?

Clairol did the opposite of what most typical advertising campaign would do. They didn’t want every woman on the street running around saying they were using their product! They wanted women to understand that their product was so good, people wouldn’t be able to tell if they were using it or not.
The campaign became very effective and within six years, 70% of all adult women were colouring their hair, and Clairol’s sales increased by 413%!! The campaign was so successful and the products use so widespread that some US states  stopped asking women to list their hair colour on their driver's licenses.

3 Nike's "Just Do It"

One of the most recognised advertising slogans in history, Nike’s "Just Do It" was short, sweet and to the point. It reflected a human truth everyone could relate to: that drive to push yourself further as well as Nike’s can-do attitude. The campaign inspired a sense of grit, determination and passion and branded Nike as inescapable ‘cool’.

After the introduction of this advertising campaign Nike's market share jumped from 18% to 43%, and their sales exploded from $800 million a year in 1988 to upwards of $9.2 billion in 1998.

4 Got Milk?

The California Milk Processor Board needed to reverse plunging industry sales of milk and its "Got Milk?" marketing campaign not only helped turn around milk sales in the US but also changed the face of consumer marketing forever. This ingenious advertising campaign inspired people the world over to drink cow’s milk and was supported by children, animals, style icons, and celebrities, each sporting the iconic milk moustache. The campaign has been running since 1993 and is one of the longest lasting campaigns ever.

5 MARLBORO MAN

Now one of the more controversial campaigns, the Marlboro Man ads inspired a generation of smokers branding it as cool and the only course of action for ‘real men’. Creating an entire lifestyle around the smoking of a Marlboro cigarette, the ads captured an ideal lifestyle that many aspired to.
The campaign transformed a once feminine product, associated with the slogan "Mild as May", into one that was masculine. Although there were many Marlboro Men, the cowboy proved to be the most popular which led to the "Marlboro Cowboy" and "Marlboro Country" campaigns.
Three men who appeared in Marlboro advertisements died of lung cancer, thus earning Marlboro cigarettes, the nickname "Cowboy killers"


NO is released in UK&Irish cinemas from tomorro Friday 8th February.