Small companies have a bit of a problem – they don’t have much money. If you’re a Coca-Cola, Shell, Barclays or Sky (companies that essentially have gilt-edged licenses to print money) you simply chuck another bazillion dollars into your latest campaign, your agency buys The Beatles back catalogue and you get Orson Welles to front your new ad.
Those with shallower pockets can, however, make some economies such as hiring people who are terrible actors or were last famous 40 years ago (VanCompare) or so unfamous they barely qualify as celebrities at all (Safestyle).
There are other possibilities of course. You use video, image and sound banks that cost sweet FA. Think of the print ads you see that involve you phoning a call centre – there’s generally an image of a smiling, attractive woman wearing a headset. But guess what, that’s not actually an employee. Mental, eh?
The last few years has seen copyright-free music distributed with software such as a Apple’s Garage Band. It’s not complicated stuff, but it provides a useful soundbed for ads, stings and other commercials.
I’m most familiar with a load of Garage Band tunes from the Adam and Joe Show on BBC Radio 6Music, where they would provide a background for the duo’s amusings on various subjects suggested by listeners.
This has the unfortunate consequence of fatally undermining the advert in question. I’ve noticed quite a few adverts using the same music as Adam And Joe Songwars tunes, so I’ll be tracking them down where possible. Let me know if you’ve seen any others.
Adam Buxton’s Holiday Blues
Quickquid’s House Repossession Loan ***** Blues