The mindless tyranny of the "Rule of Three"

School House Rock - Three is a Magic Number - The most popular videos are here

We are all obsessed with threes. Blame School House Rock. (That, and centuries of myth and numerology.)

Ever since I began my career in advertising, the number 3 has been a pain in my creative ass — particularly when it comes to print campaigns. We sit down to brainstorm a campaign, and unless it's a one-off, we always feel compelled to try and make three equally awesome versions of the same "big idea".

The first one is usually great. The second can be also. But the third — that extra push to make it a nice, round numbered campaign — is too often a compromise.

I believe this obsession with three execution print campaigns is universal. I see it all the time in places like Ads of The World, where agencies try to clone one or two good ideas into a "full campaign".

Here is a perfect example:

Some very creative people at  DDB, Sydney, Australia, came up with a clever (if gory) visual idea to communicate the dangers of crossing the road with earbuds on. It's a little shocking for my taste, but it is original (as far as I know) and the execution is solid.

But is it "campaignable?" is always the Creative Director's question. They most likely then looked into other deathly representations of various types of headphones and other peripherals for music players and smartphones.

But what did they come back with?

The same... bloody... ad. But with a man.

What a waste of photography and art direction to duplicate the first idea. (I don't actually know in which order these were conceived, but stay with me here.)

I understand that sometimes clients feel that viewers cannot identify with a person in an ad who is not like them — sexually, ethnically, age-wise or whatever — but I would have argued that the concept was strong enough to overcome that. And the duplication just dilutes the "wow" factor of the original.

But they kept going:

There. Now we've increased the age and ethnic diversity of the campaign. But at this point, I don't even process the concept anymore. I just think that the creative team stubbornly stuck to the one good idea they could come up with.

Damn Rule of Three. It totally ruined an otherwise impressive campaign.

A really, really depressing bicycle safety campaign

The concept works, I think, in conveying the idea of "distance". But at first I wasn't sure who it was talking to, cyclists (keep your distance from cars) or car drivers (keep your distance from cyclists). I was also unsure whether the 1.5 m was supposed to give me a mental image of a car tailgating a bike, or vice versa, or whether it was how much clearance drivers need to give a bike while driving past one. But at least it got me thinking about the issue, I guess.

What the campaign succeeds at is conveying the emotions of sadness and regret. It is quite honestly the most depressing ad campaign I have seen in quite some time.

And that too can be a problem. Many ad consumers simply can't cope with negative emotions. They protect themselves and their consciences by mentally separating themselves from the ad. ("That's not me!") This is called defensive processing, and it is the sworn enemy of hard-hitting social marketing.

That said, I was still moved by this campaign. When I am behind the wheel, I try to be as respectful and cautious as possible of both cyclists and pedestrians. 

And as a cyclist? Let's just say that this campaign just confirms my fears about riding a bike in traffic.

Campaign by Y&R South Africa
Spotted on Ads of The World

Not the typical gruesome distracted driving ad

If you're freaked out by going to the dentist, don't watch. This very strange ad about distracted driving by the US Department of Transportation may be a little too extreme in its goofiness and gore to actually get its point across:



My other question: Is this campaign real? Or is it another spec nightmare?

Via Illegal Advertising

Pothole season is here. Distracted driving remains a year-round problem.

While checking his iPhone for a pothole-free route, he killed 4 pedestrians.

Montreal's Taxi came up with a clever campaign called "Pothole Season" that includes a site where drivers can report the winter's ravages on their roads online, which can be avoided by using an iPhone app.

The only problem is, you aren't supposed to be using your iPhone while driving.

You are also not supposed to be drinking coffee...

Or eating donuts...

 Or putting on make-up.

If you're trying to drive safely in Montreal with these folks on the road, potholes might be the least of your worries.

Via Ads of The World.

UPDATE: Taxi tells me the app has a hands-free function:



The ads are still a problem, though.

Look at that asshole in the bike lane

A new Tumblr documents cars driving and parking in one of Toronto's busiest bike lanes in front of Sam James Coffee Bar and Speakeasy Tattoo, on Harbord St.

I'm not sure how effective a shaming strategy it will be, since the cars and drivers are hard to identify, but I'm sure it at least makes them feel some sense of justice.

Especially when they bust the TTC

What do you think? Is this a good way to start raising awareness of bike-friendly cities?

Tip via Treehugger

Espesciall