Helene set off for a meeting at 9.00 this morning and came back five minutes later having forgotten the Pantone book she needed for the meeting.

“When you’ve got no head, you’ve got legs; as  my Dad always says” she declared, happy as Larry.

Right.

And now, the end is near and so we face the final curtain (enough, already - Ed).

Yup, it’s VE day for our war-themed 60 Watt house advertising campaign and the final ad in the series is in this morning’s Scotsman as I write (nice position too, thanks guys!). 

You really should see it in the paper, but if you happen to be in Outer Mongolia or at the top of Mount Everest, we’ve converted the newspaper and ink into over a million pixels, just for you (see below).

We’ve had almost universally positive feedback for this campaign and although, hand on heart, nobody has actually phoned us up and handed us their multi-million pound advertising account (get real - Ed) business is brisk and everywhere we go, people tell us they’ve seen the ads.

We have had one or two slightly negative comments, though.  Mainly from people asking whether we aren’t overstating the war analogy a tad (after all, the recession hasn’t killed anyone yet).  

Perhaps it’s worth mentioning at this juncture that the central argument around which the campaign revolved was NOT about comparing the recession to the Second World War, but based on a rather interesting tracking study currently being carried out by research company YouGOV which notes that people’s behaviour has changed as a result of the recession, in ways remarkably similar to what happened in the war. 

Namely spending less, wasting less and becoming much more resourceful, and, as featured in today’s ad, being compelled by circumstances to be more creative and innovative.

Rather more cerebral, we hope you’ll agree, than just dusting down some old war posters and rehashing them.

Maybe Neil French was right when he said, nobody reads long copy anymore. 

Or maybe it’s more a case of nobody reads anymore. 

Hot off the press, the latest in our “Austerity” series appears in the Scotsman today in all its full page glory.  (We know, we were up early excitedly thrusting our 75p in the general direction of the poor, beleagered newsagent across the road.)

We sent out a preview copy to a few friends and clients yesterday and the response has been encouraging so far (”I actually think that ad is the strongest of the three and definitely my favourite. Copy’s braw. Jealous!” and “Wonderful! Best one yet” being just two of them.)

However, best not get too excited just yet.  We’re sure you have your own opinions.

At our stage in life, it’s not often you get a compliment from a lady.  Particularly when the lady in question says you have, “bulbs of steel.”

But we have.  And she did.  Here’s the proof:

Flattery, as they say, gets you everywhere.

What makes the whole thing even more intriguing is that nobody knows the identity of said female, who writes anonymously under the soubriquet, “Crabbit Copywriter.”

You can read the full post (and access the rest of her very readable, witty and thought-provoking blog) here.

Crabbit Copywriter, whoever you are, 60 Watt salutes you.

Spring has most definitely sprung.  Oh, yus!

Witness this impressive photo of spring blossoms taken by our senior designer, Helene.

Eschewing the latest digital technology (she gets enough of that at work) Helene favours an old Polaroid 210 Land Camera she bought on Ebay last year for twenty quid.  Here’s a picture of the old girl (the camera, not the designer, Ed):

Helene says, “The camera is really old, dating back to 1967, and pretty basic.  You are never sure how the picture will turn out -  but that’s what I like the most about it. Once a picture has been taken you need to wait couple of minutes for the chemicals to react before pulling the film apart.”

That’s enough of the nerdy stuff, what really matters is the beautiful pictures she takes with the museum piece, proof that Polaroid is not quite dead yet. 

You can see the complete set on Helen’s flickr site here.

We’ve had a great reaction to the first ad in our austerity series - Squander Bug - and lots of comments.  Those helpful people at the Scotsman even got into the spirit by throwing in a free insertion last week (thanks, guys!).  

Onwards and upwards with a fresh execution in this morning’s national newspaper.  Ration books?  Powdered Eggs?  Chicory coffee?  Dunkirk spirit?  What’s it all about, Adolf? 

Have a look for yourself in today’s Scotsman, or see below if you haven’t a copy to hand.

As always, we welcome your comments.

It had to happen.  In the midst of local government panic, media hype and mass public hysteria…a wee cartoon to bring the whole thing down to earth…

When things get tough we all need to dig deep and try that little bit harder.  Minimising waste is a priority and the war messages of the 1940’s have been the inspiration for our latest crunch busting house advertising campaign.  Starting tomorrow our four press ads will hit the Scotsman in full page format.  We don’t think you’ll miss them.

The campaign is a celebration of thrift and the fact that we can put our many years of experience to good use in these troubling times.  The first is previewed above. Watch this space for the next in the series. 

Better still,  buy the Scotsman. 

Or best of all, give us a ring with your latest brief.

My good pal and ex-art director, Rodger Stanier, came up with a brilliant fundraising idea for Comic Relief.  If you send him a picture, he’ll do you a Red Nose Day  caricature of you, complete with comic red nose (That looks just like your comic real nose, Pete - Ed). 

And all for a measly ten quid, every penny of which goes to Comic Relief.

Rodge, I salute you.

P.S. If you want one done for yourself (great for Facebook profile pics and email signature, although I wouldn’t bother sending it off with your passport renewal application) send a pleading email to rodgerstanier@googlemail.com.  It takes forever and his missus is threatening to divorce him ‘cos there’s paint all over the front room, but hey, it’s a great cause.

Any of you who know Helene, bless her, will know that English is not her mother tongue and we do have the odd Franglaise moment in the office. Sometimes she joins in our amusement over these and at other times, well, she just, like… doesn’t. Telling a colleague not to put the ‘bull before the cart” (”a well known English saying” she told him) is not a bad example of where I’m coming from on this one.

At this juncture I must put on the record that her English is significantly better than my French, of which I speak only “un poco.”

So, picture the scene; this morning Helene was discussing the development of a new brand identity with the Polish designer, Wojiech, who is on placement with us.  He too does not have English as his mother tongue.  Or French for that matter.

Things were getting a little tricky until the white knight, in the form of Iain, arrived on the scene.

I kid you not, it was like sitting in on a debate at the League of Nations and Iain was just the man to resolve the situation.  Poor Wojiech was struggling conceptually with the subtle nuances of an idea based around keys in locks using the letter K as a visual metaphor.  But Iain quickly spotted the solution.

“It’s like the Two Ronnies.” he set off “They’re in this shop, OK?  And one of them asks the other for Four candles.  Now this is an example of language being used cleverly.”

The rest of us exploded into laughter at the scenario unfolding before us…

A resolutely British designer explaining to a slightly confused Polish and enthusiastic French colleague that the solution to his visual metaphor could easily be explained by referencing a 1970’s British comedy where a man sounds like he’s trying to buy “Four Candles” when actually he is looking for “Fork Handles.”

“You’re so naughty sometimes.” Helene admonished me for finding the whole situation nothing short of hilarious.