But the only one who's laughing is the advertising man

I could tell you that the reason I haven't posted in the last week is because I have been incredibly busy leading up to, and including, this past weekend.

I could say that I was swamped every day last week trying to pull together all the information I needed for my term project that was due on Sunday.

I could also tell you that I spent every spare minute studying for my final exam that was also on Sunday.

I could tell you all these things...but lying only gets you in trouble, so I won't.

The real reason: I was tired, and thusly, uninspired. I didn't feel that it was fair to subject my plethora of loyal fans to inane ramblings simply because I "had" to write something. Quality over quantity, baby...that's my mantra! So now that my course is done, and I finally have my Sundays back to myself (seriously, who schedules a class on a Sunday; ri-donk-ulous), I pledge to you, gentle readers, to provide you with high-quality postings in a relatively timely manner.

So....umm...yeah. High-quality posting...let's see. (*tumbleweed*)

Well, I spent most of the weekend working on my advertising project, so it's kinda still stuck in my head. I'm having a hard time not looking at all different types of ads and analyzing them for their usage of contrast, balance and unity; or determining which companies best display their socially-responsible messaging; or looking at all the crap that shows up in my mailbox every day that is apparently precisely-targeted "direct mail".

But let me tell you, I was highly entertained by the Ads Of The World website. Advertising is such an amazing practice, and I am constantly blown away by the creativity that goes into the development of some of the best ads out there. The AOTW website has a huge collection of fantastic ads from all over the world (I guess that explains the name). One of my favourites still has to be this one from Dove:

Now, I am a huge fan of The Simpsons. Love the show. Can't stand the people who say that the show is past its prime. To those people, I say, "Shut up."

So anyway, I think this ad is hilarious and ingenious. Dove took an iconic character like Marge Simpson (who doesn't recognize that big blue 'do?) and shows just how effective their anti-frizz cream is on even the wildest hair. I mean, look at the woman...she's hot! She looks good and she knows it...now that is confidence.

And while I am not sporting the long, luxurious locks that Marge is lucky enough to possess, I have to say that the anti-frizz cream works incredibly well on my hair too! Marge and I, we know where it's at.

This campaign also featured Wilma Flintstone, Jane Jetson and that Velma chick from Scooby-Doo. Velma even lost those sassy glasses, which no doubt led to her solving the mystery of what was really under Fred's sexy ascot!

So for part of my project, I had to show an ad that I found very humourous. As anyone who knows me can testify, I have a pretty twisted and sick sense of humour a lot of the time (I credit my brother with instilling in me the importance of inappropriate humour). I'm just going to give you the link to the ad that made the cut for this category of my project, and leave you to draw your own opinions from there!

Now, I'm going to pose a project for you, gentle readers: what are some of YOUR favourite ads? What tickles your funny bone? What irritates you beyond belief? I invite you to share your links with the world. This is the new segment RPA Gives Back. Post away, kids!