British Advertising

British ads are insane! When I went to see Alice in Wonderland, I was amazed by the how crazy the ads were. Many times, I could not guess what was being advertised until the very end.

For example, here's an ad for Crusha (100 points if you figure out what Crusha is):



Honestly, I wished I'd paid more attention to the ads before Alice in Wonderland. I pretty much just stared incredulously, but later I wished I could remember what they all were; however, the one thing about British advertising that really stands out in my mind is the traumatic nature of their public service and safety ads.

Throughout the subway and on the streets, there are posters for either a) avoiding unmarked/unlicensed cabs and b) the buddy system. These ads really use shock factor to say something like "don't do that or you and everyone you love will end up dead."

Example A:


Example B:


The video ads are so. much. scarier. There are several 4-minute ads (that I will not post here) that are absolutely terrifying. One, against texting while driving, shows a couple teenage girls in a car. The driver is teasing the girl in the backseat, saying that she's going to text the guy she's crushing on, but as she is texting, her car goes into the other lane. They collide head-on, and the next, well, 3 minutes and 58 seconds are spent on incredibly graphic crash scenes, where several other cars pile up and everyone (except the driver and a little kid, shaking its dead mother's body) are dead. You can click here to see it, but I've warned you.

Ads in America simply can't compare. In terms of the funnier product ads, well, this article attributes it partly to the homogeneity of British culture. In terms of the traumatizing PSAs, I believe that American censorship would never allow it. People would be too offended by the graphic images (and afraid of the effect it would have on younger audiences). But in the UK? Keep calm and carry on!

Here's a really strange PSA. Can you guess what it's for before the end?