[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFcyS4EPLRI[/youtube]
The beautiful new Cell C TV commercial, The Power is in Your Hands, was made by Ogilvy Johannesburg and first flighted in cinemas last week. With a feel reminiscent of Levi’s Go Forth, it would be interesting to know if that was a stylistic reference.
Credits:
Creative Director – Louw le Roux
Copywriter – Andrew Pearson (Creative Group Head): ANDREW PEARSON (CREATIVE GROUP HEAD)
Art Director – Darryn Rogers
Production House – Picture Tree
Producer – Gary King
Director – JH Beetge
Lighting Cameraman – Werner Maritz
Post Production House – Upstairs Post
Editor – Kobus Loots
Sound Engineer – Dave Harris
Sound Studio – Frequency (Audio)
PRS Details – Rob Schroeder (Rob Roy Studio)
Lovely work guys and girls at Ogilvy. Well shot and great post treatment.
Beautiful.
American voice over? The whole feel is such a rip off of Puma Social After Hours Athlete – which funnily enough has a banner on this page! A little bit of McDonalds Olympics copy thrown in there too.
@Mike totally! and please dont forget trying to get the Apple Think Different voice over reference – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX9GTUMh490 . Weird mix of all those adds you mentioned, couple others of course, to create something just not that great at all.
Now can I please have very cheap data bundles!
There’s an Afrikaans version too: http://youtu.be/Xh1r_P1jthQ
Firstly, congrats on doing an ad like no other telecoms ad out there. It’s pretty and moving. Except for anyone who’s seen the Puma After Hours Athlete. Look, I can’t blame you for trying to get close to that ad – it’s probably the most beautiful piece of writing in a commercial, ever. I hope that the general public won’t see through this. Cause its nice. And I’m not the ‘It’s been done’ kinda guy. Oh, one more thing – I reckon JH is the next Kim / Greg / Keith. He make pretty things.
Very nice… very nice…
Interesting no one picked up on Levi’s Go Forth or even the M-net Life is Like a Movie – stylistically they are very close.
Then again – it’s a good extension of the that ran earlier this year.
JH is one to watch
yip – it’s a hybrid of all that done before work! on another note, i always find it so obvious that never before seen names on this site who suddenly pop up and over compliment the work and its makers are so clearly those involved with having made the work…
It’s an interesting debate – the ‘but it sounds like…’
Because yes, successful overseas commercials do often influence local work and the haters come out to play to make sure eeeeeveryone knows that this is a lame rip-off of something they saw on that SuperBowl reel from that year Droga 5 cleaned up…
…but on the other hand – of the plenty millions of targeted consumers out there, particularly in the mobile category that’s chock full of fairly plastic, big-tune-smiley-happy-face-we-are-one-let’s-hold-hands-while-wearing-our-boardshorts-and-blinding-veneers, how many of those millions follow sites like these to keep there fingers on the pulse of international ad trends?
Fewer than you’d think, I’ll wager.
So to give them a heartfelt message about consumer empowerment in a category that (and even Cell C ha been guilty of this for the longest time) has not really been focused on consumer is something that just might touch them in places they haven’t been touched before.
But that’s just my opinion. And I’m sure my digital nutsack is going to get a hiding for even suggesting that we remember our consumer pool goes beyond this small clique that clicks around these pages.
But hey. Them’s the internets for you.
WHAT A CROCK OF SHIT. REFRIED BEANS. VOMIT.
@Drew – your argument has some merit, BUT we’re in an industry that rates itself on original work, that hires creatives to think original, that prides itself on performing well at international award shows. Ripping off international work is unacceptable regardless of the fact that the local consumers may not have seen the work. Ogilvy should know better.
Mike – I think that’s the point really. I agree with Drew that the average consumer doesn’t really care. Sometimes you get campaigns that make total sense to import (especially if it’s the same brand). It’s that the copy cat campaigns have a worse impact on the agency that produced them. Especially when they become known for it (I’m not implying that this is the case here though).
Although the ad is wearing its references on its sleeve, it’s well written and nicely shot.
Ian’s nailed it. It’s as if they didn’t even try hide the fact that they’re using a style. My biggest thing is that, knowing it wasn’t original, don’t put it on blogs like this one and get bummed when it get’s abuse. Choose the work you submit to 10 and 5 to maintain the integrity of what we deem to be showable.
This ad is so much like other ads that I have already forgotten it.
Power to you…
It looks nice and has a pleasant feel so JH Beetge did well but the visuals and VO don’t correlate at all.
The American VO is completely wrong. While other brands are localizing their messaging, this alienates the brand.
It’s the inbred cousin of Levi’s ‘Go Forth and Puma’s “After hours athlete”.
Imagine what we would have seen if Fox or King James had the account.
wow!
I thought the advert was fake, made no sense to me as a consumer and yep after hearing them say “the power is in your hands” all I could hear was Vodafone’s “power to you” slogan (http://mybroadband.co.za/news/cellular/18213-cell-c-puzzled-by-asa-power-to-you-ruling.html).
Quite honestly the only thing the ad reminded me of is “idle hands” (comdedy/horror movie made in the 90’s)
oh looks like i was referring to an ad I saw on TV… Not the one on this site.
Derivative. Credit should be given to Agencies and their chosen directors who aim to deliver fresh concepts with fresh imagery . Apart from the concept at least three of these vignettes have been blatantly ripped off.
Love love love! It was clean cut and had an international feel!
This song in the background is so pretty. It has a One Republic feel to it, but I just can’t put my finger on it. I’m guessing it’s one of their songs, but just an instrumental version.
Does anybody have a clue which song it is?
Figured it out. It’s Secrets.
Add Puma Social to Levi’s Go Forth to that UK Mcdonalds spot to Apple’s ‘Here’s to the crazy ones’ and what do you get……… a blatant piece of unoriginality.
Power to the haters!!!
Where can I get the soundtrack