about the ones in print

This time I wont even bother to talk about the crappy ones. There's just too many. First local, I guess, and here I have to talk about Capital - the radio station, 98.4FM. Some time back [think I was still in fourth back then] they used to run a couple of ads in the Going Out Guide where it was just a blank page with a huge speaker in the middle in isometric projection [dont ask!] then the lowest corner of the speaker had started like melting and was forming itself into a round drop ready to fall off. Then at the bottom of the page it was just written "Capital FM. Sound solution" I swear that ad just jazzed me, so much so that a friend and I had it blown up [Going Out is smaller than the small exercise books people use in primary school] and we stuck it on our wall. Plus the Capital logo of a smiling sun with sky skrapers in the foreground, depicting Nairobi as the city in the sun [when they started they were an only-Nai station] is the best logo I can think of.

KCB have also once had another one in the papers that impressed me. It was first of all a whole page on its own. At the center of the page they'd written: "Want to deal with people who know business? Commercial is our middle name" Literally. Get it? Kenya Commercial Bank? I totally hope that whoever came up with that one was elevated to head of PR for that bank. Also the current ones being run by ABC bank, modelled along the same lines. First there's a picture of a timeline then they say "ABC = Age Breeds Confidence" then explanations about how old hence good they've become, or a pic of many 40-bob coins piled up on top of one another with the text "ABC = Asset Based Capacity" then they talk about how extensive their assets hence capabilities are. Really nice. Simple, everyday language put together in a striking and relevant pose. Nothing can beat that in advertising.

There's that ad for Nestle where a chick appears twice, enjoying a hot chocolate, then they say double the pleasure or something like that. It's currently running. Ok, this one has nothing striking about it, only mentioned it to say I think she's really fly.

OK, international, finally. [I read Fortune, Time and Car so that's how I see these things. OK, maybe FHM as well, but only sometimes]. Citibank. I dont even know why they advertise seeing as they've been the largest bank in the world for like forever with a trillion dollar asset base, but they do. And when they do it's just class. Their ads are usually just on a white page. One has a picture of the Everest in the middle, then beside it they've written "Where would you like it moved?" Just that. Another one has a pyramid, then beside it says "Let's say you wanted twelve more of these." At the bottom the page in both those ads they explain how nothing is impossible with them as your bankers. Those ads are off the chain!

Then there's Infiniti. If you dont [like me] like cars you probably dont know them. They are to Nissan what Lexus are to Toyota [It's a $40,000 luxury car made by a company traditionally associated with cheap cars]. We dont have Infinitis here but they directly compete Beamers, so now you have an idea. I saw one of their ads, for the 2005 G35 [that's their entry level sports sedan. Be clear{been watching FunkMasterFlex :)}, being entry level doesnt mean it's cheap. For Infiniti entry level means $35,000 - Again I guess the figure has to be put in perspective: A Merc, C200 Kompressor is $36,000 and the Lexus IS300 $33,000 in the same market] where the page was just black. The G35 was at the center on a round black pedestal, its color gunmetallic black hence shiny at all the curves-and those are many-so it can be seen despite everything else being black. Then the text at the bottom of the page: "If you're not generic and ordinary, you stand out, no matter how similar your surroundings." Simply elegant.
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