Hasta La Creative!

With a name like Staines, it has to be good. Except actually it’s crap, according to the city of Adelaide, Australia, which pokes fun at London’s most sadly named commuter town in this ad, aimed at attracting British immigrants. This isn’t the first stain on Staines. Sacha Baron Cohen settled on Staines as the hometown of his dimwitted character Ali G, for the same reasons M&C Saatchi is targeting it here. “We went for Staines because it sounds nasty,” an M&C executive admits. (Other ads in the series carry headlines like “Sod London house prices,” “Stuff London traffic” and “Bugger it, I’m off to Adelaide.”) But the constant jokes may be taking a toll on Staines, whose long-suffering residents are beginning to bite back. A city-council spokeswoman tells the West Australian: “All places have plusses and minuses, and there are a lot of plusses about Staines,” adding, “I certainly wouldn’t wish to be derogatory about Adelaide.”

—Posted by Tim Nudd