Now here’s a thing.
According to most of the Dublin advertising agencies I visited in January and February this year, documentary photography, however appealing, won’t work in advertising campaigns in Ireland. The advertisers are just too traditional.
They are not alone in this belief.
It was recently repeated to me by the marketing manager for an international parcel company.
I gave examples of campaigns abroad, most notably one for Emirates Airlines I’d heard about in a podcast interview with the photographer involved: Doug Menuez, a photographer I greatly admire. Not only that, Doug recently launched an agency to market his documentary work to the advertising sector – in response to demand for the kind of photography he provides.
It didn’t help. Ireland isn’t ready was the message.
Really?
In the seat pocket in front of me on flight EI 183 from London to Dublin yesterday evening was a copy of Aer Lingus’ in-flight magazine Cara.
Here’s a photograph of the full-page advert on one of the early pages in the magazine.
Vodafone ad in April/May 2010 issue of Cara
Now, I’m not for a minute suggesting that this is a purely documentary photograph. However, you cannot deny the photojournalistic aesthetic of the picture. You can tell the people on the shoot went to great lengths to get the right feel. London bus and some fellow in a high-viz jacket in the background. It all adds the the sense of reality.
By the way, if this is a genuine documentary photograph and you know the backstory, I’d love for you to share it here.
Back to the point I’m trying to make. Real equals honest, which is something we don’t often equate with advertising. At least, not in Ireland. Because, the agencies say, Irish companies can’t grasp the concept.
While Vodafone isn’t quite there yet (and I’ve no doubt a skilled street photographer could have produced a real documentary moment), it is a step in a direction that interests me greatly. After all, I’d love to shoot a documentary advertising campaign.
Compare Vodafone’s effort to this one by Bank of Ireland on the next facing page of the current issue of Cara.
Bank of Ireland advert in the April/May 2010 issue of Cara
Oh dear.
This is the worst of both worlds: a posed image that is so heavily staged it reeks of insincerity. In fact, I have a niggling suspicion it is a stock image, most likely American, to which the credit card in the girl’s had has been added in post-production. A tell-tale sign is that the card she is holding is the same as the larger one in the bottom left of the ad, right down to the name: Mr J Brennan of VBC Ltd. I have to say that Mr Brennan is a fine looking woman.
Of course, that could be JB in the background there on the phone.
The photograph doesn’t ring true, which undermines the advertisement. It doesn’t inspire. It doesn’t make me want one of these cards, even though I bank with Bank of Ireland and fly Aer Lingus regularly. A great documentary image taken in a real office would have been so much more powerful. Ironically, I spent yesterday shooting documentary photographs in a London office.
Even better, why not a photograph of people enjoying one of the Aer Lingus Gold Circle Lounges the card gives you access to?
Perfect material for a great documentary photograph.
