The GO BANANAS Technique...

Early one June morning I saw a squashed frog on the 7th floor at 151 Marylebone Road.

It was stuck to the wall of Nick Worthington and Paul Brazier’s office.

The line ‘Whatever you ride’ had been written on a Post-it note which was stuck next to it.

Nick was grinning as he waved me in.

I noticed he had a mischievous glint in his eye ‘Braze and I are crafting the new Wrangler campaign Mike. Annie and Amanda from Art Buying have discovered these great images of things that had been run over by different vehicles.’

Nick had a photocopy of the Wrangler logo in his hand which he stuck on the wall next to the line to make the lockup.?

Roadkill.

Whatever you ride.

Wrangler.

I joined the dots.

Made the leap.

‘If you want to sell a car don’t show the metal. Every car ad does that. On Levi’s John Gorse and I shot loads of washing machines ourselves and added the line Levi’s 501 TORTURE THEM. No models. No jeans. Washing machines. You keeping up?’

I nodded.

Years later at The School Of Communication Arts 2.0, Richard Russell was showing the students his legendary Power Of Dreams Honda campaign by Wieden+ Kennedy.

No metal.

Just a beautiful smiling banana.

With wonderful handwritten copy.

Describing the joy of writing on a banana with a biro.

Richard told us that when he had shown Tony Davidson his initial scamp, Tony promised ‘I don’t know how or when but I’ll get the client to run this. Leave it with me.’

A few weeks later the students had slipped back into doing car ads with cars, so I went to the market and bought 50 bananas from Sue’s stall on Electric Avenue.

Returned, handed them out and shouted ‘GO BANANAS’.

Do you believe in the power of bananas?

#advertising

#marketing

#creativedirection