Campaign

From condiments to cars

Before Peugeot made cars, they made pepper mills. Who knew? We certainly had no idea. So it came as an odd surprise to us when, at our first dinner in paris, at a random restaurant we were given a huge Peugeot branded pepper mill with our dinner. We thought it was a cosmic joke, (being as our raison d’etre in paris was to write ads for Peugeot.) But it was no joke – before he turned to bigger things, Mr Peugeot really did used to make poivre.

The Last Teriyaki in Paris

Forgive the long silence. We’re just getting back to normal after our week of Peugeot in Paris. We were told it was going to be a workshop on a new top secret Peugeot car. It turned out to be more like an X-Factor style shoot-out between the German, French and Dutch creative teams, and us. In other words, eerily similar to the Cannes Young Lions Film Competition back in June.

The 17 hour days were so intense that one of the Dutch teams mysteriously didn't come back the next day. The lowpoint for us was probably the bizarre Japanese take-away they fed us on. Nat could eat very little of it, being a veggie. But the high point (as well as our route being favoured, which in a very small way made up for not winning the prize in Cannes) was the sublime location of the creative department. In answer to John Tylee’s recent piece on Building Reputations and Grand Designs, we think the incredible roof terrace at Euro RSCG Paris leaves everyone else in the shade. Legend has it that creative director Remi Babinet found the space and worked with an architect to design it himself.

You get a better idea of it when you see the video here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY1iI6IViFE we've tried many many times to upload it but no joy. So here it is on Youtube, which seemed to be the only way of sharing it.  

Sadly the inclement weather meant our scamps kept nearly blowing off the edge towards the Eiffel Tower, so for much of the time we had to work inside in a little box with an extremely wobbly table.

Are all straplines secretly innuendos?

We're off to Paris today so apologies in advance if we don't get to write again this week. We're going to Peugeot-land to workshop one of their new cars, and the schedule looks fraught so we may not be online. To make up for this, we thought we'd leave you with something suitably smutty and 'french' which we've just been sent.

This is apparently 20 years old but none of us here had seen it before. It's really quite alarming, so if you're lily-livered then look away now. It's a bit rude, but if nothing else it shows one thing - sex really does sell. In fact one of these was so crude we had it vetoed by the editor - can you guess which brand and strapline that was? We'll give you a clue. It's to do with cleaning products. Answers in a bottle to the Canal St. Martin please. Au revoir for now,

L & N.

> Imagine if all major retailers started making their own
> condoms AND kept the
> same tagline...........
>
> Sainsbury Condoms - making life taste better
>
> Tesco Condoms - every little helps
>
> Nike Condoms - Just do it.
>
> Peugeot Condoms - The ride of your life..
>
> Galaxy Condoms - Why have rubber when you can have silk.
>
> KFC Condoms - Finger Licking good.
>
> Minstrels Condoms - melt in your mouth, not in your hands.
>
> Safeway condoms - Lightening the load.
>
> Abbey National condoms ! - because life is complicated
> enough.
>
> Halifax Condoms - Always Giving You Extra
>
> Coca Cola condoms - The real thing.
>
> Ever Ready condoms - keep going and going.
>
> Pringles condoms - once you pop, you can't stop
>
> Burger king condoms - Home of the whopper
>
> Goodyear condoms - "for a longer ride go wide"
>
> Muller light condoms - so much pleasure, but where's
> the pain.
>
> Royal Mail condoms - I saw this and thought of you.
>
> Andrex condoms - Soft, strong and very long
>
> Renault condoms - size really does matter!
>
> Flash condoms - just sit back, relax and let flash do all
> the hard work
>
>
> Heineken condoms - reaches parts that others just cannot
> reach
>
> Carlsberg condoms - probably the best in the world
>
> Mars condoms - pleasure you can't measure
>
> AA Condoms - for the 4th emergency service
>
> Pepperami condoms - It's a bit of an animal
>
> Polo condoms - the one with the hole !!! (VERY poor
> seller!!!)
>
> L'Oreal condoms - because your worth it!
>
> Mr Muscle condoms - loves the jobs you hate

Appendix:

Oh - we've just thought of a couple of new ones. Feel free to add any others if you're so inclined.

Sony condoms - like.no.other.

Sainsburys - try something new today

Persil - Dirt is good

He's like Banksy - only not as big. Introducing the little people.

We can’t stress enough how amazing this artist is, if you’ve not yet come across his work around town. You’d be forgiven for missing Slinkachu’s work. It is miniscule, but not in impact or scope. Bekonscot, eat your heart out. http://www.little-people.blogspot.com/ Anyway, please take a look, and do go along to the Little People Book Launch Treasure Hunt on the 31^st August if you’re not busy. Failing that, we heartily recommend his new book, Little People in the City,  published by Macmillan early September.

I am... rose tremain, english teachers and furry pencil cases

I (Lol) was pleasantly surprised to see one of my old colleagues from Random House being name-dropped  in one of Orange's latest print ads on the tube this morning. Before I went agency side, I used to work in publishing as an in-house creative, and Penelope Hoare was one of the nicest, most inspiring publishers anyone could hope to work with. I don’t know if Penny gets the tube or whether she knows she’s mildly famous, but congrats to her either way.

Everyone had one teacher at school that they’ll always remember and feel most indebted to, don’t they? Mine was definitely A-level English teacher Mr Williams. I don’t remember his old coat but I do remember his terrifying booming voice. Sadly budget cuts meant he left half way through the course. More disturbingly, Nat’s just told me about her most brilliant teacher, Mr Jones, He was the English teacher and boys’ boarding master. She nostalgically recalls his long-haired pink furry pencil case, which he’d stroke continuously while staring at his students. He was later arrested for paedophilia.

To play the field or to settle down: the pros and cons of freelancing in adland

After leaving a permanent job at TBWA in 2005 I (Nat) went freelance. Lol’s relatively new to it and is enjoying it so far - but I thought I’d compile a personal list revealing the true pros and cons of how I find the freelance lifestyle, and why I've chosen to stick with it so long...

CONS

- When you get one job, you have to organize the next one. You have to constantly be on the lookout for work. It's never ending.

- You feel like the 'New' Person all the time, and that can be draining.

- You have to do a tax return.

- You don't know what to talk about when you bump into strangers in the lifts.

- You don't know how the tea politics works so you go without tea for days.

- You have to keep all your receipts, which can and does lead to a cluttered bedroom

- You have to do a tax return.

- You rarely get to produce anything so you rarely get to steal chocolates from Angel Sound and order nice lunches whilst in edits.

- You don't get sick pay.

- You never know where anything is, such as the all important 'post tray'.

- When your partner's away it's difficult to get work on your own.

- You have to do a tax return.


PROS

- You get paid considerably more.

- You pay lots less tax.

- You get invited to multiple agency summer and Christmas parties.

- You decide when you take holidays. You can take as many as you want AND go for more than 2 weeks.

- You're always on your toes, which keeps things exciting. Every week / month it's a different journey to work, a different office, different people, different briefs.

- You're out of office politics.

- You work lots and lots of brands, in many media. We've worked on everything from digital, to ATL, experiential and everything in between. Freelance definitely broadens your outlook.

- You get to see how agencies all do things so differently.
 
Through my years of freelance I have been offered permanent jobs but at the time I haven't wanted to give up freelancing. Of course if the right permanent thing came along we would commit again once more. It’s very much like relationships – it’s fun being promiscuous and playing the field, but eventually it’s nice to find something more meaningful and monogamous. On the whole, as great as freelancing is, it's quite obvious that you need to be permanent somewhere to get work out and move up in the career ladder.
As a freelancer you kind of move horizontally. Saying that, it can sometimes be years before you see a project through to fruition, even in a permanent role. I've actually been quite lucky and have seen a few things through even in freelance jobs.  

What does everyone else think? Which is better?
 

Marvellous medicine in the form of a squinkwhizzsnotling day out

I (Lol) went to the Roald Dahl museum the other day, and have been telling anyone who'll listen how amazing it was, and how it's very much not just for children. It's for big kids of all ages, and indeed anyone who just wants to feel a little more creative. I recommend it to anyone if they're having trouble cracking a brief one day - It's only half an hour or so from marylebone. You can sit in the bizarre armchair Roald used to sit in in his shed for weeks on end, and you can explore all about how he got his inspiration. Best of all was this bit, where you can make up your own Dahl-speak words. I'll leave you to guess the meaning of mine...